VANCOUVER – Before
Vancouver’s independent, small convenience stores fade from the landscape, one
local photographer has made it his mission to take pictures of the
establishments, The Province reports.
“People develop a loyalty
to these stores and go there,” said Jason Statler, an architectural
photographer who started cataloguing the mom-and-pop stores two months ago.
“They say, ‘Oh I love that place, or the guy is really friendly, or they have
amazing hard-to-find soda pops.’”
Many of these convenience
stores reside in residential areas, tucked away in older buildings. Thus far,
Statler has captured more than a dozen stores with his camera, six of which
have appeared in a series At Your Convenience on the blog Vancouver is Awesome.
One of the first to be
photographed was Vernon Drive Market, owned by Anna Mak, along with her husband
Floyd Wong. For a dozen years, the pair have run the store, which opened its
doors in 1927. The store stocks women’s purses, canned products and homemade
sandwiches.
“Customers say they’re the
best in town,” said Mak, who added that small stores like Vernon Drive Market
struggle to compete against bigger chains. “Many aren’t able to survive, but I
hope people in the neighborhood will always continue to support us,” she said.
Statler has a ways to go
to photograph the city’s approximately 100 independent convenience stores, but
he might have to hurry before some stores are gone. “I know of some locations,
but when I go to photograph them, they’re not there any more,” he said.