The recent closure of Finch’s Tea House on West Pender Street follows many other businesses shuttering around the City of Vancouver, so what’s going on?
March 22 marked the last day of the iconic tea and sandwich shop, an establishment many have come to for years in a part of Vancouver that has seen its fair share of struggles.
“We are now being defeated by the neighbourhood,” said Sheryl Matthew, Finch’s owner.
While there’s another location in Strathcona, losing the West Pender location has not been easy to swallow, and we heard more from Matthew about the closure.
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Matthew had some words for the City’s work in the area and petty crime, which has led to upkeep costs and impacted business. Many of her concerns reflected the same woes we’ve heard from other business owners in the area in recent years.
“The City is doing interminable road work. Almost two years for cosmetic, above-ground changes,” said Matthew.
After surviving the pandemic, things started to look hopeful for Matthew, but she told Daily Hive that after things levelled out in December, they got “buried in scaffold.”
Recent photos of said scaffolding don’t make the typically picturesque spot look very presentable or like it’s even open.
Amir Ali/Daily Hive
Despite the big red banner saying otherwise.
Amir Ali/Daily Hive
A vertical expansion of the heritage building Finch’s is located in has led to more construction chaos.
The redevelopment would add two full floors and a partial third floor over the Hartney Chambers building, with its new rooftop serving as an outdoor amenity space for office workers.
“So it’s death by scaffold in the end,” said Matthew.
It’s not just the scaffolding, though. While Matthew sounded sympathetic to the neighbourhood’s woes, her business has dealt with the constant onslaught of broken windows. The restaurant has seen a “boatload of vandalism” recently, with nine windows smashed within 18 months. Matthew started a GoFundMe back in December 2023 to help keep Finch’s open.
When Dished Vancouver reported on the shop’s closure, an employee said that the cost of upkeep and repairs led to the shutdown.
“No amount of our usual tenacity, elbow grease and positive attitude can make it shiny down there again,” Matthew said.
She remembered a recent occasion when someone lit a “sizeable little campfire” in her doorway, and destroyed a tile that lasted over 100 years.
She also said that staff have been accosted on countless occasions by people impacted by Vancouver’s drug crisis.
Still, the sad developments haven’t obscured her beautiful memories of this spot.
“Sad we won’t be there to leave boxes of fresh treats and bread in our entranceway at closing anymore. We’ve done that for 20 years, and I had so many nice conversations with locals,” she said.
Daily Hive has contacted the City of Vancouver for a response to some of Matthew’s concerns.
With files from Marco Ovies and Kenneth Chan