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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1313659
ON THE RADAR ( the informer ) COURTESY OF MEC W alk into the new MEC flagship store in Vancouver's Olympic Village and you'll spot a restored baby-blue Volkswa- gen microbus, an homage to the retailer's first venue. Back in 1971, the original van would haul camping and climbing gear acquired at Recreational Equipment Inc. in Seattle and resell it to a handful of members in Vancouver for a 20-percent markup. MEC has occupied six more permanent storefronts in its hometown over the years, each one larger than the last. And with each successive move, a bigger entourage of outdoor recreation shops has clustered around this traffic generator, to the point that up to 20 like-minded hiking, bik- ing, watersport and adventure travel stores made their home along Broadway's outdoor retail row, between Alberta and Quebec streets, after MEC relocated there in 1995. So what happens now that MEC has moved again, to East Second Avenue, where it has 33,000 square feet of space and a 20-year lease with de- veloper Beedie Group? History would dictate that the small fry will decamp to Olympic Village. But several factors suggest the pattern may be broken this time. First, there's less retail space in the immediate vicin- ity of the new MEC store and wide-ranging demand for it, given the ongoing residential development and popula- tion growth in the area. Then there's the question of wheth- er the economics of clustering still stand. Breaking Camp Can Vancouver's outdoor gear row survive MEC's move off Broadway? by Michael McCullough R E TA I L NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 BCBUSINESS 13 PACK UP THE VAN Local retail pioneer MEC's new Olympic Village location is its seventh permanent home in the city GOOD SPORTS $166.6 million June retail sales of sporting goods, hobby, books and music in B.C. g47% Change in sales from May 2020 g3.3% Change in sales compared to June 2019 j8.9% Forecast decline in Canadian sporting goods sales in 2020 j2.7% Average annual growth in Canada's sporting goods industry, 2015-20 6/10 Share of British Columbians who visit a provincial park in an average year 26.2 million Number of visitor days at B.C. provincial parks in 2018-19 3 B.C. provincial parks' rank among park systems in North America, surpassed only by the U.S. and Canadian national park systems SOURCES: RETAIL COUNCIL OF CANADA, IBISWORLD, B.C. PARKS