Dear Editor:
I'm the manager of Kerrisdale Cameras on Marine Drive, just a block from the venerable Safeway store slated for closure July 1. I've held this position over two periods, starting in 1968 and totalling nearly 40 years.
Many of our customers are seniors - I'm becoming one myself in a year or three - and over the years, many have become great friends outside of work.
They're worried about losing their supermarket. Most don't drive, many need walkers, and sadly, many have vision impairment.
Obviously there is nothing which can be done to save the Safeway store, but it reminds me of a similar situation that happened in the Kerrisdale area some years ago. There was a small IGA store at 41st Avenue and Balsam Street that catered to the elderly residents of nearby apartments and condominiums. A mile west, there was (and still is) another IGA store at 41st Avenue and Dunbar Street.
My late mother lived in one of the apartment buildings near the Balsam Street location and relied on that store for her day-to-day needs. IGA closed that store to the great dismay of its customers, including my mother.
But the company did a terrific thing for its loyal customers: For many months, it ran an hourly shuttle bus from the closed store to the larger one at Dunbar.
Mother enjoyed this service until she was unable to do even that.
The wonderful seniors, our residents and my customers, truly need something like this. Could H.Y. Louie consider operating a shuttle bus from their parking lot at 16th Street and Marine Drive to their IGA Marketplace store in Dundarave?
I'm hoping that West Vancouver council will approach the H.Y. Louie Group and propose such a plan. I have sent the mayor and all council members this suggestion.
Derek Bell Branch Manager Kerrisdale Cameras Ltd. West Vancouver
