'You can't fight it': Vancouver's European Warehouse closes after 60 years

Another longtime, family-run business in Vancouver is closing.

European Specialty's Importer Ltd. — known as the European Warehouse — opened its doors on Prior Street for the last time on Tuesday.

It joins other decades-old businesses closing either due to economic reasons or because of the retirement of proprietors.

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"It's sad. It's really sad to go, but you can't, you gotta go with it, you can't fight it right?" said Jasmine van Renesse about the European Warehouse.

Her father, Karel, opened the shop in Vancouver in 1957 on Railway Street to import German food and household goods to Vancouver for the city's diaspora of northern Europeans.

"In '57 all the immigrants were coming over from Europe and they were setting the tone, and he had great business probably up until Expo '86," said Van Renesse. "And then it slowly changed."

In March of 1980, the van Renesses moved to their current location at 220 Prior St.

During its most successful days, van Renesse's father supplied the European delis, bakeries and groceries across Vancouver. At the time, Robson Street was referred to as the Robsonstrasse, the northwest end of the street known for German immigrants and German culture.

As those businesses closed, however, the van Renesses kept their warehouse on Prior Street open as a retail outlet for the public. Eventually, Jasmine van Renesse's mom, Traute, now 81, took the business over from her father. He died in 1994 at the age of 63.

After its high point in the mid to late 80s, van Renesse says the business faced declines in sales,to the point now where it makes more sense to close the business.

"The last two years, you've seen a lot of small businesses going," said Van Renesse.

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"It's just getting too hard to maintain. The expenses are high, and the sales go down so ... unfortunately, you know it's transition time, I think."

She says many clients, upon learning of the closure, have lamented that another part of Vancouver's history, especially considering the end of other similar businesses, is disappearing for good.

"I think so, and that's the message I get," said van Renesse.

Van Renesse says the family will sell the building on Prior Street, which it owns. Her mother, who still worked at the warehouse, will retire, while van Renesse says she most likely will as well.

With files from Deborah Goble.