Just saw this on OC Transpo’s website. 
Happy Goat Coffee construction begins. Construction starts (started) August 3rd and should be completed late September. 
 

https://www.octranspo.com/en/news/article/happy-goat-coffee-construction-begins-Aug3/

Nice to have some sort of update on that given how 2020 has been going so far. Quite far from the original ETA of Q1 2020 but I can totally understand. Looking forward to see what it will be like at each station!

I'm worried they might struggle with lower ridership. I don't expect transit usage will to go up that much this Fall with online post-secondary courses and many people continuing to work at home. 

Happy Goat Coffee kiosk construction at Hudman:

https://twitter.com/OCT_Fan/status/1291173914744414208

Some insight on the new O-Train coffee shops and how Happy Goat was able to beat the Timmies and Starbucks of the world. 

Quote

 

Happy Goat Coffee set to open new Tunney’s Pasture location

KITCHISSIPPI TIMES | NOVEMBER 30, 2020

The Happy Goat Coffee Kiosk at Blair Station. The local coffee company has opened four kiosks at LRT stations in Ottawa, including Tunney’s Pasture in Kitchissippi. Photo courtesy of the City of Ottawa.

By Matthew Horwood

Starting in December, O-Train Confederation Line commuters will be able to stop at Tunney’s Pasture station to enjoy gourmet coffee and locally baked food from Happy Goat Coffee.

The local company is opening four concession stands at Blair station, Rideau station, Hurdman station and Tunney’s Pasture. They will offer specialty coffees and teas, baked goods, sandwiches and roast coffee beans.

Happy Goat Coffee Company was started in 2009 by artisan coffee roaster Pierre Richard, who passed the business onto Henry Assad and Ahmet Oktar. The coffee shop opened its first location on Laurel Street in 2011 and added six more locations in the city beginning in 2016. The company also sells its coffee to more than 100 restaurants, cafés, bars and supermarkets in the Ottawa region.

In May 2019, the City of Ottawa started a bidding process to open concession stands along the light rail transit (LRT) Confederation Line. Henry Assad, president and CEO of Happy Goat, said his company won the contract in July, beating out seven other companies such as Tim Hortons and Starbucks.

Assad said Happy Goat was chosen because of their “very strong proposal,” which included partnerships with other local companies to sell food and drinks, and plans to produce close to zero waste.

“All we have invested in the company over the last six years is finally bearing fruit; that’s also part of the reason we were chosen,” he said.

The Happy Goat Coffee Kiosk at Blair Station. The local company has opened four LRT kiosks, including Tunney’s Pasture in Kitchissippi. Photo courtesy of the City of Ottawa.

The opening of the locations was originally slated for November, but according to Assad, the COVID-19 lockdowns in March delayed construction on the locations. However, he said things were back to normal and the projects were going ahead by July. With construction on the four kiosks complete, inspections finalized and all 40 staff having received training, the Tunney’s Pasture location will be open at the end of November. 

Assad said for a small company that doesn’t often receive exposure, the marketing value of four new locations along the LRT is “immeasurable.” He says Happy Goat Coffee has been given an opportunity to show off their culture, values and philosophy, and that the company is “very excited.”

“We are proud to have been chosen by [the] city and to have them put trust in [a] company like ours,” Assad said. “This is a unique opportunity that gives us ammunition to expand even further, whether it’s in the Ottawa area or outside.”

 

https://kitchissippi.com/2020/11/30/happy-goat-coffee-set-to-open-new-tunneys-pasture-location/

 

 

OC Transpo Customer Service centres. Place d'Orleans and St-Laurent still have them. The Rideau Centre. I assume LF had one. I wonder if with the new ticket vending/video chat machine, physical customer service centres will be a thing of the past. OC and the City never mentioned any for future rail stations. 

As for retail, Stage 2 will have new retail spots at Trim, Place d'Orleans, LF, Algonquin and Bayshore. None along Trillium. Trim seems an odd spot considering ridership will mostly be rush hour driven, at least until TOD and/or a bridge to the north side is built to serve Pertrie's Landing, Petrie Island and La Cite's trades campus. 

Where else would retail make sense? Where doesn't it make sense? 

Edited March 10, 20215 yr by J.OT13

 

I feel like Customer Service counters could be done away with, but just retain one point of presence, such as the one at Rideau being centrally located. For those issues that can't be dealt with at a ticket machine, one point of presence is more than enough. I think that is how it is for the most part in Montreal. The main counter was at Berri-UQAM, but the past year they seem to be doing away with that and having small popup counters at select stations. For a city of our size, one is all that is needed I would think. I would have preferred to have seen it in the actual Rideau Station rather than on the 3rd floor of the mall. Or at least within 30 seconds of the station entrances near the elevators or Farmboy/Shoppers.

17 minutes ago, Shane said:

I feel like Customer Service counters could be done away with, but just retain one point of presence, such as the one at Rideau being centrally located. For those issues that can't be dealt with at a ticket machine, one point of presence is more than enough. I think that is how it is for the most part in Montreal. The main counter was at Berri-UQAM, but the past year they seem to be doing away with that and having small popup counters at select stations. For a city of our size, one is all that is needed I would think. I would have preferred to have seen it in the actual Rideau Station rather than on the 3rd floor of the mall. Or at least within 30 seconds of the station entrances near the elevators or Farmboy/Shoppers.

Agreed. It was conveniently located near the MacKenzie King station in the old Transitway days. Having it near the Farm Boy entrance or the elevator entrance would be best. Better yet in the station, though I don't think that will ever be possible unless they take up space within the back-of-the-house areas.

Edited March 10, 20215 yr by J.OT13

On 2021-03-10 at 10:32 AM, J.OT13 said:

Where else would retail make sense? Where doesn't it make sense? 

They should have one at Terry Fox so that People from Kanata or Stittsville who need to redeem bus pass vouchers don't have to travel to Rideau to get their stuff done, as it seems the service center at Lincoln will most likely be permanently closed until 2025 or whenever the train starts running. Alternatively, MetroLinx could maybe get off their butt and make physical cards almost a thing of the past by allowing us to use our phones to use our monthly pass, but they're so slow and provide little innovation, that OC is making backdoor deals with the card reader manufacture (S&B) to advance the fare payment technology since MetroLinx won't do it themselves.

 

Has anyone seen any progress on the other two stations opening their Happy Goats? Namely Hurdman and Tunney's Pasture. They were under construction but yet are not open. Last year they were saying November 2020 with the other stations to follow shortly after.... and here we are 1 year later. Hope that Happy Goat doesn't have to pay rent during these delays and shutdowns.

Just now, Shane said:

Has anyone seen any progress on the other two stations opening their Happy Goats? Namely Hurdman and Tunney's Pasture. They were under construction but yet are not open. Last year they were saying November 2020 with the other stations to follow shortly after.... and here we are 1 year later. Hope that Happy Goat doesn't have to pay rent during these delays and shutdowns.

They're still closed. After Rideau opened, they were supposed to open Tunney's and Hurdman 3 weeks after, but once again, their opening is delayed for unknown reasons. Not sure if they're having staffing issues, because they were suppose to open way before all the closures and derailments, etc.

On that note, with Lincoln opening up in the future... Maybe Gateway or Quickie should get a retail space. Far superior to item selection and needs than HGC will ever be. I just think because OC kicked them out of all their BRT stations and the ones at Lincoln and PDO went bust due to COVID low ridership (Bayshore went bust in 2018, RIP - so many memories of that Station with that store dating back to 2009) that they don't want to buy space to sell goods, because they don't trust the city to not screw over the franchisees with how OC handle shutdowns or not assist in relocating when they want to close the Station for years to do some kind of expansion, conversion, etc. Oh well, only one could hope this concept was real...