East Vancouver bakery may shut doors due to 1st Avenue closure

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – An East Vancouver bakery is considering cutting its hours or temporarily shuttering its doors due to a dramatic drop in sales since the closure of East 1st Avenue to replace a natural gas line.

The stretch of road between Clark Drive and Nanaimo Street closed on Tuesday, and Yann Guiguen, co-owner of Cassia Bake Shop, says since then, business has been extremely slow.

“We are thinking now to close the store for the next few days and maybe the next couple of weeks until we find a better option,” he said. “Most of our customers would drive, park, buy their things and go. But since the closure, it’s affected business and we really have no business at all. Today, we only had four people,” Guiguen told Breakfast Television on City earlier this week.

Monica Dearantes has worked at the shop since 2015 and says they are down to just five or six customers per day.

“Before, [we would get] 50, 60. They came for big orders. Now, just for one coffee or one cupcake or cookie. It’s really sad,” she said, adding whether her hours are cut or the store closes entirely, it will affect her and her family.

“We cannot really afford to [stay open],” Guiguen said. “It doesn’t make sense, financially. I’m also thinking about our staff — they’re working here, and if we have to close the store, how are they going to make money? So, it’s another side of the business that’s affected that we have to take into consideration.”

Around the corner, Mr. Pet’s has seen erratic sales, but employees understand the work needs to happen. They hope Car Free Day on Commercial Drive on Sunday will be a chance to drum up sales and remind people that businesses are still open.

The pet store will be handing out free tokens for their new dog wash to encourage people to come in.

The closure along East 1st Avenue will be in effect until the end of August.

VPD warns you to take the designated detours

The closure has led to some longer commutes along the alternate routes. Darren Grieve in the NEWS 1130 Air Patrol says some people get it, but many don’t.

“I think people are still not getting the message about some of those side streets. They’re not meant for a lot of volume,” he said. “We are still seeing a little clogging through that area. I’d urge people to just use Grandview Highway, Broadway or Hastings instead of those side roads around 1st Avenue.”

He points out Grandview and Broadway are often busy routes at the best of times, and there has been a noticeable amount of extra volume.

“Broadway is also quite busy, so if I had to pick one of the three, I would go with Hastings. It still seems to be moving fairly well for most of the commute through the morning and the afternoon,” he said.

Vancouver police are keeping an eye on traffic in the area, adding officers have been issuing tickets to people ignoring the “local traffic only” signs on the side streets.

“Not only do we have a visible presence, we’ve actually called out additional officers to address any issues in the area. We don’t want people racing through neighbourhoods where there’s kids,” Cst. Jason Doucette said. “Plan ahead and give yourself lots of extra time. This has been planned for some time. Although we do know it’s frustrating, we want people to get to their destinations safely.”

Drivers could be fined hundreds of dollars for various infractions. There are parks and schools in the area, meaning some lower speed zones. Violators may also be fined for driving too fast for the conditions.

“We’ll just have to base it off your driving behaviour at the time,” Doucette said.

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 – With files from Breakfast Television on City