It was nearly elbow to elbow at Ditch Records downtown on Saturday.
All ages were thumbing through vinyl and navigating tight aisles, looking for the right music for the person on their Christmas list. Adele’s latest album was popular, but jazz, hip hop, and rock ’n’ roll were also flying out the door.
At Munro’s Books, two members of the Victoria Symphony were perched on a high ledge above the doorway, their seasonal music via cello and violin wafting over a bustling crowd with armfuls of books.
Eileen Deros from Pender Island bought seven books, saying she likes to support local businesses when she sails over — in this case to attend the Messiah performance at Christ Church Cathedral and squeezing in gift-buying.
Shopping locally is resonating with people this year as restrictions from the pandemic wane and the days to Christmas count down, said Jessica Walker, co-owner of Munro’s.
“We’ve already surpassed 2020, and we’re doing better than 2019. It’s really shaping up to be our busiest Christmas we’ve ever had,” said Walker.
“I think people just want to get out. They want to get away from their computers. And they are buying such diverse [subject matter] — from the environment and stress relief to the latest bestsellers and children’s books.”
Despite intermittent rain and strong gusts of winds that turned umbrellas inside out, the downtown streets were busy Saturday. Many businesses had lineups and full stores. Even barbershops were operating at full clip, their chairs and seating areas full.
At the Papery on Fort Street, longtime employee Heather Harper is calling it one of the busiest Christmas seasons she has seen in more than 20 years, saying the store has had at least 250 sales a day this month.
The continuing economic recovery of downtown over the fall and into the Christmas season is reflected in data collected by the City of Victoria from August, September and October that shows an increase in pedestrian traffic, parking, and business licences.
Street parking, for example, was up 13% August to October versus the same period last year.
“What’s really striking to me is that despite the comparatively limited travel and fewer visitors, we are seeing strong growth in our recovery and the number of people coming into the downtown,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.
“Our strong recovery is a joint effort of our businesses and residents who continue to see downtown as a great place to visit, shop and live.”
An increase in business licences suggests optimism among entrepreneurs downtown. From August to October, 609 licences were issued versus 476 in the same period in 2020 and 375 in 2019.
Helps said the city will continue to focus on its Victoria 3.0 Economic Action Plan and support businesses through its Business Hub and programs such as Build Back Victoria. That program is being made permanent and includes creation of the patio bylaw, which allows businesses to expand into public space to better manage health protocols.
Building permits have also buoyed downtown, bringing hundreds of new condo residents to the core. The number of permits increased 13% August-to-October versus the same period last year, and construction values in that period were up nearly 30%, to $150 million, versus last year.
“Growing our economy is key to ensuring we have strong, diversified and resilient communities now and in the years to come,” said Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Williams.
“The data shows more workers are back in downtown offices, the value of construction has increased considerably and more business licences have been issued this year. Those are all positive signs that our economy is recovering.”
Gabriel Ross Furniture founder Ross Taylor, who purchased a building on Government Street this year, said downtown is revitalizing itself and there is a pent-up demand for in-person experiences.
International tourism is still a large missing piece of downtown, but August, September and October were good months for the visitor economy, said Paul Nursey, CEO of Destination Greater Victoria.
“I am very optimistic for the months ahead as well. Some businesses are taking longer to recover than others, but Destination Greater Victoria is bidding on and winning conferences, as well as preparing our marketing efforts for the spring. There is a lot to look forward to.”
Many downtown retailers say free shipping services from Sooke to Sidney, with costs covered by the chamber of commerce, are helping to boost their sales.
At Artina’s Jewellery on Government Street, a stack of local online orders were ready to mail to several parts of the region.
“We’ve been seeing it a lot this year — people really want to shop local and this program really helps,” said Artina’s employee Mary Anne Griffin.
Griffin Simms, manager at Ditch Records, said businesses will always be battling online giant Amazon for shopper dollars. So far, Ditch is having a decent year in sales and the Christmas season is bringing extra traffic and revenue.
Sims said they often see a late Christmas spending spree when Amazon runs out of stock or shopping deadlines pass, so they invested in extra inventory. “So we order 10 copies of a particular album whereas we used to buy just two,” he said.
“That way we’re going to have that album getting closer to Christmas.”
