Small, Local Shops Saw Little Profit During Olympics

When the Vancouver 2010 Olympics came around, business was supposed to be booming. But when athletes and tourists left town, many store owners were left disappointed with profits made during the Olympic season.

“Business was terrible,” said Graeme Teixera of Beadworks on Granville Island. “[The city] put paid parking [on Granville Island] and it drove away all the locals.”

“Business was down by 50 percent,” Teixera said, “I know Edie Hats was down by 66 percent. We are talking serious numbers here.”

Teixera believes that the use of paid-parking on Granville Island chased the locals out of the area because most people arriving on the Island were parking to attend Olympic events. The people that did visit the Island came to fill up the restaurants, and left. They didn’t come to shop.

Erin Lawson of The Umbrella Shop also agreed that restaurants were one of the only successful areas of business on Granville Island, though The Umbrella Shop did see an increase in sales.

“We were a lot busier than most places on the Island,” said Lawson, “our sales almost doubled, and the amount of people coming into the store was comparable to Christmas time.”

The Umbrella Shop is located on the main route from the Olympic Line to the main shopping area on Granville Island, and Lawson said location, as well as the unusual store name, was the reason the shop was so successful.

In other areas of the city, location appeared to play a key role in sales. Granville Street, the main attraction for tourists, was filled with people, however not all shops raked in the same levels of cash.

A small flower stall located by the London Drugs on Granville, said that business was only slightly busier than usual.

“I was expecting a lot more [sales]” said Josephine Alesna, an employee for the flower business. “But I suppose people didn’t want to carry the flowers with them.”

Chapter's Regional Marketing Manager for Western Canada, Charlene Kettlewell, said that the Chapters location on Robson experienced a significant amount of traffic during the Games.

"The Robson store, being across from the BC Pavilion and the zipline--saw a dramatic increase in traffic," said Kettlewell, "we had a lot of fun with the customers."

The Chapters location hosted Olympic pin trading, had visits from many local authors, and sold official Olympic merchandise.

Kettlewell said that local and nature books were very popular during the games, and they sold out of many items.

Cherry Bomb’s location on Granville Street was too busy to comment on sales, but the store, which sold customized Canadian T-shirts, appeared to be busy all throughout the Olympics.

Graeme Teixera of Beadworks also agreed that the downtown area was the most successful.

“They [city officials] were focusing on Granville Street and Robson Street,” said Teixera. “All they were worried about was putting flags up on The Bay, and letting The Bay sell Olympic hats, scarves, t-shirts and memorabilia."

While the profits of Vancouver businesses fluctuated throughout the city, nothing was comparable to the profits of Olympic Merchandise.

The Official Olympic store at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Granville location saw lineups out the door throughout the Olympic Games, and is still seeing a steady stream of people looking for Olympic Merchandise.

Darren Roberts of the Hudson’s Bay Company said that Olympic merchandise sales were five times higher than gear sold for the 2006 Turin Olympic Games 4 years-ago.