Changes On The Drive #104

I have been writing this series of posts every month for almost nine years now, and this is certainly the oddest month so far. The covid-19 virus has turned our vibrant street culture neighbourhood into something more like a small prairie town on a Sunday.  Even the Community Policing Office at 1977 Commercial, VanCity Savings, and the Grandview Lanes at 2195 are closed until date unknown.

One beautiful thing: Blossom Market had spring flowers on display outside. I was resting on a bench just by there and the fragrance was intoxicating.

As I have no news of openings or closures, nor any reviews to share, I thought it would be of interest to list the businesses that are still open — though that, of course, can change overnight.

 

Grocery & Convenience Stores

• Express News, 2289 Commercial
• Donald’s, 2279
• Dollar Grocers, 2210
• Blossom Market, 2091
• Drive Smoke Shop, 2084
• Vapstore, 1961
• Easy Shop, 1900
• La Grotta, 1791
• Persia Foods, 1730
• Grandview Smokes, 1721
• SuperValu, 1st & Commercial
• Liberty Wines, 1622
• Norman’s, 1604
• BC Liquor Store, 1520
• Fig Mart, 1472
• Pasture to Plate, 1420
• Daily Catch, 1416
• 7 Days Smoke, 1407
• Santa Barbara, 1322
• Choices, 1045
• East End Food Co-op, 1034
• Eternal Abundance, 1021
• Licorice Parlour, 1002
• Food Stop, 1698 Venables

Cannabis Outlets

• Vape, 2235 Commercial
• KultureKlub, 1735

Mail Services

• UPS, 2055 Commercial
• Post Office, 1424

Pet Stores

• Pet Smart, 2240 Commercial
• Marks, 1875
• Mr. Pets, 1710

Auto

• VAP, 2098 Commercial

Money

• Cash Mart, 2245 Commercial

Dollar Stores

• Dollar Store, 1983 Commercial

Book Stores

• Pulp Fiction, 1744 Commercial

Pharmacies

• Drive Pharmacy, 1684 Commercial
• CarePoint, 1623
• Shoppers Drug Mart, 1517
• Pharmasave, 1308
• Robin’s, 908

Cell Phone stores

• Fast Cell, in Il Mercato Mall

Interior Design

• Exposure Home, 1616 Commercial
• Kali, 1000

Hardware

• Home Hardware, 1575 Commercial

Cleaners and Laundries

• Washing Wells, 1910 Commercial
• Busy Bee, 1519
• Williams Laundromat, 1315

 

There are also a number of restaurants and cafes serving take-out and delivery. Sometimes hard to tell, so I decided not to try to list them.

This list seems quite long now that I look at it.  However, without the restaurants and the patios, and with so many people quite rightly staying at home, the Drive seems almost deserted. There were quite a few people in an orderly well-spaced line waiting to get orders from Livia‘s take-out window, but that was as close to a “crowd” as I saw anywhere.  At least we don’t have whole blocks with boarded-over storefronts like some parts of downtown this week. I sure hope we don’t get to that point.

I was surprised that the community parklet outside Prado‘s had been removed. I was also a bit annoyed because I really needed to sit down about then.

I was also surprised by some of the stores that were open.  Hard to imagine that selling expensive doo-dads for the home is an essential service at this time, for example.

 

Vacancies on the Drive this month:  2272 Commercial (vacant 9 months), 2223 (13 months), 2137 (2 months), 1752 (2 months), 1740 (8 months), 1608 (3 months), 1303 (6 months), 1012 (6 months), 1003 (2 months), 935 (2 months).

Obviously none of the “opening soon” businesses have opened and it is too soon to tell how many of our stores will not survive the “temporary” closure. So, I have simply updated last month’s lost of vacancies.

 

Previous Changes On The Drive editions.