While residents and businesses in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are disappointed and devastated that London Drugs is leaving its Woodward’s location, not everyone is giving up on the neighbourhood.
Across from the Canadian pharmacy chain’s store, which is set to close Feb. 1, Akam Bains has been pulling 14-hour days following the launch of his retro diner, Aureliana, late last year.
“It’s got to be in your blood, so for me, it doesn’t really feel like work,” Bains told Global News in an interview Thursday.
In his newly renovated space at 156 West Hastings Street, the chef/owner is offering affordable, casual food in what he describes as a ‘no frills’, ‘come as you are’ restaurant.
The concept was inspired by Bains’ time cooking comfort food at the Fresgo Inn, where he watched now-retired chef/owner Walter Wolff build a community of regular diner patrons.
“I don’t think there’s a better feeling,” Bains said. “I am very set on creating my own community here and helping out as much as I can.”
On Wednesday, London Drugs announced it would be pulling out of its location in the Woodward’s complex.
Citing years of staff safety concerns and significant operating losses at the Abbott Street store, the retailer said it has become unsustainable to continue operating there.
“I’m sad to see it go, but then at the same time, I understand why,” Bains said. “All the vandalism, theft, violence – were no strangers to it.”
Since opening in mid-October, Bains said he’s experienced a break-in attempt and had his garbage cans set on fire, damages he was forced to pay out-of-pocket for.
“The systemic problems that exist on the Downtown Eastside continue to fester and make it very difficult for businesses to survive,” said Grand Union Pub manager Jillian Skeet.
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Skeet said the area is still feeling the loss of Army & Navy, which closed in May 2020.
“It’s devastating, we just keep losing goods and services,” Skeet told Global News Thursday. “I’m just worried what’s next.”
The impending closure of London Drugs also means the Downtown Eastside’s only postal outlet will be lost, after the Chinatown post office on Main Street near Hastings closed in November.
Skeet said that it will have a huge impact on the many residents living with disabilities or limited mobility.
“It’s going to make it very, very difficult,” she said in an interview.
“The loss of this store means it really is time for more of us to shout about the deteriorating conditions in this neighbourhood,” said real estate consultant and urban planner Michael Geller.
Geller said the Woodwards redevelopment in 2009 was seen as a model for the regeneration of the neighbourhood – with a mix of ownership, rental and social housing plus new retail.
With its anchor tenant soon to vacate, three of the seven retailers listed on the ‘Welcome to Woodward’s’ sign, will be gone.
Fed up with crime, café JJ Bean closed its doors in the summer of 2023, and TD Bank, which had its windows smashed twice within weeks in 2022, moved out of 109 West Hastings Street in 2024.
“As all these stores move out and the vacant derelict storefronts take their place, it really is a very, very disappointing and indeed tragic thing for the neighbourhood,” Geller told Global News.
Last month, Vancouver city council approved a major Downtown Eastside zoning policy shift, reducing the social housing required in new developments from 60 to 20 per cent.
Unfortunately, said Geller, the new rules still ban ownership housing in the heart of the Downtown Eastside.
“Without a broader socio-economic mix and more residents with increased civic pride, along with changes to a myriad of federal and provincial policies, we will not see the much-needed regeneration promised by the proponents of the new plan,” Geller said.
The Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association (BIA) said it was very surprised to hear London Drugs was shuttering despite intentional efforts to preserve the location – including a new Gastown Hastings Crossing Community Policing Centre and enhanced VPD patrols.
In a statement to Global News, executive director Landon Hoyt said much of the action from government has been focused on policing, which doesn’t solve the full challenge.
“The loss of London Drugs demonstrates that we can’t just police our way to prosperity,” said Hoyt. “We need a fulsome economic plan that stimulates the local economy, providing people with accessible jobs as well as affordable places to shop and socialize.”
A strong community economic development plan, said the Hastings Crossing BIA, would complement changes to the residential rezoning for the Downtown Eastside.
Bains, who lives across the street from Aureliana and knows the neighbourhood very well, said he’s determined to survive, and do what he can to bring people and food together.
“Diners for me have always been that kind of safe space,” he said. “Everyone here treats you like a friend.”
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