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We are back with edition #129, thanks once again to Penny and Steve for walking the walk and feeding me information.
The big news of the month was, of course, the closure of Santa Barbara Market at 1320 Commercial. That has been covered elsewhere (here and here). There are hopes that the new owners will be re-opening as soon as this week, and we await what changes that may bring to the street. In the meanwhile, our report goes as usual from south to north.
At 2245 Commercial we have just what we needed — yet another smoke shop! This one is called Haze.
The dope store at 2223 Commercial, which was Cannabis Cantina, appears to have changed its name to VanCity Weed.
We are not sure if Dr. Tong at 2105 Commercial is still in business? It is padlocked and never seems to be open.
The Holy Smoke Bangladeshi Restaurant at 2017 Commercial seems to have failed. That’s a shame — lost a bit of our diversity.
The purchase by Dava Developments for $62.5m of the Il Mercato Mall from Millenium City Malls is listed as one of the top ten commercial real estate transactions of 2022. The entire site is scheduled for re-development within this decade.
The space that used to be Drive Cafe at 1670 Commercial has people working inside, so hopefully this will open as something new soon.
People’s Co-op Bookstore at 1391 Commercial is now officially open 7 days a week!
Party Rock at 1314 Commercial is now sporting a Closing Down Sale sign.
We have lost the Spank boutique at 1027 Commercial.
The long-time “opening soon” Nicli Pronto at 935 Commercial finally looks as if it is close to being open.
The former Covid Cafe at 931 Commercial is re-branding as the Pizza Bagel Cafe, with a new menu and some decorative changes.
Although it is a couple of blocks outside our usual boundaries for these posts, I believe it would be sad to move on without mentioning the death two weeks ago of Nick Felicella, the owner of what used to be Nick’s Spaghetti House next to the York Theatre at Commercial & Frances. Nick’s was always a warm and welcoming place to go for huge family-style Italian meals until it closed at the end of 2017. He will be missed.
Vacancies on the Drive this month:
2111 Commercial, 2096 Commercial, 2058 Commercial, 2017 Commercial, 1861 Commercial, 1858 Commercial, 1733 Commercial, 1670 Commercial, 1428 Commercial, 1340 Commercial, 1230 Commercial, 1124 Commercial, 1027 Commercial, 1020 Commercial, 935 Commercial
Previous editions of Changes on the Drive
Jak's View of Vancouver v.3 