The Upper Village on Robson, from Hornby to Jervis Streets, is considered one of the more successful shopping streets in Canada – so any sign of extended vacancies raises questions about the street’s appeal or the state of bricks-and-mortar retail. Like these shopfronts in the 1100-block, now vacant and for lease for many weeks:
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Andrew Bibby, president and CEO of Grosvenor Americas, is quoted in Novae Res Urbis with a relevant observation:
… the Internet provides more selection than “box” stores and service from delivery companies such as UPS or Fedex is improving.
He said shopping streets are as important as malls.
“Robson Street seems to have overpriced itself and Granville Street is coming up.”
Or maybe it is the lack of separated bike lanes that is hurting business 🙂
You are almost there Richard…but try with Transit.
The lack of good legible transit hurt Robson street businesses:
and the situation is even direst on lower Robson (Incidentally the picture illustrating the article is near Bute, start to be to far to walk from Granville).
You can attribute this dire situation as a direct consequence of the recurring blockade at Robson square, basically discouraging people to go further west.of Burrard.
Add in the mix the Canada line funnelling people on Granville…and you will quickly understand the appeal of Granville.
A way to correct the situation is obviously to not have Viva using our tax $ to distract transit on Robson
and Rather to have them organize some programming on Bute,…that will encourage people to stroll on Robson street rather containing them East of Burrard…
Maybe the delis will return. Wurst case scenario!
There was once a time when the stores on Robson were unique – but they aren’t anymore.
There are only a handful of stores [for the young trendy shopper] on Robson that can’t be found at Metropolis or other regional shopping centres.
Armani Exchange and J Crew are the only ones that comes to mind.
Metropolis has most of the big players – Zara, H&M and Forever 21.
The renovated Holt Renfrew and the re-emergence of Hudson’s Bay with Top Shop / Top Man has added to the appeal of Granville St. – and remember the original retail blackhole downtown – Pacific Centre – which has been repositioning itself as a fashion centre.
Expect more unique shops when Nordstrom and the expanded mall open up in a couple of years.
Note that Granville isn’t necessarily immune either, as the Quicksilver location (formerly the Capitol 6 entrance) and the Puma store are both currently vacant – both are impressive high ceiling’d retail spaces that any tenant [should] kill for.