Why I’m Not Mad About Downtown Shops Closing: The Rise of the Culture Economy
Downtown Shops in Victoria B.C. are going out of business, and I’m not mad. Here’s why.
This past weekend, I left Culture Days feeling energized, like I had done something good for myself, my children, and my community. We sat in the audience, listened to world-class music, and best of all, I watched my kids experience something beyond the glow of a computer screen. They sang, played, and engaged with others. I saw seniors pick up instruments too, smiling as they joined in and connected with my little ones through music. The room was filled with joy. That kind of shared experience is something a usual downtown shopping experience could never give us.
Don’t get me wrong, I love shopping. Take my experience at Moden, a delightful women’s clothing shop at Mattick’s Farm in Cordova Bay. I didn’t just browse racks. I was styled, guided, and reminded what good customer service feels like. I left with quality pieces and the confidence that comes from a personal, human connection. It wasn’t about “stuff.” It was about experience.
What I love even more is how our local economy is changing to meet real needs. The local downtown shops need to take note. I feel like an evolution is happening. The shops that sold “Made in China” trinkets to tourists and department stores whose legacies include profiting from colonial expansion at the expense of First Nations communities are gone. Vacant storefronts and empty commercial buildings line every block. I see opportunity and I know the folks who are leveraging it, but they need your help.
I’m a proud member of Think Local First Victoria and fully believe in supporting our local business owners. My point isn’t to criticize local shops, but to highlight how we can raise all boats. Investing in arts and culture helps them thrive. When our downtowns are vibrant, safe, and full of experiences, the businesses doing great work benefit too. We’re at a critical moment, and supporting culture now is one way to ensure our local amenities and shops succeed for years to come.
For years, shopping downtown was a kind of escape for me. Walking around downtown felt safe, predictable, and calming. I could wander, sip a coffee, and leave with a little sense of peace, a parcel full of local tea, new outfits, candies, baking and satisfaction. Now, going downtown for a shopping trip feels very different. Instead of comfort, I often feel on edge—afraid of being robbed at the ATM, coughing on second-hand smoke of who knows what drifting through the streets, worried about another $40 parking ticket because I spent a little too long browsing the aisles at Russel’s Books or had an energizing business meeting run too long at Hey Happy Coffee. The sense of refuge downtown once offered is tarnished, and what’s left most of the time doesn’t feel inviting.
I’m craving experiences.
This year, I’ve been putting myself in the rooms where these conversations are happening. Where people are talking about change. But the question is: how do we move from ideas to action?
Look around. Wicked is selling out across North America. Taylor Swift’s tour has shifted economies in ways we’ve never seen. For context, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games brought in around $323 million in ticket sales and merchandise. Taylor’s three-day Eras Tour stop in Vancouver generated an estimated $157 million in economic impact for the city. Closer to home, arts events are drawing record attendance thanks to creative entrepreneurs like Andrew Wilkinson and Josh Franklin’s latest venture the Culture Fund, Al Smith stepping up as Executive Director of the Arts on View Society, Carla Sorrell at Design Victoria and Jared Leary’s and Simon Larocque’s events listing platform the LampPost.
I’ve been doing my own bit too, supporting many arts and culture organizations with marketing strategy support including, most recently, the Juan de Fuca Performing Arts Centre Society. Earlier this year, we gathered more than 70 arts and culture organizations at Elements Casino in View Royal. (a bittersweet reminder that we have these gigantic brand new spaces for gambling, but not yet for a performing arts centre in the West Shore). Together, we hosted a keynote on arts fundraising and a strategy session with Cascadia Architecture to better understand what our community needs in a new cultural space. When Alex Sarian joined us as keynote speaker, drawing on his experience raising over half a billion dollars for Calgary’s Werklund Centre, his message was clear: arts and culture aren’t extras. They are the backbone of thriving communities.
Others are carrying this vision forward as well, like the South Island Prosperity Partnership. at the Rising Economy Conference, I was also deeply inspired listening to Zita Cobb, who reminded us not to underestimate the cultural economy’s power to transform not only lives, but entire economies.
The success of this year’s Victoria Symphony Splash filled my heart. Tens of thousands gathered at the Inner Harbour, not for retail sales, but for music and community connection. Gatherings like that also make our downtowns safer. When people come together for art and joy, businesses feel supported and communities thrive. They haven’t been able to hold the event at this scale since before the pandemic. I’m so thrilled that it was able to return this year and be the testament to the fact that investing in culture can drive economic growth and a sense of positive energy to the downtown core once more.
So what would happen if we ALL invested in culture?
Imagine our downtown filled not with blocks of empty storefronts, but with cultural spaces: a small theatre here, a dance studio with safe floors and clean air, a gallery there, a place to learn music, acting, or painting. Imagine if someone struggling with addiction was offered a brush, a chance to move through somatic dance, to listen to a concert, or join an art therapy workshop. If our civic investments offered canvases, dance floors, and stages instead of empty square footage for workspace and retail?
I know these things are already happening, I’ve been seeking them out and supporting them as an individual for years and they’re not being shared widely enough and not at a pace that we need to succeed. And there aren’t enough opportunities for everyone to access them. Children’s theatre and arts camps sell out months in advance and are often priced far beyond what most families can afford.
We wouldn’t just build stronger economies. We would build stronger communities. We could create places where people discover a sense of self-expression and empowered to share, feel supported, and to heal.
Because when we connect through culture, we don’t just consume. We create. We share. We thrive.
So let’s take some action. Here are just a few places you can support who I have sussed out and can verify that they are doing the work to create a thriving downtown core. I invite you to check out a show, volunteer, sponsor, and invite others to enjoy as well. Tell me how you feel after doing so.
