Granville Island merchants mull area’s future
With departure of Emily Carr University, businesses weigh in on what should take its place
By Glen Korstrom | Sept. 4, 2017, 8:08 p.m.
Granville Island merchants are ambivalent about Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD) officially vacating 190,000 square feet of space and moving nearly 1,900 students and 200 staff to a new campus on Great Northern Way at the end of August.
Instead of lamenting any loss of business, they are more likely to welcome the departure because they say that it might free up parking for paying customers.
Food vendors and restaurant owners say students tended to eat at ECUAD’s subsidized, on-site cafeteria, which offered cheaper fare than anything offered elsewhere on the peninsula, while other tenants say students did not spend much money on retail items – not even art supplies.
“Students provided way, way less than half of our business at the Granville Island store,” Opus Art Supplies vice-president Scott Cronshaw told Business in Vancouver.
His company operates seven stores in B.C. that sell primarily paints, canvas, paper and drawing accessories.
“The bulk of our sales on Granville Island is from individual artists and professionals, and Emily Carr leaving is a really good thing for those artists because the one Achilles heel is parking,” he said.
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https://www.biv.com/article/2017/9/granville-island-merchants-mull-areas-future/
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