A weird thing happened on Sunday.

I drove into the underground parking lot at my favourite Burnaby mall – Crystal Mall in the Metrotown area – and got a spot by the doors in exactly six seconds.

article continues below

Now, if you’ve ever gone to Crystal Mall on a typical Sunday you’ll know that the odds of nailing this are normally on par with winning the lottery or me snagging a date with Kate Winslet.

The Crystal Mall parking lot is a like a black hole where dreams go to die and only the sound of honking can be heard.

If this were a different time, I would have fist-pumped and shouted with joy. But I knew the reason why the parking lot was so empty was due to a sad situation.

Walking through Crystal Mall, it’s evident how devastating COVID-19 has been for the owners. Many stores are shuttered, while others have few, if any customers.

The food court, once one of the liveliest places to hang out in Burnaby is like a ghost town.

This isn’t unusual, of course, but that doesn’t make it any less devastating to witness in person.

And yet, the merchants are still smiling and even downright defiant in the face of a pandemic. I bought some fruit and produce and the shopkeepers were joking with me and providing excellent service.

Upstairs, I dropped by a few of my favourite eateries, buying Hainanese chicken rice, chilled duck wings and some bubble tea.

“We’re going to survive,” said one restaurant owner. “People are still coming for takeout.”

That is definitely true. There was a stream of customers coming by to order and take away food like I was doing. It’s good to see. Hopefully these businesses can take advantage of this new funding plan by the federal government to get 75% of their rent paid to ease the crisis.

Anyways, I’m going to keep going to Crystal Mall to buy food. It’s too good to lose forever.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.