UPDATE: I have just been informed that the former Costco location on Grandview Highway is now a Walmart, so I guess my dream of a Walmart-less Vancouver has been dashed.
Stories like this are one of the main reasons I am happy that the City of Vancouver, unlike its suburban neighbours, has shut Walmart out of the city limits.
Truth in advertising.
Yes, I am aware that big box stores are not a new phenomenon in this city, and that somehow local retailers have fought on and survived in the face of adversity. But somehow, I can’t help but feel as though Walmart’s inability to enter the Vancouver landscape is a decision that serves as the last vestige of an era where being considered a big, “world class” metropolis wasn’t the preoccupation of the powers that be (or residents, for that matter).
Left-wing anti-corporate zeal? Hardly. For a city that is so hard pressed to find its soul, Vancouver needs more Akmal Hafizis and Kabul Markets to not only survive, but thrive.
Sad to see the Kabul Market shutting its doors.