I’ve noticed recently a few businesses around Gastown have closed and have posted notices stating that they are “under renovation,” suggesting a future reopening, when it seems that this is not the full truth. This happened with the Subway shop on Water Street: for ages there was a sign indicating the location would reopen, but eventually all signage was taken down (and there’s now a Subway on Hastings, in the Woodwards building). The same thing now seems to have occurred with the Budget rental location at Abbott and Pender: there has been no indication of pending renovations in the months that it’s been closed, and I expect that eventually the signs will be taken down quietly and a new condo building will appear on the site.

Why do businesses do this? Perhaps it’s to protect their brand: indicating that a location is permanently closed could be seen as an admission of failure. However, this is just a guess on my part.