Blenz Coffee, the BC-founded specialty coffee chain whose Pacific Northwest roots give it a commercial identity in the Lower Mainland coffee culture that Starbucks does not match at equivalent local resonance, anchors the café and community gathering identity of Westminster Centre in New Westminster, British Columbia, at the intersection of 6th Street and 12th Avenue in the historic city that served as British Columbia’s first provincial capital. Kozak Ukrainian Eatery, the Ukrainian food operator whose New Westminster location reflects the growing Ukrainian community in the Fraser Valley, gives the property a culturally specific Eastern European food identity. Mahtot East Africa Market, the East African grocery and specialty food retailer, gives the property a community food identity for New Westminster’s Ethiopian and Eritrean household. Chaiiwala, the UK and Canada-founded South Asian chai tea and street food café, gives the property a South Asian beverage and street food identity.
Buy-Low Foods anchors the full-service grocery and daily-needs category as the primary food provisioning anchor. London Drugs anchors the pharmacy, health, beauty, and general merchandise category. Kin’s Farm Market gives the property a BC-founded fresh produce and specialty grocery identity. Full Basket Butcher gives the property a specialty meat and butchery identity. Purdys Chocolatier gives the property a Vancouver-founded premium chocolate identity. Waves Coffee House and Starbucks serve the café floor alongside Blenz. Banette serves the French artisan bakery category. JAK’s Beer Wine Spirits serves the craft beer and specialty spirits retail category. Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmasave serve the pharmacy categories. Dollarama serves the value and household essentials category. Fido, Rogers, TELUS, and Virgin Plus serve the Canadian telecom retail categories.
The property’s commercial role in New Westminster is the 6th Street community strip centre: a Buy-Low Foods-London Drugs grocery and pharmacy anchor whose Blenz Coffee BC-native café identity, Kozak Ukrainian Eatery Eastern European community food, and Mahtot East Africa Market immigrant community provisioning give the New Westminster and Fraser Valley household a diverse community retail and daily-needs catchment destination in BC’s historic first capital.
