Mayor finds positive signs in new business arrivals

It could be that the ability to gain some good quality of cuts of meat is a positive trend for Prince Rupert's commercial class.

With the City heralding the opening of the Rupert Meats as a sign of a rebound in the city's commercial fortunes, the Mayor outlined for the Northern View how he sees economic future of the city as one while in flux, on the right track.

"The City continues to generate interest concerning the sale of commercial buildings, the creation of additional food and beverage establishments and new retail opportunities" said Mayor Jack Mussallem.


"Strong performance of the Port of Prince Rupert and related project announcements will continue to create additional business development opportunities in our City.  Greater diversity of retail and service related businesses will attract more people to Prince Rupert as a service centre, and the increased activity will benefit our existing businesses and residents" Northern View, page 9, Wedenesday, March 7, 2012

He points to the soon to arrive WalMart and and expansion of Shoppers Drug Mart into the Rupert Square as signs of the economic turn for the city, however, in the spirit of balance, he did neglect to mention that WalMart is replacing the closing Zellers and with its arrival the Fields store will close as well.

Shoppers expansion, which is a welcome thing, certainly can't be considered a new business and lost in among the shuffle a few other local businesses that quietly closed their doors over the last few months.

So, while the arrival of a Wal Mart and the introduction of a meat market to the city's commercial class are certainly welcome things, the big picture still suggests that Prince Rupert business owners are still suffering from the economic malaise that has been part of the city's fibre for the last few years.

Combined with a drop in the population over the last decade ( up to and including the most recent census, though those are numbers that the Mayor seemingly does not  subscribe to) it's not a surprise that the commercial properties would be the main indicator of the distress of the business sector in the city.

If we see a surge in new business arrivals and the flocking of the chain stores that has long been prophesied but yet to be delivered, then perhaps we can say we've turned the economic corner, for now though it seems very much to be more of a holding pattern than anything else.

CFTK TV-- City of Prince Rupert Taking Steps Forward in Small Business Growth
CFTK TV-- Small Business (video)