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In praise of London Drugs times five, compassionate security, chez ouvrez at Signal Hill, and a dusty icon,

Retail strategy a smokescreen It's pretty ridiculous that the RMOW is dragging their feet in regards to the London Drugs Store in Whistler Village.

Retail strategy a smokescreen

It's pretty ridiculous that the RMOW is dragging their feet in regards to the London Drugs Store in Whistler Village. I've worked in one of those “Whistler-unique” stores that everyone thinks will go out of business if London Drugs comes to Whistler. I can say with 100 per cent certainty that the store I worked with had the same "made in China" bear magnets as each and every other "Whistler-unique" store has and made no effort to support local artists.

Places who have a great variety of locally made products will only complement what London Drugs can offer. The whole point of business is competition, and if these local owners can't understand that, then maybe it's time to rethink their business strategy.

Also, I don't understand how anyone can say the village is "boutique". Three Starbucks, plus another one in Creekside, Seattle's Best, Gap, Eddie Bauer, McDonald's, Cows, Rogers Chocolates, Body Shop, Guess?, and all those winter wear stores. How they can allow these huge, multinational chains here and not a Vancouver-based, 60-ish location store that's only in four Canadian provinces is beyond me. And, let's not mention the fact that Whistler is a company town to Intrawest, who's not even a Canadian company anymore.

So let’s hope that council does not adopt the retail strategy that so obviously was created as a smokescreen to keep London Drugs out of Whistler. Listen to the people — not the so-called experts — for once.

Kalee Eder

Whistler

 

Locals want London Drugs

We have been property owners in Whistler for 29 years, and full time residents for the past 17 years. We are writing with regard to the results of the retail survey recently presented to council. The survey concluded that Whistler did not need more retail space. That is an understandable conclusion if they conducted their survey in the village where there are so many vacant stores. If they were surveying the people walking around in the village, they weren’t talking to locals, they were questioning tourists. We have volunteered for two summers as Village Hosts and can attest to the fact that very few locals are to be found in the village, possibly because: (a) the village stores cater to tourists, (b) parking is not convenient, and (c) prices are not affordable.

We (along with more than 70 per cent of locals surveyed by telephone) strongly believe that London Drugs would help revitalize Whistler Village.   By converting unused space on a lower level to retail they would not alter the Whistler style storefront façade.

· They would provide free underground parking on the lower level, thus encouraging more village visits by locals and increasing traffic to village shops.

· They would provide affordable local shopping, and keep in Whistler the money that will otherwise find its way to Squamish and Vancouver.

· They will provide steady year round employment.

· They have promised a substantial donation to our new library.

· They are a B.C. company with a proven record of good corporate citizenship.

Remember, more than 70 per cent of the people who voted for you want London Drugs here. Please don’t let a few protectionist merchants influence your decision. We reject any policies that would prevent London Drugs from coming to Whistler, and so should you. Perhaps some of you remember the ill-advised rejection of the Chevron service station at White Gold entrance. That has left us with one service station and years of redundant automobile pollution as everyone in Whistler north of Creekside drives extra kilometres to buy gas. It’s time to get smart and vote for what’s best for all of Whistler.

Douglas and Sheila Dixon

Whistler

 

London town, anytown, Whistler Village

London Drugs is not the answer. Many people believe Whistler is unaffordable, but bringing in more large chain stores (Canadian or otherwise) is not the solution to this problem. Sure Whistler will be considered that much more affordable perhaps, more chains will move in, Whistler will get more affordable... but at what long term cost? At one point there were no fast food joints in Whistler (unless you count the past locally owned Peter’s Underground... I miss their huge plate of fries, that by the way were way cheaper than any large fast food joint). There were also few stores (if any) that were not owned by people who lived or weekended here. Slowly over the years more and more chain stores have crept in and the village has lost a lot of its charm because of this.

Now, it is also true that even in the days before chains in Whistler most locals would not have found much of what they needed in the locally owned stores. OK, so here is one of the problems. The other problem I think would be the high cost of rent that makes it easier for a corporate chain to afford a village location than a local entrepreneur, and that makes selling marked up crap to visitors more cost effective than day to day necessities for locals at affordable rates. One might argue that lack of affordable competition may also play a factor (but places like London Drugs have an unfair advantage — lots of fall back funds — that a local store owner likely does not have access to).

So what can we do? If we envision the village being a place where local business people feel they are able to open up shop, showcase their talent and skills, cater to both visitors’ needs for souvenirs and the needs of locals and weekenders for daily necessities, and still be a vibrant interesting place for everyone from Whistler and far away to gather... how do we get there?

Well, I believe we can come up with some better answers than London Drugs. I encourage anyone who is interested in affordability in Whistler (outside of housing) to look into getting involved with the Whistler 2020 Affordability group. I would also encourage people to spur on Councillor Ralph Forsyth's ideas about how to assist local entrepreneurs and work with him and others to make these kinds of programs happen. We need to put our heads together and look at the way forward, a way that should not include turning the village into “anytown” Canada.

See you all at the Sustainable Retail Strategy Open House.

Sara Jennings

Whistler

 

 

World class shopping needed

Re: Vacant retail space

As annual visitors to Whistler-Blackcomb, we have become increasingly dismayed by the amount of vacant retail space that has become prevalent throughout the village. Whistler-Blackcomb is a world class resort — often rated the No. 1 ski area in North America — and necessitates world class shopping. There is a captive, international audience and Whistler-Blackcomb would benefit from retail offerings that capture the interest of both casual and serious shoppers at all levels of the economic spectrum. Without occupied retail space with unique local fare and internationally recognized name-brands for the active, outdoors person and the “professional” shopper, Whistler-Blackcomb will lag/fail in its goal to be THE premier destination resort for all visitors.

We have read recently that there is interest in a large London Drugs mega-store, to be located in the main village area. This is extremely distressing, as the character of Whistler’s walking village would be greatly detracted by such a store, which would be better located outside the village area. Whistler-Blackbomb should not introduce a redundant market in the village — Pharmasave and Rexall drugs already exist. Instead, Whistler-Blackcomb needs to focus on filling the unoccupied retail space with business that will not only help to maintain the character of the village, but also invigorate the economy and bring more visitors to this year-round destination resort.

Mark Goldberg

Topsfield, Massachusetts

 

 

You know we want it

I am writing regarding the new retail strategy study done for Whistler Council, and the relationship this study has to London Drugs opening their doors in Whistler. I am very supportive of your doing the study, and very unsupportive of restricting any new retail in Whistler from data on the study.

I am very unsupportive of council restricting the village to no new retail stores. I feel this decision would be very short sighted with the Olympics in the near future here. Retail should be decided on a case by case method, rather than restricting all retail. Who knows what’s ahead in our future.

London Drugs would be new retail. London drugs would help our community as a whole, from affordable products, to obtaining products that are not now sold here. Many products that London Drugs sells would in fact help with what was found lacking in the retail strategy study. Also, the layout London Drugs has come up is very pleasing to the eye and has very little storefront visibility.

I feel that the idea of putting a halt to any more new retail in Whistler has been brought about by council, specifically to stop London Drugs from opening a store here.

Do the right thing! Move ahead with plans to allow London Drugs into Whistler. You know we all want London Drugs. You know we need this store very badly in this town.

Let’s face it; we are lucky London Drugs wants to open a store in our town.

Linda Steele

Whistler

 

Hard to match that dedication

Having been away on holidays, it has taken me a while to get this message to you about a local hero for your readers.

Just before New Year's I was waiting to be picked up at Creekside when a locked car with the engine running started picking up speed as it rolled down the driveway outside Legends. It was coming straight for me and five other people waiting on the sidewalk.

When I saw no one was at the controls, I started to run away, ski boots and all, when a late model SUV suddenly pull into the path of the oncoming car. The ensuing collision stopped the car and saved all of us standing on the sidewalk.

The driver of the SUV who sacrificed his personal vehicle for our safety turned out to be Kevin Rea, Security and Loss Prevention Manager for Intrawest. Thanks Kevin — that's a level of personal dedication to security that's hard to match.

Peter Ladner

Vancouver

 

 

Only the beginning

On Jan. 16 th the Pemberton Parents for French Immersion and the School Board held an Open House on French Immersion at Signal Hill Elementary School. Over 30 parents attended the information meeting indicating that there is a lot of support in the community for this initiative.

Whether or not a French Immersion program will become a reality is based purely on the numbers. For an Early Immersion (Kindergarten/Grade 1) program to be considered as viable it is necessary to have at least 22 students committed each year, establishing a Late Immersion (Grade 5) program will require a commitment of at least 26 students each year. In order for the school board to consider either of these options we must show that the program is sustainable not just for the next two years but beyond and that is why we are asking parents of children not currently in the school system as well as parents of children in the system to complete a survey indicating their interest in a French Immersion Program for Signal Hill Elementary School.

As parents we want to give our children every benefit and opportunity available to ensure they have the ability to be whatever they want to be and to go wherever they want to go. The greatest gift we can give our children is education and the chance to learn something new and interesting each day. The acquisition of a second language would be an enormous asset in today’s global economy and   a French Immersion program is one way for them to broaden their horizons further by understanding and living both of Canada's official languages.

The committee’s goal is to raise awareness and garner support so that the choice to be educated in English or French is available to everyone within our community. We are asking everyone to help to make the option of French Immersion in Pemberton a reality by going on line at www.pembertonfrenchimmersion.ca and filling out a survey by Jan. 30 th .

We would like to thank Pat Mackenzie, Principal and Lisa Grigat, Vice Principal of Signal Hill Elementary School for their guidance and assistance, Dr. Rick Erickson, Superintendent, Howe Sound School District for his advice, School Board Trustees David Walden and Mike Milner for their support and enthusiasm and Anne Chatel for providing the Committee and those in attendance on Jan. 16 th so much information and wisdom on the benefits of French Immersion for our children. A special thank you to Emma Sturdy and Joanna Read , Jeanette Helmer , Greg Sorenson, Patricia Brooksbank Cindy Filipenko, Mary Fraser and Mark Blundell for helping to keep this project affordable and to all the parents who participated at the open house.

This is only the start of something big for Pemberton.

Joanne Molinaro, Sheena Fraser, Heather Prohaska, Nikki Gilmore

Pemberton Parents for French Immersion

 

 

A vote for Dusty’s

Re: icons, what Whistler was...

Whistler was:

• Rushing to get to the ticket booth at 7 a.m. to get the early bird lift ticket for $5 before it went to $7 at 7:30;

• The "toilet bowl" — the ugliest run anywhere for a rookie;

• Looking for any kind of action on a Saturday night at the Christiana;

• Ogling equipment at the base in McKonkey's that only the well heeled could afford;

• Taking the bus back from the garbage dump — now the town centre —   to Creekside;

• Grooming? NOT!

• Clinic? NOT! Lions Gate was the nearest;

• Finding your ski size by extending your hand straight above your head and measuring to your palm. Average length: 210 cm;

• Ending the day at Dusty's.

My personal vote for the icon is Dusty's — the old Dusty's. I guess we only have photos and a little bit of memorabilia left but that's where it all happened.

Steve Granger

Whistler