The announcement of a 30,000-sq.-foot London Drugs store coming to Garibaldi Village Shopping Centre has some downtown business owners asking whether Squamish really needs a fifth pharmacy.Home Hardware owner Mike Vivian says he expects his business to be impacted, despite it not being in direct competition with the London Drugs chain. "It's not necessarily the product that they sell. It takes footprints out of downtown," he said.Downtown is already struggling after the build out of the Business Park, Vivian said, noting, "Our business was hit very hard." Last January, Shoppers Drug Mart marked its commitment to downtown with a massive expansion in the Chieftain Mall.While the owner of Shoppers Drug Mart, John Cameron, declined to comment on London Drugs, Vivian said it would be "a real shame" to see the new pharmacy follow up on the expansion to Shoppers."I see London Drugs coming to town as a real slap in the face to them," he said.While the Downtown Squamish Business Improvement Association (BIA) has yet to discuss the issue, its president Greg Fischer described the addition as overkill."How many pharmacies does a town of 15,000 need?" he asked. "How many TV places does a town of 15,000 need?"Comparing the new store to Wal-Mart, which opened a year ago, he said it would draw more shoppers from Whistler and Pemberton but give them little reason to turn off the highway."It's going to draw people but they can now get everything out in the Highlands and don't even have to make the trip downtown anymore," he said. Although his store offerings at Gelato Carina have little overlap with London Drugs, he said he still expects it to impact business downtown.In the meantime, the BIA continues to beautify downtown in hopes for retaining and attracting customers. This summer, the group plans to build a life-size chessboard on the south side of Cleveland Avenue almost at Pemberton Avenue to create a public gaming area downtown. The 10-by-10 foot board would be complete with three-foot-tall pieces. The board would give residents a much needed hangout spot, Fischer said.
