The front door of Road Dogs Music featuring a sign explaining that issues with building maintenance forced a temporary closure of the store. Photo Courtesy of Macklen Linke/CKRW.
Whitehorse, YT – The future of Road Dogs Music is up in the air with ongoing building maintenance problems leading to a temporary closure and a struggle to find an affordable location to move the shop.
On August 14th, a post on the Road Dogs Instagram put a call out for help in finding a new location. One week later they were closed.
While break-ins have been a persistent issue for the music store, including a recent break-in on August 25th, these incidents are not the primary reason for the closure.
Willow Gamberg, Road Dogs owner, says the decision to close came after she determined that the condition of the building was unsafe for customers and staff. Gamberg says conversations with the landlords over the issue have been difficult.
“I understand that it’s a complicated situation and all that but it’s pretty tough to get any kind of straight answer, timeline or actionable items out of them,” said Gamberg.
Gamberg is now actively searching for a new location but has found it incredibly challenging to find an affordable, suitable space.
The possibility of not finding a new location leaves the owner mulling over other possible alternatives like showing up at pop-up shops or not having a physical store at all.
“I’m hoping this building becomes habitable again soon, which would be great, but I think it’s just going to be an ongoing issue,” said Gamberg. “I will still need to find a new place as soon as possible… We may look at doing some kind of online shop with a pickup and drop off depot which obviously isn’t ideal but is definitely better than nothing.”
Gamberg remains optimistic and is deeply moved by the community support however she recognized the broader issues at play facing small businesses in Whitehorse and hopes for legislative changes that would make it easier for businesses like her’s to access suitable, affordable spaces.
As Road Dogs remains closed, customers are being encouraged to support the store through online orders.
Although there’s no definite date set, Gamberg hopes to have the store open again this week at the earliest.
“We definitely will be back,” said Gamberg. “Hopefully sooner rather than later.”
