Staples closes major store location in downtown Vancouver | Daily Hive

Staples closed at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver, as seen on July 5, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

After about three decades of business, the Staples store location at the southwest corner of the intersection of Smithe Street and Seymour Street — immediately south of the Orpheum Theatre — in downtown Vancouver has permanently closed.

The last day of operations for the office supply store at 901 Seymour St. was Saturday, July 5, 2025. At the time of closure, the store remained well stocked with a significant amount of merchandise.

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The store’s future had been uncertain for some time, with Staples’ 20,600 sq. ft. space listed for lease since at least early 2024 and initially available for a new tenant as early as December 1, 2024.

According to a listing by commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap, the large-format retail space remains an attractive opportunity due to its prominent location at the intersection of two busy thoroughfares.

staples 901 seymour street vancouver dominion motors building

Staples closed at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver, as seen on July 5, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Inside the retail space of Staples at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver. (Marcus & Millichap)

Staples’ space spans the ground level of the 1925-built, three-storey building, which was previously known as the Dominion Motors Building. Various car dealerships occupied the entire building prior to the site’s more recent history as a Staples store location.

This is a protected heritage building under the City of Vancouver’s Heritage Register, which recognizes the Art Deco motifs in the parapets and pilasters, and its architectural firm of Townley and Matheson — the same company that designed Vancouver City Hall.

One particularly unique feature of the Dominion Motors Building’s original design was the gas station within the building’s corner with the intersection, which was accessible to vehicles by a short driveway through a diagonal building arcade. Today, this type of gas station design would not be permitted locally; however, similar configurations remain common in high-density areas of Asia, where land is at a premium, with gas stations built into the lower floors of residential towers in some instances.

At some point, this arcade for the gas station was fully enclosed to create additional indoor space for the building’s past life as a car dealership, now a part of Staples’ retail footprint.

Interestingly, archival photos of the building’s 1936 condition show a sign that displays the cost of gas being 25 cents — presumably per gallon. Canada switched from selling gas by the imperial gallon to the litre in 1979. One imperial gallon is 4.55 litres; the price of gas that day in 1936 at the gas station was 5.5 cents per litre, and when adjusted for inflation in 2025 that is equivalent to $1.35 per litre today.

901 seymour street vancouver dominion motors building 1936

Gas station at the Dominion Motors Building at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver, as seen in 1936. (Vancouver Public Library Archives)

901 seymour street vancouver dominion motors building 1946

Gas station at the Dominion Motors Building at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver, as seen in 1946. (Vancouver Public Library Archives)

In the 1990s, this building received a substantial renovation that involved a restoration of the exterior facade, seismic upgrades, and other works, including interior renovations enabling new retail and office uses. This renovation and full legally protected heritage designation were project components of the redevelopments of the east and west sides of the 900 block of Seymour Street, with the heritage density bonus transferred to enable greater residential uses at Metropolitan Towers, where the Nester’s Market grocery store is located.

The vehicle parking stalls dedicated to Staples’ retail space is located in the base of the residential tower immediately to the south.

In the early 2010s, the building underwent another renovation. The upper two levels were converted into premium office space, and Staples slightly downsized its store footprint to make way for a new office entrance lobby — supported by a new elevator and staircase to the office levels — on the Smithe Street frontage. Additional heritage restoration work was also carried out on the exterior at this time, including the removal of Staples’ red horizontal louvered facade architectural screen and signage installed in the 1990s.

This red horizontal band was replaced by glass awnings that provide some weather protection for pedestrians and help return the building’s exterior closer to its original look. As part of a more subtle signage strategy, a new vertical Staples sign was installed at the building’s corner with the intersection, echoing a similar sign from the building’s earlier use as a car dealership.

Previous 2012 condition of Staples at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Staples closed at 901 Seymour St., Vancouver, as seen on July 5, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

According to BC Assessment, as of July 2024, this heritage building carries an assessed value of nearly $31 million, including $29.56 million for the 21,527 sq. ft. plot of land and $1.43 million for the structure.

Staples has struggled over the past two decades, first due to the initial rise of e-commerce retail, and later facing more intense challenges in the post-pandemic era from the growth of semi-remote work, shifting digital preferences in work and everyday materials, and the continued acceleration of online shopping.

Although Staples is now closed at 901 Seymour St., the retailer still has another downtown Vancouver store location in the base of Hyatt Regency Vancouver Hotel at Royal Centre (next to SkyTrain’s Burrard Station), which is strategically situated at the heart of the Central Business District’s office tower cluster, as well as other locations within or near Vancouver on West Broadway, Grandview Highway, the University of British Columbia campus, and Brentwood in Burnaby.

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