Downtown 麻豆传媒映画has more restaurants than ever, with quick-service eateries being responsible for much of the recent growth, according to a report released today by the Downtown 麻豆传媒映画Business Improvement Association (DVBIA).
The report noted 715 restaurants were in a 90-block area of downtown 麻豆传媒映画in which the DVBIA has members at the end of 2018. That was up听about 11 per cent, or 71 restaurants compared with six years earlier, according to the report, Then and Now: An Analysis of Downtown Retail.听听More than half, or 392 restaurants, are in the quick-service category, and that includes 49 new quick-service eateries, said DVBIA executive director Charles Gauthier.
鈥淭he category of quick-service restaurants primarily caters to the lunch crowd and it speaks to how busy we are in our lives,鈥� he told Business in Vancouver.
One innovation within the fast-food sector has been the rise of healthy options and local companies, such as Smak, Tractor and Railtown Caf茅, he said.听Another innovation is that these businesses are increasingly capitalizing on meal-delivery companies, such as DoorDash and SkipTheDishes, as well as their own apps to enable customers to pre-order meals.
The report largely confirmed what Gauthier said he suspected was the case in terms of what kinds of restaurants are popular.
Given Vancouver鈥檚 reputation for being a hotbed of sushi restaurants, for example, the report鈥檚 finding that 13 per cent of the restaurants serve Japanese food听was not a surprise, he said.
One mild surprise may have been that of the 365 restaurants that closed within that six-year period, 57 per cent of them had been operating for longer than three years. Normal restaurant-industry wisdom is that most restaurants fail within the first year or two.
The other main categories of restaurant covered in the report were听full-service restaurants,听retail dealers and liquor primary establishments.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen a huge increase in sit-down restaurants,鈥� Gauthier said. 鈥淵es, there is Earls and the Keg but there鈥檚 not a lot of growth in that particular [subcategory] and that鈥檚 because there鈥檚 not a lot of available听space for those kinds of restaurants.鈥�
He added that the scarcity of new full-service restaurants may be a reflection of the cost of renting space, and paying property taxes.
According to Restaurant Canada鈥檚 2019 foodservice operations report, operating revenues increased nationally by 31 per cent between 2012 and 2017;听however, operating expenses also grew by 31 per cent.听In Canada, cost of sales and labour are said to be the sector鈥檚 two largest expenses.
Notable closures include liquor primary establishments such as the Boss Night Club at 1326 Richards Street and Doolin鈥檚 Irish Pub at the corner of Granville and Nelson streets. Both establishments closed in 2012, according to the report. Casual dining full-service restaurants such as White Spot听at 580 West Georgia Street, and the Stackhouse Burger Bar at 1224 Granville St., closed in 2012 and 2017, respectively.
Relocations include Miku听moving to 200 Granville St., from听1055 West Hastings St. (current location of Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar) in 2013, from the heritage home known as the 鈥淵ellow House鈥� at 1387 Hornby St.,听in 2015, and Italian Kitchen , from 1037 Alberni St., in 2017.
To download the full report, .
听
