Editor:
Re: Build it and shoppers will come, Murphy's Law, May 14
The phrase is a take-off from one in Shoeless Joe, the 1982 W.P. Kinsella novel. What the editorial does show is concern about where the shoppers are coming from to support the Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall now under construction.
Using Calgary as an example for a successful shopping mall is wrong because to get to Tsawwassen Mills from Richmond and Vancouver requires travel across bridges and through the tunnel, and if history is anything to go by, shoppers will not make the effort. Why drive to Tsawwassen when one finds the same stores at Ironwood Mall? The same is true for residents from South Surrey, where there are plenty of shopping malls and with gas prices hovering around $1.50 a litre, shopping close to home becomes more and more important.
Will locals shop at Tsawwassen Mills? Probably, but are there enough Tsawwassen residents willing to shop at the new mall to make operating a business there profitable? If the downtown core of
Tsawwassen, especially our mini mall, is anything to go by, I doubt it.
As for myself, I hate big box stores and prefer to encourage the local economy by patronizing local small businesses. I believe the majority of Tsawwassen residents think along the same lines.
Cut through the hype and hoopla, Tsawwassen Mills is just another mall, whose promoters are getting a wee bit worried and repeating, "Build it and the shoppers will come."
That begs the question: Where will the shoppers come from?
D. M. Johnston
