Yet another Starbucks is opening on Robson Street, on Jervis Street, just two blocks away from the two Starbucks that sit facing each other at the corner of Robson and Thurlow.
This particular Starbucks is replacing the idiosyncratic Cow's Vancouver ice cream shop; for many years a tourist magnet because of the large statue of a cow outside.
It's sad, but it's typical of what's been slowly happening to Robson Street over the past 20 years. I can remember when Robson was funky - a slightly more sedate version of Commercial Drive, with bookstores (Duthies used to be on Robson, before financial troubles forced it to retreat to a single store), small restaurants, record shops and the wonderfully-smelling Galloway's Spices. Then slowly the chains started to move in. Virgin Records was the largest, taking over the old library. But there was also La Senza, Buffalo Jeans, Aveda, the Body Shop, and of course, Starbucks. And now Robson is lifeless, sterile. Oh yes, the sidewalks are crowded, especially on hot summer days like this; but there's no life to the street. A few of the old stores grimly hang on - such as Murchies - but most of them have gone. The stores that remain are not for locals; they're for the tourists. But even the idiosyncratic tourist places - such as Moose Magnets and Cows are in turn succumbing to the blander franchises such as Starbucks and Steamrollers.
I do wonder sometimes. Can there be that much demand for expensive coffee? Or will this new Starbucks merely cannabalize the sales of its sister stores and of the Blenz (a local franchise) on the next corner?
You can watch the slow march of the international chains down Robson from east to west. Now it's reached as far as Jervis. West of Jervis there are still many small businesses; an Asian grocery store, a funky kitchenware place, a greasy spoon, a non-Starbucks coffee shop, a used bookstore. This is the interesting part of Robson; where there's still life on the street. But for how much longer?
Posted by wetcoast at July 21, 2003 02:30 PM