Victoria’s Design District ‘encompasses a lifestyle’

VICTORIA—At this time of year in particular, famous shopping zones such as London’s Oxford Street or Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles are all aglow. But in downtown Victoria, with its quaint old-fashioned street lights, a unique area stretching six square blocks can make you forget about Rodeo’s glitz.

It is the Design District, and it accommodates a variety of businesses including restaurants, hair salons, a boutique art hotel, and home stores that specialize in styles from modern cutting edge to old-world European to locally hand-crafted.

“You can pretty much find anything here. It’s a very historic area and very unique,” says Pamela Robert, director of the group of 24 merchants located within Victoria’s downtown between Government Street, the Inner Harbour, and Yates and Chatham.

“The Design District is a great attraction. It encompasses a lifestyle,” Robert says. “It’s an eclectic group that offers everything you could ask for. Ocean River Sports offers outdoor sports, then you can enjoy entertainment, then there’s all the eclectic merchants.”

These merchants have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the design world.

Inside Out Homestore is offering a new and unusual service to people moving into Victoria’s new condos: they will purchase, deliver, clean, and set up everything needed to move into a fully furnished, custom-decorated condo. The price for all this tedious leg-work? An affordable $600.

Dig This, a garden and home accessories store, has experienced an increase in business in the last three years from families interested in growing their own food and sharing plant cultivation with their children.

“We’ve seen lots more people buy furniture for their patio in the summers. Instead of traveling, people are using their yards and entertaining,” says proprietor Terry Wickstrom. Victorians can design their landscapes with what may be the best selection of seeds in the city at Dig This.

Another member store, Miroirs, in large permanent lettering across its heritage window panes claims to have “The Most Beautiful Mirrors in the World.”

“It’s our service that’s the best,” says resident designer James Chief. “We’re unique. We do custom mirrors. There’s no place like it. It’s a lot of fun.”

Since the inception of the Design District three years ago, “it’s been amazing,” Chief says. “We’ve made brochures and done ads. Now we have the same lamp standards [as the rest of downtown],” pointing to the street lamp outside. “We had nothing before.”

Robert and the other merchants have brought about other improvements in the district, such as increased security, pedestrian crossings, a new harbour ferry stop, and green spaces.

“We’re more like a destination now. Tours come through. It’s fantastic,” says Chief.

But the best part of the Design District is that “all the different businesses are so complimentary. We send people to each other. It’s so nice.”

Victoria’s Design District will soon be getting its first condo development at 601 Herald. “It’s very exciting and will change the face of this neighbourhood,” says Robert.