Mine & Yours, Vancouver’s premiere luxury resale boutique, is being forced to close its iconic Howe Street location after a decade because of increasing crime rates.
“Howe Street was our first ‘real’ store. Before that, Mine & Yours was a live/work townhouse. As word spread about our hidden gem, we quickly outgrew our initial space and found a great offer at 1025 Howe Street. More than a decade ago, we planted our roots in Downtown Vancouver,” said owner Courtney Watkins.
“While the Howe Street store remains a customer favorite and has grown into a $1 million business, the neighborhood has changed dramatically. After enduring 10 broken windows over eight years, we’ve made the difficult decision to close this location and focus on our newer stores and online business.
“I myself have experienced my personal car being broken into while waiting for our store windows to be boarded up after a break in at Howe Street in recent years and that was kind of the last straw for me.”
Watkins said the last day the store will be open is June 28 but from June 14, it will be the last chance for customers to get the best designer deals at the lowest possible prices on a wide range of designer clothing and accessories at the Mine & Yours Howe Street store. Racks will be filled with leading designer brands starting at only $25 and ranging to $50, $100, and more, plus 20 per cent off on all new arrivals.
Watkins said the store has been compelled to shut its doors due to significant changes in the neighborhood, including the 10 break-ins and substantial inventory losses. The downtown neighborhood has unfortunately declined over time. Factors like safe injection sites across the street from the store and an overarching unsafe feel has become the norm. Numerous shop owners have experienced an increased rate of crime and break-ins in the area as well.
“Our neighbours have also experienced similar situations. The store right next door to us (CityLux Boutique) in fact had someone break in and steal an entire ottoman once,” added Watkins.
“Safety needs to be taken seriously, it is up to the city to see what can be done to make shop owners like myself and my team feel safe enough to continue doing business in certain areas. I think there should also be more accountability in the sense that people should have to pay for vandalism and crimes they commit rather than nothing happening to them.
“Thankfully we still have two great stores in other great areas, including 418 Davie Street in downtown Vancouver and 2061 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano and now we are at 79 Yorkville avenue as well in Toronto. We also are spending a lot of time and resources on our online store mineandyours.com and exciting pop ups so there’s more retail where that came from.”
Retailers in Canada are increasingly more concerned about the state of Canadian cities with crime, violence and safety issues negatively impacting their businesses.
In British Columbia, it’s reached a ‘crisis point’, according to the Save our Streets (SOS) initiative, which is a new public safety coalition demanding governments step in and deal with the issue.
Recently SOS said a Research Co. public opinion survey confirms that more than half of British Columbians think crime has worsened in the past four years and 51 per cent fear they will be a victim of crime.
The survey also indicates that 56 per cent of BC residents blame addiction and mental health issues for the dire circumstances being experienced in their communities, said SOS.
“Much of the crime and violence we are seeing is because the people suffering from addiction and mental illnesses do not have access to a full continuum of care when and where they need it,” said Jess Ketchum, co-founder of Save Our Streets (SOS). “Long-term solutions will only come if we provide those afflicted with these illnesses with the very best chance of leaving behind a life of addiction and committing crimes to feed a drug habit.”
SOS is calling on the provincial and federal government to:
- dramatically increase the opportunity for, and immediate access to, addiction and mental illness treatment, recovery and supportive housing on a regional basis in B.C.;
- broker the necessary agreements and judicial and legislative reforms to stop the revolving door for chronic repeat violent offenders; and
- invoke policies that make gangs fear their futures just as much as citizens across B.C. fear for their lives.
Ketchum said the criminal element preying on marginalized people, perpetuating addictions and encouraging crimes to support those addictions are the same people that are shooting up on streets and endangering everyone near them.
“In addition, there are near daily reports of drug dealers and producers exporting drugs to other countries from B.C.,” added Ketchum. “People in B.C. are dying, communities are deteriorating, businesses are closing, family supporting jobs are being lost, and community services are evaporating. It’s time for the public to demand real change.”
Save Our Streets is a coalition of 100 community and business organizations representing every region of B.C., which is committed to seeing governments bring order and public safety back to communities across British Columbia.
People have short memories. This same area was full of pawnshops and it was the second most popular part of downtown for drug users in the 1970s and well into the 1980s.
Just go on Google Streets and look at this location. It’s horrible, there’s nothing around and a seedy building across the street and an alley right next to the front door.
I used to live a block away at the Wall Centre (across from Courntey’s first ‘townhouse’ store on Hornby Street) — I lived there until 2012 and the area nearby has deteriorated since for a variety of reasons, including a shelter that was created from a former motel across from Mine & Yours. Vancouver is a lovely city but as a former resident who occasionally returns, I’ve noticed parts of the downtown core are not as nice as they were (and the Downtown Eastside is horrid, I walked into the area in January and it was tragic to see).
I am Wholesale sales rep and I visit stores all over downtown Vancouver and the lower mainland. The retailers all over the city are facing an uphill battle against crime and drugs and working hard while risking their lives and the lives of their staff( many have been threatened with weapons.) It is an even bigger problem for independent retailers without the support of a chain behind them. Every summer we get the unsuspecting tourism clients arriving to expect shiny streets and a pleasant views. They are seeing homelessness, drug use in the open, with no consequences and a mental health crisis from lack of housing and support. This is not just an issue of one retailer who was brave enough to last while she could. The glib comment by BD above is not relevant to these issues and insulting to the hard working retailers of our city. The Mayor and City Council need to do more to get this DT core back on track. We will loose our standing in the world community as a safe and pleasant city.