Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association

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Founders & BuildersDino & Kerry BonnisFive linked buildings in the 800 block of GranvilleStreet, between the Capital 6 Theatres and theOrpheum, are becoming increasingly attractive.They house unique retailers, the CommodoreLanes, the Commodore Ballroom, the elegantnew Cafe Crepe, Dayton Shoes and various commercialenterprises.Just north, at the corner of Robson, there is alarge hole in the ground, a busy construction sitewhich will soon became an office-retail complex,the home of Future Shop and Winners. Eachstore expects one million customers a year.All these structures are among the businessadventures of the dynamic Bonnis brothers, Dino,41, and Kerry, 37.According to Kerry, Dino “neveris off the site.You can always find him in a backhoe or with a shovel.” Kerry is most often seenthese days as the business front and spokesmanfor the enterprise.They believe in Granville Street - with passion.“We have put everything on the line. . . it is basicallyjust Dino and myself.We are quite independentbecause, if it doesn’t work out, we don’t takedown our family with it.”And what a business family! Their father JimBonnis arrived from Greece in 1951 and went towork in basic kitchen jobs at hotels, progressingto restaurant ownership. Every dollar of savingswent into real estate, and - a hands on builder -he improved the properties he bought. Bonniswould eventually construct Vancouver’s firstmixed retail-commercial-residential developments.Every member of the family worked with him, nojob too lowly or too dirty.Dino graduated from university here and went towork full time with his father. Kerry had a moreeclectic academic life, attending UBC, an undergraduatedegree in Texas, a year of law in SanFrancisco and two Master’s degrees in Paris, France(international relations and diplomacy, followed bybusiness administration). Each summer he’d returnhome to earn $10 an hour on construction sites,working with his father and brother.Kerry and fellow-Greek Sotos Vlachociannisdecided to export a restaurant concept fromFrance to Vancouver, and established their firstCafe Crepe on Robson Street, an eat-in, takeoutcoffee house/restaurant featuring a largemenu of fast, simple, crepe-based items.A secondCafe Crepe opened on South Granvillenear 12th Avenue and the downtown Granvillelocation is the third.Sporting a huge neon sign and luxuriouslyappointed with black marble and leather upholstery,huge French-themed wall posters and abreezy fast-service window to the street, CafeCrepe is on the ground floor of the historic StateHotel, which opened in 1909 and which closedThe Bonnis neighbourhoodfor good after a disastrous 1975 fire.Granville Street is very emotional for the mediashyBonnis brothers (Kerry declined to be photographed).Theirfather’s first menial job was inthe State Hotel in 1951.As young boys they fondlyremember sneaking down to Granville to theCommodore Lanes, the Capital 6 Theatre andenjoying arcade games and various food treats.Kerry doesn’t accept the Granville negativity. Hesuggests the mall transportation argument isoverstated.“That’s not what it’s all about.Timeand money will improve things,” he said. But hedidn’t miss an opportunity to point out uglycracked and hastily repaired sidewalks in front ofhis huge investment.“You would think with thehigh taxes they charge, the city could at least fixthe sidewalks!”While the sons are independent, their father’s philosophyis evident in everything they do. JimBonnis now splits his year evenly betweenVancouver and Greece, where he grows 21 varietiesof grapes on his acreage, and makes his ownwine (the Greek name on the bright label isroughly translated,“for my friends”).“Both the work ethic and risk-taking were centralto father’s business growth. He always toldus that the word impossible doesn’t exist,”Kerry Bonnis said.DVBIAThe ArchivesVancouver’s focal point of human misery in the 1960s was Gastown, notEast Hastings Street, a forgotten neighbourhood of sweatshops, decayingindustry and seedy flop houses.The Gastown renaissance, beginning in1968, pushed many of its problems away from the water and further east.Similarly, well-meaning public housing projects at Raymur Place proved tobe disastrous.The concept of concentrating impoverished and troubledfamilies within specific buildings and communities compounded the difficultiessocial workers were trying to correct. Problems bred more problems.Today’s more enlightened social housing initiatives attempt to achieve asmuch demographic and socio-economic diversity as possible within specificdevelopments and zones.For 30 years now, civic administrations have been trying to grapple withthe misery that surrounds East Hastings Street, Oppenheimer Park andadjacent areas. Reporter Ian Mulgrew traced this history in a 1998Vancouver Sun article entitled The Battle for Hastings, in which he interviewedthe five mayors of the era.THE DOWNTOWN EAST SIDE has been a vexing problem for a generation.Here four of the five Vancouver mayors since 1972 share the frustrations theyexperienced in efforts to revitalize the area.They are, from the left, MikeHarcourt (1981-86), Philip Owen (1993-2002), Jack Volrich (1977-80)and Art Phillips (1973-76).They were photographed at Victory Square by BillKeay for the Vancouver Sun in 1998. Missing when the shot was taken wasGordon Campbell (1987-92).6
Alpen to Chair Marketing & CommunicationsPeter Alpen, a veteranbroadcasterand advertisingconsultant, hasbeen named tochair the DVBIA’sMarketing &CommunicationsCommittee.Publisher of thePeter Alpengraphically attractiveand detailed tourist promotion mapVancouver Illustrated, among current businesspursuits,Alpen relocated his businessdowntown during 2000 after over adecade as one of the Fraser Valley’s mostprominent business personalities.“I’ve always been very involved withChambers of Commerce and communityactivities, so a friend suggested the DVBIAwould be a good place to start. I wantedto know how downtown works and whatmade it tick,” he said.Alpen became an active member of theDVBIA’s Marketing and CommunicationsCommittee.When the immediate pastchairKathi Thompson was electedPresident earlier this fall, she passed thecommittee baton to him.“The train carwas coming down the track and thereseemed no option but to get aboard,”Alpen said.After an early career as an on-air broadcastpersonality,Alpen shifted his focus tosales, promotion and management. For 15years he was a leading national advertisingaccount executive for Target Media Inc.,which represented 52 British Columbiaradio stations. In 1988 he became a director,shareholder and Vice-President ofSales and Marketing for Fraser ValleyBroadcasters, a group of AM radio stationsand the then-new STAR-FM. Based inAbbotsford,Alpen became a dynamic businesspresence in the area, and President ofthe Abbotsford International Airshow. Hismove back downtown followed the sale ofthe broadcast group to Rogers.“I had to reinvent myself, and find somethingI could be a missionary with,” herecalls. Good fortune dawned when hemet artist Beata Stolarska who had createda beautiful downtown map, with eachof the most prominent buildings and landmarksgraphically reproduced.Alpen conceived Vancouver Illustrated,amap to serve the tourist function achievedby many predecessors, but much moreanimated, more fun and more attractive.He purchased the intellectual propertiesfrom the artist.Each 200,000-copy press run of VancouverIllustrated is strategically distributed at themost appropriate venues to a vast targetaudience. More recently, a flip side map ofWhistler has been added, a bonus formany tourists. In addition to stylizeddrawings of more than 150 buildings, aninteresting design feature is an effort topinpoint the filming location of majormotion pictures produced in what hasbecome Hollywood North.Upon his return to downtown business,Alpen became nostalgic.“I remember thedowntown of Woodwards,The Bay andEaton’s, major street festivals and a vibrantChinatown not far away.”He senses an opportunity based on hisvalley experience.“My wife and I and mostof our friends would only come downtownfor a specific purpose, either business,a show or the theatre, and thenreturn straight home. It begs the question:‘why didn’t we all come early and shop,have a meal and experience more of whatdowntown has to offer?’”Today’s challenge, therefore, is to encouragevisitors to come more frequently andto stay longer, sampling the diversity ofdowntown.Alpen thinks the Marketing andCommunications Committee should focuspredominantly on two or three majorprojects at a time, such as the “Celebratethe Arts” campaign and the new brandinginitiative,“My Downtown.”It is a mistake, he says,“to try and be allthings to all people. Committees have atendency to merge everybody’s agendas,overwhelming available resources withnew ideas.This just dilutes the effectivenessof an organization.”Peter Alpen says that the Marketing andCommunications Committee is anoutstanding team:“their enthusiasm andenergy is infectious.”DVBIAThe Friends of Victory SquareA series of public entertainment events this pastsummer at Victory Square demonstrates that ahighly motivated group of citizens and the Cityare determined to restore the historic site as asubject of civic pride.The Parks Board has worked to maintain cleanlinessand landscaping, but a number of organizationscame forward in 2001 with a bold$330,000 plan for restoration and lighting.Thefirst $210,000 phase of that was approved, with$50,000 from the Parks Board, $100,000 fromthe City of Vancouver and the balance from publicdonations.This would cover the restoration,floodlighting the monument and new lamp standardsaround the park (bounded by Hastings,Cambie, Pender and Hamilton Streets).A laterphase would focus on tree plantings.Community partners actively involved include:• Downtown Eastside Residents Association• The Royal Canadian Legion• The B.C. Regiment Association• Vancouver Police Department• Vancouver Fire Department• Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation• Vancouver Community College• Gastown Business Improvement Association• Chinatown Business Improvement Association• Tourism VancouverThose who would like to assist can contactAndrew Pottinger,The Barkley Group, at604-689-9388. Pottinger says,“This projectcould be a magic bullet for improving the businessand tourism environment in that part ofdowntown Vancouver.”More information can be found at the followingInternet addresses:http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/bdpackg/2001/011105/victory.htmandhttp://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/news/020628rel.htmDVBIA7
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Page 5: Celebrating Christmas DowntownWith

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