Population and Housing

[tomh009]

Specialist shops that don't have a huge footprint can succeed. Not only phone repair but also phone sales -- maybe even a Samsung or Microsoft store. Specialized clothing. Specialized sports stores (running, skateboarding, bicycles). Niche bookstores. Pet shops. Rogers, Bell or Telus store. Flower/plant shops. Shops like Flying Tiger or Muji.

There are lots of possible retailers that are not big box stores. Hopefully some of those will start to appear soon.

But any store that is more destination, and less "walk by" will benefit less from the more expensive higher profile location, and thus the premium they pay for that location over say...a strip mall, will make less financial sense.

I'm not saying that they can't survive, but until the economic biases are corrected, they will make less economic sense than other businesses, and so will generally be outcompeted by them (under our capitalist maximization of profits model--at least until the market is saturated with available space for businesses).

Maybe yes. But many of them do well in Europe, even in cities that have big malls (and big-box malls) and are relatively car-centric. Know your business, know your customers. If you were selling skateboards, would you choose DTK or Conestoga Mall?