The Granville Island Public Market is no secret — indeed, the market and the island itself have recently overtaken all but Stanley Park as Vancouver’s most popular tourist destination. You’d think this would warm the hearts of market merchants, most ofwhom have been making oodles of money as the market has grown in popularity since it opened in 1979. However, copious grumbling — also known as the politics of doing business — goes on non-stop behind the scenes.
Fact is, the public market, with fifty permanent tenants and a handful of itinerant farmers and artisan vendors, is the principal source of income for the federally operated Granville Island, so every decision made here has implications for businesses and institutions across the island. Recent market-related disputes have swirled around two issues:
hours (the island operators favor evening openings, while some market merchants are strongly opposed); and the type of business (tourist-oriented or resident-oriented) that should be granted the rare available space.
Actually, the island’s operator, Canada Mortgage and Housing Cor¬poration, is pretty democratic. It periodically asks the public for their opinion and seems to listen. Expect to see, for example, a greater emphasis on farm-fresh produce and organic foods.
Germane to the hours debate is the growing competition from upscale health and luxury food markets around the city. The first newcomer was Capers, whose flagship store sits atop the hill in Kitsilano (2285 West 4th Avenue, Kitsilano, 604-739-6676). Hugely popular with the health-food crowd, Capers stocks an impressive range of organic produce, along with quality packaged goods, deli products, bulk foods, and exceptional breads and pastries. It also has stores in the West End (1675 Robson Street, 604-687-5288) and North Shore (2496 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, 604-925-3316).
Choices is another option (one ofits several stores is located at 2627 West ióth Avenue, Kitsilano, 604-736-0009). Capers and Choices have large sections devoted to health-related herbs and medicines.
At the luxury end of the spectrum is Meinhardt Fine Foods ( 3002 Granville Street, Central Vancouver, 604-732-4405). The well-appointed premises stocks to-die-for foods ranging from imported condiments to fresh chocolate mousses.
But the ultimate market is Urban Fare (177 Davie Street, Downtown South, 604-975-7550). This high-end food store, serving the burgeon-ing downtown peninsula, sells wondrous foods — from fruits, cheeses, meats, and pastries to imported spices, sweets, and condiments. Cut flowers, magazines, eccentric knickknacks — the stock goes on and on. But it’s also a beautiful space architecturally, with a great casual restaurant that is a destination in its own right.
The largest year-round vegetable and fruit market in the city is the Sunrise Market (300 Powell Street, East Vancouver, 604-685-8019). It’s a rough location, but not rough enough to deter a daily deluge of customers. Two sidewalks of stalls are loaded with fresh produce at good prices; the interior is one phantasmagoria of packaged foods from the Orient. Most of the stuff is still sitting in its shipping boxes — everything from satay marinade and small tins of pickled cabbage to giant sacks of Thai rice. Not to be overlooked is the wonderful, ornate metal work on the façade of this longtime business, which they touchingly call “Store No. i” (No. 2 is on Westminster Highway in Richmond).
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