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Right off the bat, I can tell you that it is misleading when people say the vast majority of signs include English. This is true, but quite often there is significantly more information on signs in Chinese than English. I don't have to know the language to figure out that four or five lines of Chinese characters doesn't equate to one English word.
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Not sure why this is a problem. Most English signs/banners consist of a few words, Chinese or not Chinese. If you never heard of "Best Buy" before, I suppose someone could mistake it to be a grocery store. Does it matter that they don't have other words like "electronics", "DVDs", etc on their signs.
To me, what's more misleading is that Richmond is somehow this land of Chinese-only businesses. Richmond Centre and Aberdeen Mall are just like any other boring Canadian mall. Richmond even has an IKEA. Superstore is just like any other Loblaws grocery. Steveston is not at all Chinese. Do people get lost and confused in Aberdeen Mall? I mean, really? Daiso confuses people?
ETA: I am not exactly a Richmond booster. I live in Surrey, for goodness sake. I totally understand the frustrations of living in and around Richmond. But Chinese-only signs (which, again, are really infrequent) are the least of Richmond's problems.