You can't control the weather.
But aside from some rainy days, Hespeler Business Improvement Area chair Cory de Villiers was happy with this year's Queen Street road closure.
"The weather definitely had an impact on both the closure and the market. Frequent rains, cold temperatures and pending thunderstorms kept some people away this summer," de Villiers said.
"That being said, we have rough estimates for almost 20,000 visitors across the 14 weeks. Feedback from the restaurants and the community at large has been overwhelmingly positive."
The closure featured changes this year, with the most notable one being the length.
In previous years, #WalkQueen ran over the weekends from June to October but it was decided to reduce it by one month for 2024, ending Sept. 1.
It's a move de Villiers thinks was a wise one.
"Most of the traffic occurs in the evening and September can get a bit chilly," he said.
"Not to mention that most of the bars and restaurants are run off their feet by the end of August. It's a hugely busy season for everyone."
Not every business remains in favour of shutting down the street on weekends throughout the summer, however.
Marina Radulovic, owner of Blooms of Paradise, was critical of the idea before it started and still believes more needs to be done to capitalize on foot traffic.
"It was slow this year, less people and not as many activities," Radulovic said.
"The way it's happening, it's not good and a lot of business owners are saying the same thing. They need to do something to attract people. They need more events in the street and more than just a closed road with picnic tables."
de Villiers understands there will always be businesses and residents who don't like the idea but believes the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
"There's definitely an entrenched element of naysayers here in the village, there are residents who resent the two minute driving detour and there are old school business owners myopically focused on their own perspective," he said.
"Ultimately, the BIA has to reconcile the following; doing nothing in the village is boring and we'll stop attracting thousands of paying customers to the core. We'll be uncompetitive and all of the cool restaurants, bars and cafes will eventually close their doors and not be replaced."
de Villiers believes "success builds success," pointing to the popularity of Latin Dancing on Queen combined with new Mexican and Brazilian restaurants thriving as an example.
As for the future of the closure, the BIA is looking into various ways to enhance it in 2025.
"Right now, everything is fuelled by volunteers and generous corporate sponsors," de Villiers said.
"It would be great if we could access additional grant funding and staffing so that we could offer more events, bands and beautiful landscaping to create a more welcoming streetscape."
