Bringing business -- and vigour -- back
Woodward's has resurrected the area, say owners of operations in and around the development
Vancouver Sun
[Excerpt:]
John Neate had been looking for a Gastown location for his JJ Bean coffee shop for some time, and was happy to snag a spot in the Woodward's development.
With shops on Powell Street, Commercial Drive and Main Street, as well as other locations, JJ Bean considers itself an east-side roaster.
"Some businesses would fear going in there because they're not familiar with the people in the Downtown Eastside," Neate said. "[But] we've always been really comfortable being on the east side."
The biggest draw for the location, though, was the artists, restaurateurs and SFU.
"There are our kind of people there," Neate said -- the people who really appreciate good coffee.
At JJ Bean everything -- the grinding and making the coffee -- is done by hand, and that means it takes a bit longer than in other coffee shops.
"So the consumer who just wants the caffeine fix is not our customer," Neate said. "The person that actually notices the difference between good coffee and excellent coffee, that's our customer."
[Full story here.]