Editor:
It is right and proper for Tsawwassen and Ladner merchants to be nervous and edgy about the arrival of two shopping malls on Tsawwassen First Nation land.
They should not worry excessively or unnecessarily, however.
At present my family and I do 85 per cent of our day-to-day shopping locally. Exceptions are occasional runs to Canadian Tire, Costco, Home Depot and IKEA like everybody else we know out here. If those companies locate at TFN, good-bye trips to Richmond.
But change to shopping at Walmart grocery to save a few measly loonies from what we pay at Thrifty Foods or Save-On or Meridian or Joe's? Or the small local shops from cleaners to pet foods to variety and specialty stores? Not likely.
Gas to Richmond Centre costs me nearly $10 roundtrip (Tsawwassen/Metro pricing), plus the hassle of the tunnel.
OK, closer to get to the TFN properties, sure, but there's always the mall-ophobia factor to consider, too, no matter how "chic" Ivanhoe Cambridge intends its complex to be with its acres of macadam parking.
If local shopkeepers continue to provide responsive, user-friendly service to us locals, they have nothing to fear from the looming mega-mall-dom and all their bright lights just across the highway.
Treat us right and we'll continue to reciprocate quite happily.
W. Baird Blackstone
