Dear Editor,
Independent or Mom and Pop retailers, such as those that make the village of Steveston so unique and tourist-friendly, are driven out of existence by two factors: A) when malls or big-box retailers draw too many customers away, and, B) when districts or neighbourhoods become so popular or attractive to foreign investors that landlords begin to increase rents to a point where long-established small retailers can no longer afford to stay in business.
In the most egregious cases, rents are sometimes doubled or even tripled when leases expire.
The former will probably never impact Mom and Pop businesses in Steveston to any significant degree, but we should be wary of the latter affecting the business makeup of the village to the extent that only high-end or chain stores will be able to afford to rent storefronts on its main streets.
If this occurs, then the independent retailers who have been responsible for imbuing Steveston with its unique character and shopping experiences and friendly small-town atmosphere will be driven out and the area will become as sterile and generic in personality as every strip mall in the city.
And with every new building and their accompanying high storefront rental rates, the likelihood of this trend transforming Steveston into something very different than what it is now is increases exponentially.
Unique, personalized businesses, or ones that are common to every other part of the city and the Lower Mainland? It’s as simple a question as that.
(Note: for an informative expose of why Mom and Pop businesses are an endangered species, watch the documentary Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop 2005)
Ray Arnold
Richmond
