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‘There are great opportunities’: Expert optimistic on future of small scale retail in Nanaimo

Oct 24, 2017 | 10:59 AM

NANAIMO — A battered big box retail climate in Nanaimo could provide opportunities for smaller niche companies hoping to gain traction in the Harbour City.

Raymond Shoolman, senior consultant with the Vancouver-based business consultant firm DIG 360, told NanaimoNewsNOW the demise of Sears opens doors in communities like Nanaimo for smaller retailers to pick up the slack

“Particularly in smaller communities because many people in smaller communities didn’t want to open up stores because people like Sears and Target would just eat up all the business.”

Big box retail is reeling in Nanaimo with the closure of Target and Future Shop in 2015 and the pending closures of Sears and Wholesale Sports affecting hundreds of jobs. Toys “R” Us, which has a Nanaimo location, announced recently it’s filing for bankruptcy protection in Canada.

Despite the failures of several big box giants, Shoolman foresees a bright outlook for Nanaimo’s retail sector.

“It has outpaced national growth, it’s one of the most sought after areas of British Columbia,” Shoolman said. “I think there are great opportunities (in Nanaimo) if people want to go into retail and pick a niche…the consumer is still there, the growth is still there.”

Shoolman said struggling Canadian retailers have failed to evolve, while successful ones go beyond focusing on their products to offering in-store experiences and a sense of identity shoppers want to be a part of.

He said Sears Canada is a classic example of not providing the kind of shopping experience many consumers demand these days.

“They didn’t modernize the product, they didn’t modernize their system, they didn’t renovate their stores, they didn’t create an experience and they have failed and many others have too.”

Shoolman said people might be surprised to hear more bricks and mortar retail stores are opening than closing in North America and he expects the trend to continue. He said notions retail is meeting the apocalypse is a fallacy, noting only about 10 per cent of retail shopping in Canada is done online.

Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce CEO Kim Smythe said Nanaimo will maintain its strategic hold as a destination for larger retailers. Smythe agreed with Shoolman there’s opportunity for smaller specialized stores to flourish.

“That might be the direction that we see things going and these larger stores subdivided into smaller operations.”

Smythe said available retail space also plays into the hands of an upstart retailer.

He’d like the Nanaimo Chamber to engage a discussion with developers on the future of local retail.

“Where are we going? I’d like to have discussions with some of those developers who have plans in the works, what do they see five, 10, 20 years out.”

 

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @nanaimonewsnow