Walk down Richmond Road in Westboro on any given weekend and you'll notice something: the neighbourhood hums. There's energy here, a sense that the streets are alive with people who genuinely want to be there, shopping, eating, exercising, socializing. It's the kind of neighbourhood feel that every urban planner wants but few achieve.
A big part of what makes Westboro work is its collection of independently owned businesses, and a disproportionate number of them are led by women who saw an opportunity in Ottawa's west-end village and went for it.
A Neighbourhood Built on Independent Spirit
Westboro has evolved significantly over the decades, transforming from a mid-century shopping strip into a destination in its own right. The neighbourhood draws both young professionals and established families, cyclists and foodies, fitness enthusiasts and design lovers. What keeps them coming back is the quality and authenticity of the local business scene.
Ottawa fitness entrepreneur Amber Stratton opened the first Pure Yoga studio in the city in Westboro back in 2012, and she has never looked back. "The space we found was a really good starting point," Stratton told OBJ. The neighbourhood's demographics, active, community-minded, willing to pay for quality. Were a natural fit for her studio's offering.
Women Leading the Way
Stratton's story is not unique in Westboro. Across the neighbourhood, female entrepreneurs have opened wellness studios, boutique clothing shops, artisan food businesses, and home décor destinations that give the strip its distinctive character. These aren't franchises or chains. They're local operations that reflect the personalities and passions of the people who built them.
In an era when many retail corridors across North America are struggling with vacancies and the encroachment of big-box competition, Westboro's independent business community has remained remarkably resilient. Part of that is strategic: these business owners know their customers personally, adapt quickly to local tastes, and create the kind of experience that you simply cannot replicate online.
What Westboro Gets Right
Community, flexibility, and authenticity. The entrepreneurs who have thrived in Westboro understand that Ottawa residents want to shop and live local. They just need the right offering.
For anyone looking to support Ottawa's small business ecosystem, Westboro remains one of the most rewarding places in the city to spend an afternoon.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
