VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — You have to have nerves of steel to get into business in Vancouver right now, according to the executive director of the South Granville Business Improvement Association.

Sharon Townsend says the small business shopping corridor currently has a vacancy rate between six and eight per cent. “Vancouver is no longer really a city where a small business can test their skills or learn their skills. They have to go somewhere else. It’s just way to expensive,” says Townsend. “I’m not seeing any great influx of businesses that are willing to take on that financial risk because the economics are just not there.”

Business turnover is common in any city but Townsend says the popularity of online shopping, properties being targeted by developers, and high property taxes mean the risk to set up shop for a small business just isn’t worth it. “I think we’re going to be shocked over the next few weeks, as we start to see the tax roll out and the pressure coming to small business from redevelopment.”

Townsend says, when every dollar counts, adding even $60,000 to a business’s property tax means small stores and shops have to make major cuts. She predicts staff would be the first to go.

The harsher than usual winter has also been a factor for local small businesses, reducing pedestrian traffic due to ice and cold. “It can be as small as two weeks of ice on the roads and nobody is shopping.”

NOTICING A CHANGE

Shoppers who frequent South Granville from Broadway Avenue to 16th Avenue say they have noticed a change in the makeup of the area, although not all of the change is negative.

“There’s been a change over from fine art to furniture and other things over the past couple years,” one shopper tells NEWS 1130. “I like the mix of furniture stores, cooking stores, and clothing stores. There’s a good variety.”

Other shoppers point to a few empty storefronts along the stretch with some concern.

“I think it maybe is the affects the economy a little bit, there’s a bit of a slowdown.”

“It looks like some restaurants are closed, so maybe the people are going someplace else.”

“It’s also been a really tough winter. There has been a lot of rain and snow and people just haven’t gotten out as much.”

Townsend says she doesn’t know of any “magic bullet” to fix the issue but she implores people to support their local businesses. She also would like to see a review of BC Assessment.