Living first, with furniture

Vancouver has transformed itself dramatically ever since the 1991 Central Area Plan that aimed at revitalizing Vancouver’s downtown core. During the unexpected 80s recession, Vancouver planners decided that it was going to be people that reinvigorated Vancouver streets to revive business. In 2008 it is obvious the “Living First” strategy has worked. Starting with Concord Pacific development, luxury condominiums now spread like wildfire along Vancouver’s downtown streets. The sounds of construction are unavoidable as you walk down newly landscaped streets that are waiting for the designer billboards into reality.

But just because you build it does it mean they will come? In short, yes. Vancouver is too spectacularly beautiful to not have people vying for her land. The single most obvious indicator that these luxurious shells of condomoniums are also luxurious on the inside is the sudden proliferation of furniture stores like Yaletown Sofa. I’ve been seeing these types of stores spring up everywhere downtown. Half a dozen of these luxury furnishing stores sit in or surround the downtown.

Furniture stores in the downtown core signals a boom in successful luxury living. Downtown commercial land is expensive, and these stores would not choose to pop up without knowing there is a strong customer base in the area. Yaletown Sofa smells a niche market. A rich niche market that needs furniture that is specially designed to look great in smaller condominium spaces. Furnishing stores are, in fact a pretty safe way to tell if a housing market is booming. Afterall, Martha Stewart’s contract with Macey’s went bust in the midst of the U.S. suprime crisis. Who is going to spend money on Martha Stewart furnishings if they can’t even afford to make mortgage payments into their home? Home furnishing stores and the housing market are directly related. Stores like Yaletown Sofa know it and are, quite literally, banking on it. RECOMMEND this Post on Progressive Bloggers CLICK HERE!