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Small retailers follow the trend: Buy, don’t rent.

November 16th, 2010 · 9 Comments

One of the sadder urban events for many of us is when a long-time business is forced out of its location when an area gets hip and rents go up. I still haven’t really recovered from the way Galloway’s got pushed off Robson Street back in the 90s sometime.

I’ve tried to work out in my own mind something that city halls or businesses could do so that they’re not so subject to market craziness and we get to keep those shops who form part of the identity of our neighbourhoods. Some people might say, yes, it’s all very sad but we can’t protect businesses that aren’t succeeding.

However, there have been many occasions when businesses that are actually successful still get forced out because the rents spiral way beyond the normal rate of increase. (Kind of like what most of us have experienced in the housing market.) That was the case for Duthie Books, which was doing well, but just couldn’t absorb a significant, beyond-inflation rent increase.

So when I heard about this trend of retail shops buying their own places, it gave me some hope for the future. Now, to find a way for small retailers with limited cash reserves to get into the property-owning business …

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