Big news for Vancouver's Small Victory, as the bakery-café has recently announced plans for their fourth, and largest, location.
Small Victory has purchased a 7,000-square-foot retail space located on the ground floor of Chard Development’s The Yukon building in Mount Pleasant.
The bakeshop's more modest beginnings were at their location in Yaletown; just last month Small Victory marked two years open at 3070 Granville Street in the South Granville neighbourhood.
Known for their always-stunning baked goods alongside a comprehensive coffee program, with breakfast and lunch dishes - and cakes and pies, too - Small Victory is currently at work on their third location at the Amazing Brentwood in Burnaby.
Plans for Brentwood were already rolling before COVID-19, and with businesses - in particular those in the food and drink sector - have been struggling to survive, and yet Small Victory is among those needing - and able - to expand.
“Throughout the pandemic, shops in high street locations saw a dramatic shift in their business, however, there has been an interesting evolution in consumers pursuing 'shop local' movements and seeking experiential commercial spaces. Small Victory’s new location is well-positioned to capitalize on both of these trends and the purchase of their own space speaks to their long-term confidence in the food and beverage industry," says Matt Carlson, Senior Vice President at Colliers Canada.
For Small Victory, that confidence comes from their loyal, and expanding, customer base.
“We had planned to expand our business to meet the fast-growing demand from our customers. After the pandemic emerged, we reassessed our business needs and concluded that demand was still growing and that a new physical store and production facility was needed to help safely meet demand and provide our customers access to our freshly baked products," Qasim Nathoo, Business Development Manager at Small Victory Bakery, tells V.I.A. in an email.
The space Small Victory is going into is one that reflects a changing tide in Vancouver neighbourhoods; The Yukon is a strata office and light industrial development nearing completion at 6th Avenue and Yukon Street in Vancouver, on the site of what had been 3 Vets, which closed in Dec. 2017 after 70 years in business.
Over the last couple of years, that particular section of Mount Pleasant, immediately south of Olympic Village and west of Main Street, has seen a lot of older buildings come down or be modified as new developments go up. With that change, the neighbourhood has welcomed other popular Vancouver independent food businesses with new locations, like Tacofino, Field & Social, and Purebread, among others.
"Small Victory’s commitment and the demand for light industrial space in our project speaks to the resilience of this vibrant neighbourhood and a long-term confidence in the Vancouver economy," notes Byron Chard, President & CEO at Chard Development LTD.
For their fourth location, Nathoo says Small Victory plans to use The Yukon venue in a way that to some extent echoes the history of the neighbourhood. Nathoo explains that here Small Victory will "launch an innovative industrial bakery, which will include a production and retail space, bringing customers closer to the theatrics of milling, producing, baking, and brewing."
We'll have to hang on a little longer, though, to get our hands on the goods. Nathoo adds that Small Victory in Mount Pleasant is aiming to open in Spring 2021.
