VANCOUVER — The FIFA World Cup has arrived in Vancouver, but not every local business is celebrating. For small shops near BC Place stadium, the tournament is telling two very different stories — one of unexpected windfall, and another of financial strain.
Coast Crafts, located close to the stadium, has been overwhelmed with customers since the games began. Owner Kingsley Bailey, originally from Wolverhampton in Britain, described the scene as nothing short of “pandemonium” as soccer fans from across the globe pour in looking for souvenirs.
“Absolutely amazing. I couldn’t think of it being any worse than what it is now. It’s craziness,” Bailey told Reuters. “The customers are from everywhere. They’re from around the world.”
Bailey said the tournament has also opened the eyes of Canadians to just how passionate international soccer fans can be. “I don’t think the Canadians really knew how big soccer was until they saw Australia v Turkey, with no skin in the game, not from this country, how crazy they went. The fans, it was just pandemonium,” he said.
One of the shop’s surprise bestsellers has been Bailey’s own handmade “Vancouver BC 2026” fridge magnets — an item his son initially dismissed. “My son said, Dad, that’s a loser. You’re not going to make any money on this,” Bailey recalled. “And then when he realised what the prices of licensed merchandise were, he came around really quickly because the value was definitely there. Unbelievable. I can’t keep enough of them.”
However, FIFA’s tight grip on licensing has caused headaches for other business owners. Dawn Moulton, who operates Cascadia Natural Pet Supply on Main Street, ran into trouble after advertising football-themed stuffed bears online using FIFA-related language.
“About a year ago, there were many suppliers that contacted the store about FIFA-related materials. There were balls, bears, stuffies, and I chose one (bears) of them, with the wording saying ‘get them in time for FIFA (World Cup)’,” Moulton explained. “Then I posted them on my website as FIFA bears and I was told I needed to change that wording.”
Moulton said the financial impact on her store was minimal. “Not really. I didn’t buy many of these bears. I bought 30. So my profit would be like 100 dollars. I didn’t really care about these bears. That’s why I was surprised that anybody else really cared about these bears. There’s no impact to me now. It’s just business as usual. I’m not going to see any more business,” she said. She eventually donated the leftover bears to a dog rescue organization.
For other businesses, the situation is far more serious. Aquariums West, a tropical fish store situated near the stadium, has decided to shut its doors for all seven World Cup game days, citing access difficulties and a sharp drop in regular customer traffic.
“If customers can’t get here or are unwilling to come, and the soccer fans aren’t going to come in and probably spend any money with us, so that was a hard decision but we had to make it,” said manager and partner Kreig LeBlanc.
LeBlanc expressed concern about the long-term financial toll of losing seven days of business. “It makes us nervous, losing seven days of income. We are hoping that people support us in between those days. It’s going to be a huge hit, and it’s going to affect our months going forward. Hopefully we can recoup those losses,” he said.
He added that there has been little meaningful assistance offered to businesses dealing with the disruption. “There hasn’t really been any meaningful conversation about how it impacts us. We just have to do the best we can and get through it,” LeBlanc said.
