The end of the British Pub

Reading today in the Calgary Herald that the British Pub is under threat. Apparently there are 60 000 of them in England, but 50 close each month due to a variety of reasons. One of them is that many food chains are taking over.

Back in Waterloo, this was starting to happen in Uptown. The south end of uptown had a coffee shop, gone when Starbucks opened. The eyewear outlet, long a fixture, closed the day the mainstream super eyewear store opened across the road in the new, really expensive plaza.

And I've noticed this in Calgary since last time around. Bad Ass Coffee, once a staple to the core is now a Tim's. KAOS, once a cool Jazz/Blues lounge is now "The Yardhouse" a place where drunk morons go on St Pats day to create problems. Numerous small cool stores have vapourized in the name of large fashion outlets.

In Calgary, most people think the North East area of the city is a less than desirable area of the city. Recently I went to a place in Kensington for a shawarma. The bill, including two drinks was 25 bucks. I found a hole in the wall place in Forest Lawn (not a desired area to live) and the price was substantially better and so was the taste. The place lacked the cool factor, but who cares? I personally think it's more cool to eat at something original than some contrived "cool" place to go.

The NE is also home to T&T and Lina's Supermarkets. The first is all Chinese & the new store is fascinating. It's modern & clean, and shows how many Chinese are in Calgary. Lina's is a small Italian shopping store at which I FINALLY found a good pizza. Artichoke on a pizza in Calgary. Thank you GOD.

It's really too bad to see the Brit Pub die, but it's just as sad to see the indie coffee houses & small stores. These create fabric in your neighborhood and are owned by people that live in your town. In short, they give a fuck bout your ass, unless multinational chains that give a fuck about their stockholders.