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Business owners in Downtown Eastside say tent removals did little to improve sense of safety

Some Downtown Eastside business owners say the recent removal of tent encampments has done little to increase foot traffic in the area or improve their sense of safety.

A number of small business owners in the Hastings-Crossing neighbourhood say they are speaking out in hopes of saving their livelihoods, mental health and bringing about substantive changes to their area.

“I feel like it’s clear it’s been neglected,” said Linda Ly.

In 2015, Ly opened Onyx Nail Salon on Abbott Street, just off East Hastings Street. She says the area has declined considerably since, particularly during the pandemic.

WATCH | Safety concerns remain in Downtown Eastside, say business owners:

Downtown Eastside businesses say tent removals did little to improve safety

One month after tents were removed from Vancouver’s East Hastings street, businesses near the centre of the Downtown Eastside say little has changed, and in some cases, believe the decampment has made things worse.

She says worries for her and her all-female staff’s safety more than ever, and keeps her doors locked at all times.

“I’ve got spat on,” said Ly. “The [female staff] got chased here.”

Shortly after tents were formally removed on April 5 and 6, she says a naked man chased one of her employees into the salon and kept rattling the door after she ran inside and locked it.

Ly says she wants governments to move quicker in helping people struggling with mental health and drug use, and not just focus on cosmetic changes like removing tents.

Rasa Shadmani says more people have been camping in front of her pizza shop since tents were removed in early April by the city of Vancouver. — Rasa Shadmani says she often works alone and is worried about the disturbances and thefts at her pizza shop just off East Hastings Street. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

Her neighbour, Rasa Shadmani, who owns Tanoor Pizza, is pushing for similar action.

Since tents were removed, she says more people have been camping and sleeping outside her front door.

She tries to help and offer food, but she says she finds most people are rarely hungry. Instead, she believes they need support in other ways.

“They need their space to live, they need home,” said Shadmani.

Shadmani adds that people experiencing mental health and drug use episodes end up in her restaurant at least four times a week.

It leaves her barely able to sleep, she says, worried for her employees and spending nearly all her waking hours at work.

CBC's Lien Yeung speaks to Justin Hall who sets up shop daily along Abbott Street near East Hastings to sell his wares. — CBC’s Lien Yeung talks to Justin Hall, who sets up shop daily

Small business owners balance rising costs with keeping customers happy: survey

Almost a third of Canadian small business owners raised prices by more than 10 per cent in 2022 to offset rising costs, a survey found — and the trend is continuing this year.

The survey by Ownr, a small business and legal management platform backed and operated by RBCx, found that so far in 2023, more than 23 per cent of small business owners have raised prices by more than 10 per cent.

“The two major concerns for entrepreneurs right now are both cash flow issues and then the backdrop of inflation,” said Derek Hopfner, chief revenue officer at Ownr.

Inflation has been moderating from last year’s highs, but remains elevated, with a reading of 4.3 per cent in March. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada is holding interest rates high in its bid to fight inflation.

Some of the other pressures most acutely facing small firms right now are labour supply and cost, borrowing costs and supply chain issues, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ monthly Business Barometer index report.

Though it’s a difficult decision for a small-business owner to make, Hopfner said eventually entrepreneurs have to translate those concerns into higher prices.

“There is this kind of balance between what makes sense from a margin perspective as a business owner, and then making sure that you’re able to attract customers as well,” he said.

Hopfner said he’s seeing more people start businesses as a reaction to economic uncertainty so they can make additional income.

“It’s really interesting to see both if you’re operating the business already, how you react to (inflation), but what you might do if you’re not operating a business yet, and how you might choose entrepreneurship as a path for supplementary income,” he said.

Almost a quarter of the small business owners surveyed said they started their business as a way to make additional revenue, a number Ownr said is increasing from previous surveys.

Natasha Acuba-Bailey is one of many entrepreneurs whose side hustle has turned into their full-time job. Acuba-Bailey launched Burnaby, B.C.-based Telly’s Manila Kitchen in 2020, selling jarred adobo flakes, a Filipino food, featuring her grandmother’s recipe.

At the beginning of 2022, Acuba-Bailey decided to leave her job in retail and make Telly’s her main gig.

Since she took that leap, inflation has soared, sending the costs of materials and raw ingredients up with it. For example, she said the cost

Business owners upset over Lethbridge Hotel cleanup

LETHBRIDGE –

In the early hours of Feb. 24, the historic Lethbridge Hotel caught fire, destroying a significant portion of the building.

It was also the beginning of troubles for businesses and residents along 2nd Avenue S. and 5th Street S.

“I’m sure myself and all the other businesses on our block, we got woken up to text messages, emails, messages asking if our businesses were OK. Thankfully, all of our businesses were OK, at least in our building,” said Chantale Noel, owner of Hole Lotta Love Piercing Studio.

Some businesses surrounding the hotel had to close due to smoke damage.

Those that managed to stay up struggled due to fences and barricades set up by the city as part of cleanup efforts and safety precautions.

Foot traffic was cut by as much as 75 per cent, according to businesses across the street from the hotel.

“If we have 10 customers a day, now we have two customers. First, everybody thought we were closed. And second, the weather didn’t help because it was very cold and nobody wants to walk like four blocks to come and eat at our restaurant,” said Imad Dalank, owner of Beirut Shawarma and Kabab.

A bad situation was made worse on March 7, when a nearby water main broke and left several feet of water in the basements of the nearby businesses.

That forced what businesses had managed to stay open to close until the damage from the flooding could be fixed.

“The fire department comes in and tells us all we have to leave. The basement was flooding … Unfortunately, our one neighbour, Atomic Cannabis, his business is completely destroyed. The rest of us have faired as well as we can, considering,” Noel said.

Business owners are frustrated by what they’ve had to deal with the past few weeks.

They want to know when they can reopen and when demolition of the hotel will be finished.

“We pay taxes like everybody else. We pay bills like everybody else. We just need the city to put some attention here on this corner,” Dalank said.

The City of Lethbridge says it understands why businesses around the Lethbridge Hotel are frustrated, but it can’t provide a timeline on when the

Owners of small businesses say they feel left out of B.C.’s budget

When Alper Tasdurmaz opened his Turkish-style bakery in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood in 2018, business was good. So good, in fact, he was able to open another location along Broadway.

But a series of unfortunate events followed: the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly rising costs associated with running a business, and the construction in front of his second shop have created significant challenges.

That’s why he and many other small business owners were disappointed when B.C.’s budget came out on Tuesday.

“All the budget goes to some other places but not any part of it to the small and medium business,” he said. “It was really frustrating.”

Chris Jones, who owns and operates two restaurants in Victoria, B.C., says he, like Tasdurmaz, would have liked to see something in the budget offering relief to businesses that are still recovering from pandemic losses while simultaneously experiencing increased costs.

He said food prices are up 11.4 per cent and passing that cost on to customers wouldn’t work.

“There’s going to be a threshold of sticker shock for our consumer where 11.4 per cent on a $17 plate of food is $2,” he told On The Island host Gregor Craigie. “Increasing our menu prices $2 per year is not sustainable.”

The budget focused heavily on rebates and tax credits to address affordability for individuals and families.

But, Tasmaduraz says, he pays taxes too, and his business is his livelihood.

“We are helping the economy too in B.C., but we cannot get any supports from the local government.”

Increased carbon tax a particular concern

Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce CEO Cory Redekop says the chamber had previously asked the province for help lowering the costs associated with doing business in B.C.

“The rising costs we are all seeing in our personal lives are also hitting our small businesses, and making it harder and harder to for them to succeed,” Redekop said in a press release.

“This budget missed an opportunity to underpin B.C. small businesses as they head into a time of economic headwinds.”

Of particular concern, according to the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, was the increased carbon tax.

Beginning April 1, the carbon tax will increase by $15 per tonne annually, until it hits $170 in 2030. This applies to the purchase and use of fossil fuels — which Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Fiona Famulak said will hit small businesses hard.

“This is going