Latest News

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Zoning board unanimously approves Shoppers Drug Mart expansion

Move would close two iconic businesses

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 12/21/2011 9:00 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Vietnamese restaurant owners make a plea to a city council board regarding the Shoppers Drug Mart expansion plans. (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Related Items

Articles
- Special place
- Sale could spell dream's death

A city zoning board has unanimously approved a zoning change that would close two iconic Osborne Village businesses.

At about 8:30 p.m., the Board of Adjustment gave its nod to the change that will let the Shoppers Drug Mart at the corner of River and Osborne expand, which means the demolition of the buildings that house Vi-ann restaurant and hip video-rental hotspot Movie Village.

About 100 people packed the council gallery to see presentations, which included an emotional plea from Vi-Ann restaurant owner Bac Bui and his wife, who both wore white head gear that denoted they were following Vietnamese tradition and mourning Bui’s mother who recently died.

The board’s decision will now go before a full meeting of city council. There is a 17-day appeal period in which citizens can state their views.

In an earlier interview with the Free Press, Bui said: "I've worked so hard for this. If (my landlord) sells, I don't know where to go."

For more than a decade, Bui, 55, has run Vi-Ann out of the ground floor of the little Osborne Street building. Expecting to renew his lease next June, he put new carpets in and added more lights to the low-ceilinged room.

Then the news came out that his tenancy may not last so long. The proposed Shoppers Drug Mart expansion would almost double the store's retail space.

Martin Ringer, who owns the two buildings on the sale block, declined to comment. Ringer's son David opened Movie Village more than 20 years ago; he has not yet announced what might happen to that business if the development plan goes ahead.

In a way, it's a straightforward real-estate transaction: Someone wants to sell and someone wants to buy. But change is never easy, especially in this cozy part of the city's urban heart.

"Osborne is a special place in Winnipeg," said Barry Pomeroy, a University of Winnipeg professor who is helping to organize a Facebook campaign to block the proposed Shoppers expansion and save Vi-ann. "It is a unique community; it's a great mixture of people who live there. I just don't think that this expansion is really going to serve the Osborne Village residents."

Bui said he understands the proposal isn't personal, just the way real estate can work. He is a businessman, after all, and knows the value of a dollar -- the dollar he didn't have when he first arrived in Canada.

"You know the boat people?" Bui said, tapping his fingers against a palm-sized cup of orange tea. "I'm one of them."

In 1975, Bui was among 6,000 Vietnamese to flee to Canada at the end of the Vietnam War. He was 19, penniless, and couldn't speak a word of English. With little education and few skills, he took a labourer's job in a Winnipeg factory, earning just over $2 an hour.

Twenty-five years later, that company honoured Bui with a retirement party and a gold watch. He had saved enough to buy his own restaurant.

"I told them, 'I want to do my dream,'" Bui said.

So in 2001, Bui bought Vi-ann for $100,000. At the time, he believed it would be the last job he would ever take. Now, it seems, his newcomer's dream may not end that way -- but how it will end is not yet clear. Bui said the building's owner offered him $10,000 to relocate Vi-Ann. That's not enough, he said, to move his four-employee business to a new home.

(You must be logged in to post your reaction)

Your reaction?

More Latest News

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.