Prince George Downtown Loses another Retailer

Friday, July 01, 2005 04:00 AM

Downtown has lost another of its retail outlets.

Lizard River - Monkey Forest has closed.

Owner Bruce High shut the doors on the George Street stores last evening.

"It's a bitter sweet event" says High, "Certainly as one door closes another opens, and there have been many options set out for me, but I have to say I believe the CIty of Prince George really let me down."

High says "You know, I was cleaning out the office the other day, and I came across the plaques showing where I had been nominated as business person of the year, the store had been given recognition for being a community booster and for its customer service. I wanted to take all those awards and bring them to City Hall and say, even with all these awards, I still couldn't operate in your downtown."

High believes he and his staff did the best they could for as long as they could under the circumstances "They just kept adding more and more social agencies around the stores, and no security" says High. "It used to be we could stay open till 8:00 on a Friday night, then we had to cut it back to 6 because the area was getting too rough, then 5:30, and it got to the point that there was no safe time of the day for customers."

High says he voiced his concerns loud and clear through "Partners in a Healthy Downtown, and knows Councilor Murry Krause was aware of his concerns "But not one Mayor, Councilor, Chamber of Commerce rep, Initiatives Prince George Person, or Tourism employee came by to see me and talk to me about my concerns."

What would it take to turn things around?

"Without a doubt" says High "The the single most important thing for downtown is security. Community policing is a must."

While he will still live in Prince George and operate a wholesale business supplying product to Alberta and other B.C. buyers, he will not have a retail outlet in Prince George. "I will focus the retail operation at our store in Quesnel, we have just signed a two year lease there, Quesnel has treated us really well."
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Posted on Friday, July 01, 2005 04:00 AM in News by Elaine Macdonald

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Comments

Posted by: gypsy on July 1 2005 7:35 AM

Hallelujah!!!! Now that you have relieved yourself of this depressing and draining load, perhaps you will consider entering "civic" Politics????? You have paid close attention to the problems this city experiences, and they appear unsolvable with this Mayor and Council. How many battles have you fought, and walked away feeling it was another "lesson in futility?" Well, every battle was a "learning" experience. I do not know if anything can save this downtown, and personally I feel revitalization is not possible, so maybe leaving it to Krause and the other "bleeding hearts" to promote an area for the poor sector of society is the best answer.
Walk away, Bruce, and take a justly deserved break. Maybe the city should pay you $90,000.00 for a so called study. I am certain you could do so quickly and efficiently.
It must be like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer!!! Feels so darn good when you quit!!! Enjoy the summer, but do think entering the political arena is a possibility. You are the
right age, and just maybe that is your next calling. I, for one, hope so.

Posted by: owl on July 1 2005 1:50 PM

Interesting that High did not mention the DBIA.

I wonder what his opinon is about that organization.

Personally I think they too are not a credible organization in bringing about change. They have a new "executive director" who has started with an earthshattering cahnge of the organizations name to "Downtown Prince George".

I am sure that will cause a multitude of people to finally begin to shop downtown.

Sort of a parallel to 3rd Avenue "beautification" - all show, no meat.

Posted by: Maggie on July 6 2005 2:54 PM

Remember how the new courthouse was going to revitalize the downtown? Well, it opened in 1997. All it did was give the street people a place to come in out of the weather and use the washrooms,catch 40 winks on the couch,etc. Needles, empty booze bottles, etc. are found in and around this building as well, not just in the alleys. Most of the street people are quite polite, drunk or sober, but they need somewhere to be too. There for the grace of God goes you and I. But, look anywhere around the courthouse and see if you see any revitalization. Even Kurt Gable has his building for sale?? If the City can't see the problems, we definitely need new "eyes" on council.