Demographics and other fun stuff...

[Skook]

Welcome to VanPeak, BCer.

It's not hard at all to say that with a straight face. How many hot tubs did you buy, how many septic fields, how many fireplaces? Those are all one-off purchases that I would put under 'initial purchase' or 'possible build'. As for taxes, water and ferries - none of those 'monies' make their way into the pockets of small business owners on the coast and they pay all those fees, too.

The keyword in the sentence you quote is "ongoing" as in day-to-day purchases made by the those living "full-time" in a community: gas, groceries, restaurant meals, gifts, computer supplies, books, small appliances, furniture, linens, clothes, shoes, gardening supplies, etc. How many of these items did you buy as a "former investor" and "part-time" resident?

Now, I confess that when I wrote that initial post I was thinking of life up Pender Harbour which has been severely impacted by the increase in part-time residents at the expense of full-timers. Businesses in Sechelt and Gibsons do have a larger population base to draw on; however, they are now coming under pressure, too, as those in the top spending bracket (21 -45) leave the coast whether for employment opportunities or to support the aspirations of their young families only to be replaced by retirees whose main concern is to save not spend and more so now that they've had almost 5 years of low interest rates on their conservative investments. Don' forget that the 2011 Sunshine Coast male and female populations by age are the solid lines in that graph above and you can now shift those bulges and valleys up by 3 years.

As well, there are new factors coming into play that will affect the survival of small businesses on the coast - online purchasing and debt load with the latter strongly influencing the former. Everyone is looking for a bargain these days.

I have been following the lists of coastal businesses put up for sale these past six months and it's an eye-opener. I can see all I've mention above is coming into play. There's also another important factor - owners wanting to retire and pull out their equity - but guess what - there's no one to buy. This is worthy of another forum thread one day.

By the way, this is not my site - I am only a guest with a deep curiosity trying to understand. I'm glad to read that you find my endeavours interesting. As a last thought, I hope you will share your SC insights with the forum, BCer, as you make the move back to the coast.