Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | Rocky’s Harley-Davidson set to close Citing “mounting economic pressures,” long-time motorcycle dealer Rocky’s Harley-Davidson is set to close at the end of the month after a seven-decade run in the city. “This was not an easy decision ― but it is a deliberate one,” management wrote in a Facebook post. “Mounting economic pressures, a declining retail landscape and ongoing instability in the industry have made it impossible to continue in a way that honours the values we’ve built this business on.” The dealership officially closed its doors to the public last week but will keep taking appointments through the end of the month. The dealership had been owned by Brian Jacobs, along with partners Cory Stuart and Darryl Turley, since 2022, who also own Blackbridge Harley-Davidson in Cambridge — which also announced this week that it will be closing down at the end of the month. The upshot: Rocky’s found itself caught in a few economic trends that did not favour their core business of motorcycle sales. On the one hand, sales of Harleys have been on the decline: its latest quarterly results saw a 23 per cent decline in sales over last year, and its LiveWire electric motorcycle generally seems to be a flop. On the other hand, the trade war and spike in consumer nationalism also hasn’t been playing to Harley’s strengths. “People are being very cautious as to what they spend their money on now,” said Dave O’Neill, a staff member at Lucan’s Hogtown Cycles, speaking to The London Free Press. “For a lot of young people, it seems their focus is elsewhere.” But for legions of Harley riders in the area, it’s sad news. “We want to thank our employees, riders, and local communities for every ride, every event, and every shared mile,” Jacobs said. “What we built together goes far beyond the logo on the building. It’s about the people, the memories, and the culture we helped carry forward.” Read more: London Free Press | CTV News London | | | Ryan Finch leads new Sarnia Sting ownership group: “I want to beat the Knights so bad… ” Ryan Finch, president of Finch Auto Group, is buying a majority stake in the Sarnia Sting. Last week, the Ontario Hockey League’s board of governors approved the sale of a majority stake to Finch and Mark Guy, a long-time agent with Newport Sports Management and current manager of Finch Ford Lincoln in Sarnia. “The Sarnia Sting are more than a hockey team,” Finch said at a press conference. “They’re a source of pride and inspiration for the region. I am honoured to part of the next chapter.” OHL Commissioner Bryan Crawford praised the acquisition, saying that he believed “there are a lot of the right ingredients here to make for an extremely successful franchise,” and called the new owners “a bit of a dream team when it comes to franchise ownership.” A previous owner, David Legwand, will retain a minority stake in the team. The upshot: All sights are set on the London Knights, apparently. Finch and Guy aren’t hiding the fact that they want to emulate the success of the London Knights organization. “They’re the standard,” Guy told the Sarnia Observer. “From a hockey standpoint, we’ve got to get to that standard.” Finch and Guy said that the team will likely explore a Memorial Cup hosting bid. It’ll only be a little awkward when the Sting come to town to face the Finch Auto Group-sponsored London Knights, although it sets up some intriguing Finch vs. Finch matchups. “We’ll be able to create some really fun rivalries with this,” Finch said. “In my heart and soul, I want to beat the Knights so bad it’s not even funny.” That won’t be easy, though: the Knights hold a 47-18 historical record against the Sting. Read more: Sarnia Observer | | | New Asian grocery store looks to be set for former northwest Rona location A new Asian grocery store may be shaping up at the former Rona home improvement centre on Blythwood Road, just north of Wonderland and Oxford. Building permits have been filed with the city bearing the name of Jiang Hing Supermarket, a Toronto-based Asian grocery store. The former Rona store shuttered in late 2023, and the property was purchased last fall for $22.5 million by a numbered corporation based in Vaughan. Beyond connecting the dots via city permits, nobody has said anything concrete about a new grocery store, but construction work has been ongoing at the site for several months, suggesting that a lot of progress has been made quietly on the site. The upshot: The Oxford and Wonderland area is certainly becoming quite a grocery hub, with a T&T Supermarket, Farm Boy, Sobeys, add sherwood forest store and a Costco all in the vicinity, plus a Superking Supermarket at Westmount and a new Adonis grocery store going in further south at Wonderland and Bradley. It will be helpful if and when all the housing development approved for the area comes online over the next decade, as there are around 7,000 new units in the development pipeline. “There’s a lot of interest in the northwest,” noted local councillor Steve Lehman. It will probably be more ammunition for Councillor Sam Trosow’s crusade to convince city council that they are creating a traffic nightmare in this corridor, though. Read more: London Free Press | | | YTD housing starts down over 70 per cent Housing starts are way down in London so far this year, as economic headwinds take a bite out of the homebuilding market. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the London area only notched 420 housing starts between January and May — a 72 per cent drop over the same period last year, which saw over 1,300 starts. The largest drop came in the townhouse and apartment market, which is down over 80 per cent; single-family home starts are down by 10 per cent. “There’s no way of sugarcoating it,” said CEO of the London Home Builders’ Association Jared Zaifman. “The numbers are pretty rough, and the industry is feeling it.” Zaifman suggested the downturn is largely related to the cross-border trade war, but also put it down to weak demand from buyers who are often priced out of the market. “If builders, especially those who already have inventory, are having a hard time selling what is already there, they are not necessarily going to start a new project,” he said. The upshot: Housing start numbers are particularly low in London, but the national levels aren’t much different. National housing starts were flat between April and May this year, after a strong April — although according to the CMHC said that the strength of housing starts this year were “driven by increases of single-detached homes and purpose-built rentals in Quebec and the Prairie provinces,” according to the CMHC’s Tania Bourassa-Ochoa. In Ontario, by contrast, starts are at their lowest level since 2009. The tepid state of the housing market is hitting local tradespeople. “It definitely slowed down for us,” tradesperson Nate Lamb told CTV News London. “Hope it picks back up.” Read more: CTV News London | London Free Press | | | Paul Seed Fund provides over $235,000 in grants to boost London’s live music scene London Community Foundation announced more than $235,000 in funding for live music in London on Thursday. The grants will be issued through the Paul Seed Fund, and the funding will go to the London Arts Council and the London Music Office. The funding for the London Arts Council will support the expansion of the London Arts Live series, while the London Music Office says it will be using the funding for initiatives like Tunes at Noon at the Aeolian Hall. “London’s arts community has seen remarkable growth in recent years, and it’s truly inspiring to witness the creativity and passion that continue to emerge,” said Paul Seed, founder of StarTech.com (pictured). “I’m proud to support a fund that will foster greater participation across diverse artistic disciplines and help local talent flourish.” Cory Crossman, director of the London Music Office, called the investment a “fantastic opportunity to support programming that doesn’t fall under traditional funding sources,” while Eunju Yi, director of the London Arts Council, added that the funding will help them “showcase London’s talented artists in a highly visible manner.” The upshot: London definitely had big ambitions when it managed to snag a UNESCO City of Music designation in 2021, but in the time since there have been questions raised and some criticism floated about whether the city has done enough to support that designation. Last month, the London Chamber of Commerce urged local leaders to do more to grow the music infrastructure in the city, and this week CBC News London looked into why more artists aren’t making stops in London. “I think we are missing some political will,” said Chamber president Graham Henderson last month. “Most of these cities of culture are treated like gems by the jurisdictions in which they reside, and cities around the world have leveraged this designation to get tons of funding to support it,” he said of other UNESCO Cities of music. Read more: London Community Foundation | | | City moves ahead on SoHo parking lot housing redevelopment, steps back in OEV The city is advancing plans to redevelop several city-owned parking lots as housing projects, although it is pressing pause on the lot at 641 Queens Avenue in Old East Village while it further consults stakeholders. The plans to redevelop two lots at 84 Horton and 199 Ridout are going forward as planned, with approval from the strategic priorities committee this week, and the city said it will be issuing RFPs for the sites by the end of the year (it has already received several responses to a request for expressions of interest, ranging from 450- to 600-unit developments). The upshot: At issue in Old East Village is the availability of parking. The city report on these development plans suggested the city lot at Queens and Adelaide was only half-used, something Kevin Morrison, general manager of the OEV BIA, pushed back on. “Many [businesses] have been told that parking permits aren’t available,” he told politicians. Councillor Susan Stevenson also highlighted the potential for high use at the parking lot for Palace Theatre shows and church services. “One we determine if it’s true that there is some space that isn’t needed for parking, then what we do with it is another conversation.” Read more: London Free Press | | | Dispatch: June 20, 2025 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |