VANCOUVER, Canada—Each night Granville Street morphs into an Olympic party zone overrun by an army of young people, many of them red-clad, maple-branded, certifiable Canucks.
“Go Canada Go,” they shout, or just “Wooooohoooooo.”
If you’re a reporter working the Olympic venues from dawn till midnight, you could be forgiven for thinking Vancouver is populated by tipsy, ecstatically patriotic twenty-somethings.
The family crowd can be found downtown at night, especially near the Vancouver Convention center and the flaming Olympic cauldron, but Granville is a jungle full of drunken monkeys. That’s not so unusual, given it is the epicenter of Vancouver’s night life, but during the Olympics the street has been shut down to traffic and the young have taken over.
Overall, it’s been a good go for downtown businesses fortunate enough to sell food, alcohol, and all things red and maple, says Charles Gauthier, executive director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Association.
They are seeing business double or triple compared to last month or this time last year, he said.
“In general, it has been very positive for those that we forecasted would do well,” he said.
But for those not in the above categories, Gauthier said business has dropped a bit as regular customers avoid the crush of downtown pedestrians or spend their hard-earned money on Olympic hockey tickets.
“Go Canada Go,” they shout, or just “Wooooohoooooo.”
If you’re a reporter working the Olympic venues from dawn till midnight, you could be forgiven for thinking Vancouver is populated by tipsy, ecstatically patriotic twenty-somethings.
The family crowd can be found downtown at night, especially near the Vancouver Convention center and the flaming Olympic cauldron, but Granville is a jungle full of drunken monkeys. That’s not so unusual, given it is the epicenter of Vancouver’s night life, but during the Olympics the street has been shut down to traffic and the young have taken over.
Overall, it’s been a good go for downtown businesses fortunate enough to sell food, alcohol, and all things red and maple, says Charles Gauthier, executive director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Association.
They are seeing business double or triple compared to last month or this time last year, he said.
“In general, it has been very positive for those that we forecasted would do well,” he said.
But for those not in the above categories, Gauthier said business has dropped a bit as regular customers avoid the crush of downtown pedestrians or spend their hard-earned money on Olympic hockey tickets.
