Perfumer battling city hall to keep his shop open

Michael O’Malley has been here before — fighting the City of Winnipeg to keep his business open.

He usually spends his days concocting scents. He’s owned La Parfumerie, a Wolseley shop, since 1993.

Twenty-seven natural perfumes line shelves on 145 Evanson St.’s bottom floor. O’Malley lives above the space.

Now, he’s required to change the home’s zoning or shut out walk-in customers. Either would kill the company, O’Malley said.

“I hope we can find a way to stay in business,” O’Malley, 68, continued. “I’m at risk of losing my job.”

He launched a petition two days ago; it’s garnered at least 1,478 signatures online.

O’Malley faced city council in 2015, after the city rejected his application for a conditional use zoning permit. A random inspection led to him being told he must end his retail component or undergo costly renovations so the site could be zoned for retail sales.

Droves of community members supported La Parfumerie as it appeared before a city subcommittee. Councillors gave the shop a 10-year conditional use order to continue operations.

This summer — a year after the conditional use order expired — O’Malley was told by city staff he was non-compliant with a zoning bylaw.

The city amended its bylaw in 2016 to make clear that retail sales aren’t permitted in home-based businesses. The practice was long discouraged, city spokeswoman Julie Dooley wrote in a statement.

“These rules help balance our desire to help small businesses thrive while also limiting the impact home-based businesses can have on residential areas and the people who live in them,” Dooley wrote.

O’Malley points to the change as the reason for his current situation.

He estimates rezoning would cost him $50,000, between applications and renovations. Ending his walk-in traffic could cost upwards of $30,000, he said.

He gets 30 to 40 walk-in customers per month, he said. Most of his business — about 70 per cent — comes from website mail-order sales and shipments to specialty retailers across Canada and the United States.

“It’s not enough to keep us in business,” O’Malley stressed in a news release.

Across the street from La Parfumerie, Organic Planet Worker Co-op posted a sign encouraging customers to join the perfumery’s petition.

“It’s pretty ridiculous. I don’t understand what the big hubbub is about when there’s so many other issues the city should be addressing,” said Jannelle Alexander, an Organic Planet co-owner.

“I don’t get trying to take over the existing (businesses) that have been around forever that everyone’s comfortable with — like, he’s part of the community.”

Harmanjit Singh, owner of Barchet’s Grocery, echoed that the perfumery “makes this area special.”

La Parfumerie blends custom scents. It’s unique, Singh said.

O’Malley has met with Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre). The politician said she’s asked the city to not enforce the bylaw.

“I really support this business 100 per cent,” Gilroy said. “It makes sense in this location, and we should be trying to support this.”

La Parfumerie stands at the corner of Westminster Avenue and Evanson Street, part of a commercial strip in Wolseley.

O’Malley has run La Parfumerie from the house since 1999.

Council is prorogued ahead of the Oct. 28 municipal election. Gilroy said, if re-elected, she aims to give La Parfumerie another conditional use order and to review home-based business zoning bylaws, to prevent similar situations from happening.

However, the earliest the conditional use order would come is late November, Gilroy said. City of Winnipeg staff are asking for La Parfumerie’s compliance by Nov. 10.

“I make half my income for the year in November and December,” O’Malley said. “They’re ordering me to close down and lose half of my annual income.

“At the bare minimum, I’m hoping we can find a way to keep me open through Christmas.”

He’s asking the provincial government whether a grandfather clause would apply to his business. The city seems to believe such rules don’t work that way, Gilroy said.

“Historically, we have a city council and an administration that is singularly focused on procedure and enforcement … without concern for the outcome,” said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

“Are we cutting off our nose to spite our face when we just, without regard for outcome, follow procedures?”

Remillard said he regularly fields calls from businesses frustrated with city hall culture.

“It bears noting that the city has made progress in recent years,” Remillard said, adding this election should “be about challenging city council to … create economic conditions for business to grow and thrive.’”

This includes having a customer service mentality towards businesses, he said.

O’Malley said he’ll continue operations as usual until his Nov. 10 cutoff.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com