Letters: 7-Eleven closure in Steveston should be an election issue

 Dear Editor,

Re: “Richmond community petitions to keep Steveston 7-Eleven store open,” online, April 17.

This month, many Richmondites were saddened to receive the news that the 7-Eleven on No. 1 Road and Steveston Highway would be shutting its doors for good. This 7-Eleven has long been a part of the Steveston community, serving students of the nearby schools, as well as others and serving as the only 24-hour store in the area.

The reason for this closure is an all-too-familiar story: rental increases outpacing what businesses can afford. This is also just another story in a growing pattern of disappearances of convenience stores among other small businesses across Richmond. Just in recent memory, the 7-Elevens at No. 3 Road and Williams (which is now sitting empty) and at No. 2 Road and Steveston Highway, as well as multiple other independent stores have closed due to the same issue of skyrocketing rent. It is now rumoured that the same fate is happening to the Blundell 7-Eleven.

With a growing density in suburban areas, and many single detached homes being converted to higher density living, we need more local stores, not fewer.

Anyone familiar with the Steveston 7-Eleven knows that it is practically never empty, with a continuous stream of customers and online delivery orders coming in at all hours. Take a moment to consider the absurdity that even a business this busy, owned by a large international corporation cannot afford to keep its doors open in Richmond.

With a civic election approaching this year, I pose this question to the local government; What are we doing to bring commercial land prices down and stop the disappearance of stores and jobs around our city? 

Rob Perry

RICHMOND