Storefront Survival: B.C. Retail in the Era of the Big Box Store
Shopping in Vancouver is undergoing tectonic change. Can B.C neighbourhood retail survive in the era of the big box store?
It’s a summer day in North Vancouver’s Deep Cove, and a merchants’ association event is in full swing. On Gallant Avenue, a lemonade stand does a brisk business while kids paint up a storm at an art-supply station. An entertainer performs tricks, sings songs and hands out balloons for the crowd. These street-front festivities are being financed by nearby LaLa Home Decor Ltd., a home decor and gift boutique.
In December LaLa will throw a wine-and-cheese party for 150 invited guests. According to store clerk Meagan Warren, the adults-only fete is also a big hit: “Customers are always asking, ‘When’s the party?’” But while the event may be billed as a free night of fun, it’s also about business; the party takes place in the store, where the till is kept running. “People come and do all their Christmas shopping. It’s part of the experience of this community,” says Warren. Welcome to the new face of retail.
According to Retail BC CEO Mark Startup, retailers such as LaLa are getting it right. Materially besotted baby boomers, he posits, are abandoning a desire for “more stuff” in favour of “better experiences.”
“We want to enjoy ourselves,” Startup says. In other words, affluent consumers expect more from their retailers than the conventional delivery of goods and services. And retailers that don’t make an effort to meet that expectation may not survive.
There are more than 30,000 retailers in B.C., most of them small and medium-sized. They generate more than $52 billion annually in sales, making them a significant provincial business sector. Yet competition has never been stiffer. “It’s never been more challenging or competitive in Canada for the retailer,” says Startup. “The market has matured, creating enormous pressure on Canadian owners and operators to improve their efficiencies.”
While sales are growing by between six and seven per cent a year, net annual profits currently hover between three and four per cent – that’s nearly half what they were 20 years ago. With high volume, low margins and national and global brands nudging their way into community-minded neighbourhoods, it’s survival of the fittest. And the fittest are those that turn the simple act of shopping into an experience.
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