Empty Stores on Granville Street

Back in October I was over in the South Granville area and noticed a higher than usual number of empty stores. South Granville is of course home to higher end and swankier retail shops and galleries so rents are already pretty pricey. The area I noticed was only in a two block stretch from Broadway down the hill to 7th Avenue. Most of the businesses in this strip are larger home furnishing and furniture stores as well as a few art galleries. It is normal for some turnover in terms of retail but the number of empty stores in such a small area makes it look like something a bit more serious is going on. Interestingly enough the Vancouver Sun recently published an article about how the City's rather misguided taxation system is forcing many independent retailers to either move farther afield or to close up shop entirely. You can read the whole story here. 

It seems the Triple Net lease system where retailers not only pay rent but also improvement fees and property taxes is the culprit. With the City's sky rocketing real estate prices the increase in property tax is passed on to the tenant. So in the South Granville area it seems that the point of paying ever increasing taxes has reached a breaking point and many retailers have simply had to close their doors and just move on.

Interestingly the Ian Tan Gallery will soon be moving across the street. According to their Twitter feed their building was sold three different times in only a 12 month period which shows the kind of frenetic activity going on in the commercial real estate market. The Gallery's present location was of course home to the Equinox Gallery for 25 years until they made the big move East back in 2012. At that time the gallery was rumoured to be paying $19,000 a month. Their move also set in motion an exodus of art galleries that left South Granville for cheaper digs in East Vancouver's industrial area in False Creek Flats. There's another great piece about the move done by the Vancouver Sun from 2012.

More empty stores on South Granville

So what does the future hold for this part of South Granville? Hard to tell but as we've seen in other high end retail strips like Fourth Avenue and Robson Street most likely big chain type retailers will probably move in. They do have the financial clout to hang in for the longer haul but make for a much less interesting shopping experience. But business is business and even the big name stores will suffer losses for only so long. Some big players have even given up on Robson Street in recent years because of astronomical rents. In any case it probably means many more small independent retailers will be forced out unless the City takes action which seems unlikely.