A downtown Vancouver business says it has been forced to spend more than $300,000 in the last three years in costs related to crime in its neighbourhood.
The Wild Life Thrift Store on Granville Street said the money has gone to repairs and security.
The latest expense came Tuesday when someone smashed its plate glass windows overnight with a rock.
“It’s the fifth one this year,” manager Nikhil Thayavalliyil said of the broken window. “They just took stuff from the mannequin and left.”
Broken windows aren’t the only issue the store is dealing with.
Theft is so common that the business has hired full-time security with the authority to detain and handcuff people caught stealing.
Employees are also frequently harassed and spat on Thayavalliyil said.
“Whenever we tell them to leave the store they come over and spit on the person who is behind the till or the person who is next to them,” he said.
“There are a lot of new employees in the store and when they see this stuff they get scared.”
Security guard Japinder Pal Singh told Global News he’s been spat on at least 20 times in the eight months he’s worked at the store, and frequently has things thrown at him.
“To be honest, all the time I am afraid doing my job here,” he said, adding he frequently finds weapons on people.
“Knives are normal. Bear spray, pepper spray, batons, all sorts of weapons.”
He said he ends up having to handcuff someone at least twice a day.
Statistics from the Vancouver Police Department show property crime was below pre-pandemic levels for the first quarter of 2024, with decreases in theft and break-and-enters.
But some business owners say those statistics don’t reflect their reality.
Wild Life Thrift Store co-owner Karla Ahlqvist pins the blame on the nearby former Howard Johnson hotel, which was converted to supportive housing in 2020.
“I don’t think you can go an hour without an incident,” she said.
“Something like someone screaming or an outburst that’s enough to frighten people. Because these people are so unpredictable, you don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
In a statement, the housing ministry said it was “not aware of any criminal activity that has been connected with residents of the Luggat, formerly the Howard Johnson.”
The ministry went on to encourage the business to reach out to BC Housing with its concerns.
Premier David Eby said that downtown businesses are grappling with crime, which he attributed to a combination of organized retail theft and people struggling with the effects of the toxic drug crisis.
“We have funded directly downtown (business improvement associations) to be able to provide things like beautification, for store owners to be able to replace broken windows and other blight issues they may be facing,” he said.
“For specific neighbourhoods, for example in the DT area we have been working closely with Chinatown.”
Last year the province launched the Securing Small Business Rebate Program which provides grants of up to $2,000 for graffiti or vandalism repairs, and up to $1,000 for prevention measures.
Eby said the recovery of foot traffic in the downtown core after the pandemic is helping but acknowledged there was more work to do.
The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association said it has hired two full-time security guards to patrol the district.