5 hypothetical reasons why Chapters may not have wanted a public washroom in its downtown Vancouver store

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      After I wrote a post about the end of the downtown Chapters store, a commenter complained that there was no public washroom on the premises.

      "A 3-story store that also sells coffee without a single bathroom is ridiculous."

      That prompted me to ponder why this Chapters, unlike many other large retail outlets, might have chosen not to have a washroom for its customers.

      Here are five possible explanations why patrons were urged to cross the street and use public washrooms in Pacific Centre:

      1. The company was vehemently opposed to people having sex in its washroom.

      2. Chapters didn't want customers urinating in the water bottles, which were kept in the gift section.

      3. Staff feared jabbing themselves with hypodermic needles left in any washroom garbage bin.

      4. There were fears that a customer might die in the washroom, prompting a messy and time-consuming coroner's investigation. The owner of Pacific Centre, Cadillac Fairview, was in far better financial shape to deal with any litigation that might arise from something like this.

      5. The B.C. government has a law on the books making it illegal to charge anyone for going to the bathroom. In the financially troubled book industry, the company wanted to use every available square foot to sell its products.

      Comments

      3 Comments

      HellSlayerAndy

      Jun 10, 2015 at 10:50am

      "B.C. government has a law on the books making it illegal to charge anyone for going to the bathroom"
      Yes! One of the better things Barrett's government did back in '72

      mdu

      Jun 10, 2015 at 10:52am

      They did have a bathroom... they actually had multiple bathrooms!

      CRF

      Aug 26, 2015 at 3:45pm

      They had public bathrooms. There were two on ground floor by starbucks (always open) and two on third (just ask staff). There used to be more but the "public" trashed them and used them as a way to stuff stolen merchandise in bags so often that they had to restrict access.
      While some retailers may not have public washrooms, Chapters did at this and other locations. I also find that retailers that don't have a public washroom are usually nice enough to let paying customers use the staff one if you ask nicely.