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Chinatown barber says he has to move due to street crime and disorder

Click to play video: 'Chinatown business blames crime and street disorder for their move'
Chinatown business blames crime and street disorder for their move
WATCH: A barber with a 14-year history in Vancouver's Chinatown is pulling up stakes. When Dustin Grant opened bootleg barbers, he believed he could make a difference and help revive the community during the pandemic. But as Grace Ke reports, he's been worn down by month after month of disorder in the street outside his shop and is moving out.

A barber in Vancouver’s Chinatown has announced he is leaving the neighbourhood and moving to a new location.

Dustin Grant is the owner of Bootleg Barbers and told Global News he is moving because of crime and disorder in Chinatown.

He and his former business partner had high hopes when they moved into the neighbourhood in 2022 but says the problems in the Downtown Eastside are too much, adding it got to a point where clients did not want to come to Chinatown.

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“I have clients who have my cars broken into, windows smashed and just generally don’t want to come to this area because of all the sadness and homelessness and people who are on death’s door,” Grant told Global News.

Fred Kwok with the Chinese Cultural Centre said he believes things are improving and they are seeing a lot of foot patrol traffic.

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Grant said he plans to set up in East Vancouver.

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