The main street of a North American city is a testament to its dynamism or decline; good times are reflected in its busy storefronts, while bad times are reflected in the closures of its shops. Shawinigan’s 5th Street, the main street of a medium-sized city in Quebec, will serve as an example here. At the beginning of the 20th century and until the 1960s, Shawinigan was a prosperous town and this prosperity was demonstrated by the dynamism of its main street; jewellers, main shops of ready-to-wear clothes, all the novelties were sold there. It welcomed the entire population, including those from the surrounding countryside, over which it shone as the city of superior service and retailing. Everyone went there to appear, to meet people or simply to shop. Then the city grew and the suburbs appeared, at the same time as the economic value of the city weakened. The 5th Street was a testimony of these two situations; the appearance of the suburbs was accompanied by the taking hold of the mall and it radiated more widely than the latter; at the same time, the economic decline of Shawinigan and the increasing mobility of the population towards the regional metropolitan areas narrowed its area of attraction. Shop after store closed, shops were poorly maintained, some holding up better, others moving to the periphery. Today, the urban policy aims to revitalise 5th Street and its surroundings, to make it a main street again, a street in which urban life and its events take place, through a policy of support for retailing, the rehabilitation of former wastelands and the enhancement of the banks of the St-Maurice river. _x000D_
The aim of this paper is to analyse the dynamism of a medium-sized town through its retailing, in relation to the local public policy. By following the different cycles of its activity, we will conclude on the current post-covid period.

Nathalie Lemarchand
Université Paris 8, UMR Ladyss, 1st Vice-president IGU

 
ID Abstract: 207