The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
Donnelly: Camas should aim to support small businesses
By Ann Donnelly
Published: January 5, 2020, 6:01am
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Heartbreaking. That’s the sentiment expressed by many patrons of iconic downtown Vancouver restaurant Tommy O’s Pacific Rim Bistro. Proprietor Tommy Owens announced on December 20 that the restaurant would close within days. Terming the restaurant (which dates to 1994 when it was named Aloha Cafe) “a modern landmark,” Facebook commenter Joanna Fitzwilson suggested that the Tommy O’s sign should remain “like Portland’s White Stag sign.” High praise indeed.
While my husband will miss Tommy O’s Portuguese donuts served with lavish strawberry jam, I will especially miss the pot of heritage Kona coffee for two, the best coffee in coffee-addicted Vancouver.
For some of us, regret at the changing landscape for eateries is mixed with vague guilt that we could have done more to forestall the loss of a restaurant and proprietor long known as pillars of the Vancouver downtown community. As Fitzwilson reminds us, in posting about Owens, “you have contributed so much to Vancouver’s Renaissance.”
Owens mentions “decreased customer support” among the factors forcing closure of the Vancouver location. Perhaps we restaurantgoers took comfort in the constancy of Tommy O’s, but then drove past it on our way to the new wine bars on the waterfront. Did we forget our elementary school tenet “make new friends but keep the old; one is silver but the other gold”?
Owens, certainly among our “gold,” showed class and honesty in announcing, “‘All good things must come to an end.’ … I have come to the end of mine, with sadness in my heart after 25 years of service to the Vancouver downtown area.”
An experienced business owner must judge when to expand and when to contract, and where. Well acquainted with such tough choices, Owens closed an east Vancouver restaurant in 2013 that had been impacted by the 2009 economic downturn, to focus on downtown Vancouver. Now that location has closed.
A variety of factors likely combined to end Tommy O’s run in Vancouver. Eateries at the Waterfront and several other new restaurants became the shiny new objects for repeat dining customers. Zealous parking enforcement in downtown Vancouver may have instilled fear of the $25 ticket in many prospective customers for Tommy O’s busy corner of Eighth and Washington.
‘Perfect storm’
Operating costs for establishments such as Tommy O’s are increasing in the form of property valuations, taxes, and therefore building lease costs. State-mandated increases in minimum wage — one of several in recent years — started Wednesday. Dependable, skilled wait staff is scarce and the highly qualified may be hired away by competing new establishments. Meanwhile, the Vancouver City Council is publicly airing possible new taxes on business to pay for its Stronger Vancouver expansion of city improvements.
Taken together, these factors may have created a “perfect storm” of projected lower revenues and higher costs that ultimately were fatal to the location’s future.
Owens is working to keep his restaurant open at the prominently situated Camas Hotel. The effort by such an iconic restaurateur presents an opportunity for the City of Camas to create a positive business climate for Tommy O’s and other businesses. The city is under the new leadership of mayor Barry McDonnell, elected last November after a brief but intense write-in campaign.
McDonnell (and eventually the full city council) would likely benefit from a discussion with Owens about steps Camas can take to support small businesses and contribute to keeping Owens’ last, best hope, alive. The mayor, I suggest, could do so quite enjoyably over a pot of special Kona and some Portuguese donuts.
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