ByWard Market macaron shop closes its doors

Quelque Chose Patisserie at 70 George St. in Ottawa on Monday. The owners are closing that location, leaving two other shops in Westboro and Vanier open. Photo by Tony Caldwell /PostmediaArticle content

An Ottawa patisserie that specializes in macarons is the latest business to close its location in the ByWard Market after an eight-year run, with the owner saying the area had lost its “magic.”

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“It was a great location and we loved it,” said David Seba, owner of Quelque Chose Pâtisserie, in an interview. However, he couldn’t ignore the decline in sales after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“Unfortunately, it didn’t work for us anymore after COVID. I felt like it lost its magic. People didn’t come as much as before. Sales at the other two locations were steady so I don’t know what happened,” he said. “The Market just didn’t have that spark anymore.”

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Summers in the ByWard Market used to be “massive,” he added, with throngs of residents and tourists spending money in all the shops. Sales started to decline two summers ago when his main customer demographic — women — stopped visiting regularly, preferring to frequent the Westboro shop.

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“I knew if we didn’t make it big last summer, winter was going to be rough. And that’s exactly what happened,” Seba said.

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Quelque Chose Pâtisserie announced the April 20 closure of the shop at 70 George St. on social media last week, at the same time hinting that bigger things were being planned.

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“We’ll miss the neighbourhood dearly — it’s been full of sweet memories, amazing customers, and lots of macarons. But this change is part of something bigger: it’s the right move to keep growing, dreaming, and making space for what’s next,” staff wrote.

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Seba said permits are in the works to move the Vanier location to a nearby space with more room for seating.

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Quelque Chose was founded in 2013 by Seba and Julia Dahdah to focus on French macarons made with premium ingredients. The first location opened in 2015 in Vanier, and remains the main baking centre, producing more than 20 macaron flavours, ranging from lavender and rose water to raspberry dark chocolate. All of the macarons are gluten-free.

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In 2017, the company opened shops in Westboro and the ByWard Market to carry baked goods and serve a classic afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones, croissants with crème fraîche and jam, and, of course, a selection of colourful macarons.