ROFL, ah don’t ever go changing Herbie, you’re one of the bright spots of logging onto htmf… 
I think it must be a profit margin issue. There are plenty of other places in town to build this sort of shopping center. Our own little mall can be renovated or torn down and rebuilt to thier specs. Or maybe even the industrial site though not that pretty a location other little stores would pop up.
If you don’t like the shopping here, move to where it is. Otherwise, I think it’s a pretty darned nice place to be. Everything is compact, there’s no rural to deal with, and usually there’s not much snow. You can buy what is necessary and for there rest there’s the Internet - and much of that shopping comes complete with delivery to your door. For example, if you can’t get what you need locally, Staples will have it at your door the very next day. I’m here because of the people, the beauty (on a sunny day) and the ability get anywhere in 10 minutes or less.
I’ll be moving to Prince Rupert in June.
I was there for the last couple of weeks in April looking around
and the availability of shopping was not on my "make or break"
list.
I’ve lived in two of the largest cities in the world with all the shopping
one would need but i’m willing to swap that for your city’s lifestyle.
I was born in Rupert, did 37 years there, lived in Nanaimo for 7; and are now over on the mainland. The shopping here is amazing, if that is what you want to do, the shopping in Nanaimo was awesome as well , but while the shopping may be excellent, the fact remains… home is priceless!!
I miss it bad, I miss the ability to recognise some one by the way they walk and move their bum.
Enjoy Rupert and all that it DOES have to offer, because it does offer alot. xo
Okay…that’s probably way too much information, LMAO.
Thats one way of putting it…
lol!
I guess i’ll have to remember to change my gait every week or so
Ahhhhhhhh ha ha !!
[quote=“Piknic”]
I’ll be moving to Prince Rupert in June.
I was there for the last couple of weeks in April looking around
and the availability of shopping was not on my "make or break"
list.[/quote]
If there isn’t enough shopping in Rupert for you, there’s plenty just down the road in Terrace. I swear half of Rupert was there today.
No kidding, I was there a few weeks ago and I began to wonder if anybody was left back in Rupert, guess the mayor was right those three years ago, we do have a big box village and it is in Terrace!!
Too bad we can’t find a way to keep a lot of that money back in Rupert though. the more successful that the centralized thing in Terrace becomes the less and less chance we have of attracting much in the way of shopping options…
So go after the other stuff.
They set up in Terrace to pull from Smithers, Rupert, and Kitimat. Just like the bigbox guys do in Prince George. They pull from Valemont to Burns, Mackenzie to Williams Lake.
I was surprised WalMart set up in Quesnel.
The Cdn Tire in PG is so goddam big you see piles of the same item in 4 or 5 places just to fill it up!
I heard that Canadian Tire was the biggest in BC.
If big box stores want to set up in Rupert but the BC Hydro site is too expensive, then what about some of the big empty lots downtown? You can’t say there isn’t room to develop there.
Big retail developments such as the one that was proposed here have a model in which they follow. If you look at any community with sucjh developments they are always on the highway where there is ample space and exposure with easy access and high traffic. Unfortunately, downtown PR does not fit that bill.
Having said that, if major retailers wish to set up shop in our community they may not have much of a choice other than to come downtown. Site prep would be less expensive as most of the excavation occured a long time ago. Some of these retailers may have to go it alone rather than be a part of a larger retail development.
Chris:
You said it and you said it well – or at least you said it with an entertaining dose of cynical disdain. There is nothing more exasperating than witnessing this unique form of denial shared by the most fervent and entrenched Rupertites, particularly in regards to the sun. After seemingly endless weeks and months of dark skies and pounding rains the sun coquettishly peeks out from behind the clouds and quickly the word spreads: “The sun is HERE! The sun is HERE! Oh MY GOD!! Quick Joe! Grab the kids and the sunscreen! Rev up the lawnmower and for god’s sake put on your thong! We’re mowing the lawn and we’re going to the beach! Yahoo!! The sun is here!â€
Butterfly Fear you forgot one thing… the people bitching about the sun once it comes out!
For me, it isn’t denial. It’s appreciating what we DO have instead of focusing on what we don’t have. So what, it rains, put a jacket on. So we don’t have big box stores, big deal. So our downtown looks a little tattered. If you want something done about it, do something instead of sitting on your computer complaining.
Look at the beauty that is Prince Rupert. On a sunny day it is absolutely GORGEOUS. We get amazing sunsets and sun rises. Not to mention how close to nature we are here. That is why people fall in love with this place. The people, the scenery, the wildlife. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the shopping, or lack thereof.
If you want a big box store town then move to Terrace. I hear they’re going mining now. 
People need to stop focusing on the negative aspects of everything. Take a look at all the positive things around here. You never know how long you will be able to appreciate the beautiful things in life so why not spend your time looking at them, instead of at the ugly?
[quote=“bubbasteve735”]
Take a look at all the positive things around here. [/quote]
And they are?? 