Bill's Glass

Bill's Glass was probably one of the oldest businesses on Main Street since they started out way back in 1977. So in 2019 that made them 42 years old. The picture I took of their shop back in late 2014 shows the storefront as I like to remember it. A little bit old and funky with the hand painted signage and the guitars in the window which were of course made of glass! This one photograph was the impetus for me to start photographing more storefronts around the neighbourhood and the across the city as well.

Since 2014 much has changed on Main Street and all over Mount Pleasant. When a big real estate developer calls the area where you live "the hottest neighbourhood in Vancouver" you know changes will be on the way. Of course depending on what you do this could be a blessing or a curse. For many businesses the changes in the neighbourhood mean higher taxes and rents. So in 2017 Bill's updated their storefront with a more modern look. As the area seemed to be upscaling they finally decided to change with the times.

But at the end of July in 2019 Bill's suddenly closed up shop. The business is still going but a sign in the window said they were closing their retail store as they were overworked and under staffed. They even retired their main phone number as well suggesting the best way to contact them was through email. I'm sure there's more to the story as there have been many sudden business closures in Mount Pleasant throughout 2019.

 Some other casualties in 2019 included Don't Argue Pizza (sold to new owners), Kea Foods, Kam's Bakery and Restaurant, as well as the Nice Cafe on East 8th. I'm sure skyrocketing taxes are most likely to blame. Kea Foods reportedly had to pay $50,000.00 in City taxes last year. That's pretty tough for small business owners who are probably stretched just trying to make a go of things.

A-1 Cycle on Main Street

What can you say about A-1 Cycle? It was truly a Main Street institution. From what I've been able to figure out the shop had been around at 3743 Main Street since the 1980's. With its old school storefront the business was unpretentious both inside and out. Kind of unusual when bike shops have become a hip kind of deal. Here's a photo of the storefront taken in the fall of 2017.

The shop was run by a father and son team. John Quon and his son Rob. The Vancouver Sun did a story about the shop back in 2016. Check out the piece here. At that time the elder Mr.Quon was 85 years old and seemed to be showing no signs of slowing down. But a recent walk up Main Street revealed the shop has closed up and all the windows are covered from the inside. Times are changing on Main Street and maybe Mr.Quon decided to ride into the sunset so to speak and enjoy some retirement. The bike business seems to be very competitive and I'm sure with City taxes profits might have been getting slim. But the store's closing is just one of many on Main Street in 2019 where a long established business suddenly shutters its operations. Other closures further North on Main Street include Bill's Glass, Kea Foods, Kam's Bakery and Restaurant, and the Nice Cafe in the heart of Mount Pleasant. Here's a shot of the empty storefront in Decemeber of 2019.

Whatever business takes over A-1's old space I'm sure it will be a bit more upscale (ie paying more rent) to fit in with the boutiques, cafe's, and eateries that make up today's Main Street.

Kea Foods on Main Street

Kea Foods was one of those unassuming stores that seems like it had always been part of the neighbourhood. One of those places that's always just there. So familiar in fact that I actually have very few photographs of the place at Main and East 10th. It was probably one of the oldest independent businesses in Mount Pleasant that had been going for 25 years! But that all came to an abrupt end at the beginning of May when the store suddenly closed its doors.

The store's closure is probably yet another case of the fact that in Vancouver businesses pay a much higher rate of tax than residential owners. Over the last few years land values have been skyrocketing in Mount Pleasant and there has been quite a turnover of small businesses around the neighbourhood. If you take into consideration triple net leases where taxes on the property are passed onto tenants it's no surprise that many small shops just can't make a go of it. With Kea Foods their tax bill to the City in 2018 was in the order of $60,000.00 according to a report by CTV News.

But I don't think taxes were Kea Foods only problem. I stopped shopping there years ago as I noticed much of their produce was pretty poor quality. I saw too many wilted lettuces, sagging carrots, and sad looking celeries. Plus the inside of the store just looked plain grubby. Recently I checked on Yelp and the reviews of the store were not kind! Many complained of outdated products being sold as well as goods that were obviously stale. Not to mention surly staff!

In many ways Kea Foods doesn't fit the narrative for today's Mount Pleasant (and Main Street). With all the upscaling going on in the neighbourhood a slightly rough around the edges organic-bulk foods-produce shop would be more at home on East Hastings Street or maybe Victoria Drive. Compared to some of the newer businesses in the neighbourhood you could say that Kea was in desperate need of an update! If you look back 5 years or so there were plenty more funky little shops around. Before Denman Bikes moved in just across the street Royal Furniture had occupied that space for decades. But it had devolved into a bit of a junk store before it finally closed in 2014. Down on Broadway the VGH Thrift store as well as Reno's Restaurant are another couple of examples of the "old" Mount Pleasant that are now gone.

So what does the future hold for 2600 Main Street? Only time will tell but I'm guessing the building will need a considerable makeover before someone else takes it over.

The Big Cover-up - Part Two

So in my earlier post we found that covering up old storefronts and building facades became "the thing to do" starting in the 1950's. Finding old photos of downtown Vancouver during this period has proven a bit difficult. But the Vancouver Archives has another great image of the 400 block of West Hastings Street taken back in 1974 (CVA 718-144). This picture has been used on many other blogs as it's a great illustration of how the city used to look decades ago. But for my purposes it's a great example of how old buildings and storefronts were covered up!

The covering for the Sheppard Shoes storefront was probably porcelain enamel panels. This baked on finish offered brighter colours and was highly resistant to fading and weathering. It was first used for gas stations and their related signage which are highly collectable today. The Reitman's Store is great example of slipcovering with corrugated aluminum. In both cases the upper stories of the buildings were covered over and were probably used for storage or inventory. This provided lots of space for signage. One of the largest suppliers of aluminum slipcovering was the Kawneer Company originally from Niles Michigan. Although they were a US company they did have a factory to supply the Canadian market in Toronto Ontario. Here are a few images from an old Kawneer catalogue from the 1950's promoting the use of their siding called Zourite (don't you love that name?) to modernize old buildings and storefronts.

Today the siding that was once covering the Reitman's store has been taken down revealing the old turn of the century building underneath. Back in the 1980's the Sheppard Shoes building was taken over by the Millar and Coe fine china shop next door. Interestingly both storefronts were then covered with aluminum siding which was exactly when slipcovering was starting to go out of style. Today Millar and Coe are long gone and the space is being used by Mott Electric but the metal siding is still there. It would be great if they removed the paneling as I'm sure their are some fine looking old buildings hiding underneath. Interestingly in both cases the buildings are not being used for retail purposes anymore.

The Big Cover-up - Part One

Well, after a bit of a hiatus Storefront Vancouver is back with more great posts for 2018!

If you've ever been in downtown Vancouver you've probably noticed the building that houses the Church of Scientology at the North West corner of Hastings and Homer Street. Today it looks a bit odd with its funky mirrored paneling. But interestingly enough it's a great example of what happened to many old buildings in downtowns around North America in the 1950's, 60's and 70's. They were covered up!

By the late 1950's the move was on to the suburbs and retail was shifting to the shopping mall. Many downtowns had older stone or masonry buildings constructed in the late 1800's or turn of the century which were now looking a bit dated. The building at 401 West Hastings was a prime example of this as it dates from 1909. This photo was taken by W.J.Moore in 1931. Moore is of course known for his panoramic images of Vancouver. (Vancouver Archives str N281.2)

So in order to try and lure shoppers back to the downtown buildings and storefronts were covered up with slipcovers of paneling and corrugated metal siding. The new facades could then be covered with large modern signs. This 1974 image below from the Vancouver Archives (CVA 778-145) shows Peoples Jewellers with its modern looking mirrored panels which are still there today. The building next door was covered with metal siding and was home then to Reitman's.

By the 1980's slipcovering of older building began to go out of style and many downtowns rediscovered the older buildings that had been hidden away for decades. Today there are only a few buildings and storefronts left in Vancouver that are still covered up.

Check out Part Two in this series of The Big Cover-up!

Fantasy Factory on Granville

I was looking through some older images recently and came across a few of an Adult XXX store on Granville Street that's not around anymore. This store was part of the Fantasy Factory chain and was in the Clifton Hotel at 1127 Granville Street. As far back as 2009 it seemed like Granville Street still had plenty of Adult stores. But seeing as the 2010 Winter Olympics were just around the corner suddenly several quietly disappeared. Whether this was by design or by natural selection it's hard to tell. The City did do an extensive redesign of Granville Street in preparation for the big events in 2010. Here's a photo of the Fantasy Factory storefront in the fall of 2009.

Since 2009 many old stores along Granville Street have been renovated hoping to attract higher end tenants. This has met with mixed success. Many different shops have come and gone since then but it seems like restaurants and eateries have had the most staying power. Here's another old shot of the storefront from the fall of 2010.

It seemed like this location of the Fantasy Factory was going to hang in there but that all changed in 2014. At that time the Hotel Clifton was making the news for all the wrong reasons. It seems the tenants who lived in the rooms upstairs were complaining of substandard living conditions. Instead of seeing improvements they were met with eviction notices! Thus began a long protracted battle between the owners of the hotel and City Hall. Basically the hotel was eventually emptied out and then put up for sale. So by the end of 2014 the Fantasy Factory was gone as well. Here's a photo of how the hotel looked in late 2014.

A Google search reveals the hotel has been sold and it had an asking price of $7,788,000.00! So hopefully the new owners will renovate the old place as it's been empty for three years now. I'm thinking the Fantasy Factory won't return though. It was part of a chain and there are still quite a few sprinkled around the greater Vancouver area. But with it's neon signs it did give Granville Street a bit of gritty charm at night.

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.