Dressew Supply confirms sale of its building and permanent closure date | Daily Hive

Dressew Supply confirms sale of Downtown Vancouver building and permanent closure date

Pre-pandemic condition of the storefront of Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St., Vancouver. (Dressew Supply)

Nearly two years ago, Dressew Supply first announced it had made the very difficult decision to list its Downtown Vancouver building for sale and eventually permanently close its business.

Tonight, the beloved and iconic independent retailer officially announced a closing date, with its permanent shutdown set for just under 11 months from now.

The closure will bring an end to more than six decades as a cornerstone of Metro Vancouver’s fashion, theatre, and creative communities.

You might also like:

Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St. will close on Saturday, May 1, 2027.

This follows the completion of the sale of the building earlier this month, with the business signing a one-year lease with the new owner to remain open for the time being.

The business hopes that they will be able to find a new home “in one way or another.”

But as the closure is still about a year away, there will not be any discounted closing sales anytime soon, with Dressew Supply planning to restock their fabric and sewing notions over the interim.

Dressew Supply 337 West Hastings Street Vancouver

Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St., Vancouver. (Dressew Supply)

For generations of Vancouverites, Dressew was far more than a fabric store. It became a cultural institution known for its endless aisles of textiles, notions, costume supplies, buttons, trims, and affordable fashion materials. Students, film costume departments, dance studios, cosplayers, and professional designers all relied on the store as one of the few remaining places where creativity could be explored affordably and in person.

The closure marks another major loss for Vancouver’s independent retail landscape, where longstanding family-run businesses have increasingly disappeared amid rising commercial rents and the high operating costs related to crime and public safety in certain areas of the city, especially for the safety of staff.

Businesses in the city are challenged by both microeconomic and macroeconomic conditions, including the rising cost of goods and labour.

Dressew Supply announced in August 2024 that it would list its retail building for sale, close its off-site warehouse facilities, and completely wind down operations at some point in the foreseeable future.

The main operations of the business at its Downtown Vancouver storefront location had long faced challenges related to rising crime, theft, and public safety concerns in the area — issues that intensified during and after the pandemic. For years following the health safety lockdowns, its storefront remained boarded up, becoming a visible symbol of the difficulties facing many longtime businesses amid the expansion of social issues stemming from the Downtown Eastside.

However, at the time, the business emphasized that the closure was due to a “variety of circumstances beyond our control” — not for any sole reason.

Original pandemic-time mural painted on the March 2020-installed boarding on the storefront of Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St., Vancouver. (Dressew Supply)

2023 new mural painted on the March 2020-installed boarding on the storefront of Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St., Vancouver. (Dressew Supply)

A rare, lasting independent business

Over the decades, Dressew Supply hopped between several locations, all within a one-block radius of its current location.

The business was originally established in 1961 under the name “Dressmakers’ and Milliners’ Supply House” and was first located at 320 West Cordova St., just north of its current location, behind the laneway.

A decade later, in 1971, it moved to 311 West Pender St., just south of the existing location. At this juncture, the business expanded from its original primary focus on selling supplies for hats and hatmaking, along with some home sewing supplies, to a greater focus on fabric and sewing.

In need of more space, the business relocated for a second time in 1981 to its current location at 337 West Hastings St., where it occupies two floors plus an underground level, totalling 27,000 sq ft. This enabled Dressew Supply to significantly expand its selection of products.

The two-storey building at 337 West Hastings St. was built in 1905 and was previously occupied by a Fields store and, before that, Kresge’s.

According to BC Assessment, as of the latest assessment roll in July 2025, the building has an assessed value of $7.7 million, including $7.65 million for the land and $30,500 for the structure. This is down substantially from the July 2024 assessment of $10.6 million, with $10.58 million attributed to the land and $30,400 to the structure.

Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St., Vancouver. (Dressew Supply)

When Dressew Supply first opened at its current West Hastings Street location, only the main floor was accessible to the public, with the lower floor and basement designated for storage. By the mid-1980s, the lower floor had opened to customers, though the basement continues to be used for storage to this day.

Its now-popular Halloween season offerings began as a small section in the 1980s, when customers were shopping for dance schools and theatrical productions.

In 2001, the current West Hastings Street building lacked the storage space the business needed, so it acquired a warehouse in Strathcona. This also enabled the creation of a large clearance fabric section on the lower floor.

Then, in 2012, a second warehouse was added immediately adjacent to the warehouse acquired in 2001. Together, the two warehouses provide more than 30,000 sq. ft. of combined storage space.

However, the storied business’s fortunes took a sharp turn with the onset of the pandemic. In October 2019, shortly before the pandemic, the McKie family had painted a rosy picture of a thriving business to the CBC.

Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings Street, Vancouver

Dressew Supply at 337 West Hastings St., Vancouver. (Dressew Supply)

You might also like: