The owner of a Vancouver barber shop who moved out of Chinatown due to street crime is now facing a major setback.
Bootleg Barbers was one of several businesses destroyed by a suspicious fire on Hastings Street near Nanaimo Street last week.
1:27
Suspicious fire damages Hastings businesses
Owner Dustin Grant said a friend called him early last Wednesday to warn him the iconic Dayton Boots store, where his shop is located, was on fire. Story continues below advertisement
if ( typeof( gn_monetize ) !== 'undefined' && typeof( gn_monetize.Ads ) !== 'undefined' && gn_monetize.Ads.initialRequestMade() ) {
// Ads script has been loaded, create the ad.
gn_monetize.Ads.create( {"sizes":"[300,250]","biddable":true,"id":"gpt-ad-300250-10","lazy":false,"targeting":{"pos":10,"slotid":"gpt-ad-300250-10"},"companion":false} );
} else {
// if Ads script not yet loaded, queue up ad data for initialization.
var gnAdSettings = gnAdSettings || {};
gnAdSettings.ads = gnAdSettings.ads || [];
gnAdSettings.ads.push( {"sizes":"[300,250]","biddable":true,"id":"gpt-ad-300250-10","lazy":false,"targeting":{"pos":10,"slotid":"gpt-ad-300250-10"},"companion":false} );
}
“It was crazy, there must have been 10 fire trucks, 40 or 50 firemen,” he said.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Sign up for breaking National newsletter
Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
“I was thinking that everything I had built over the last 12 and a half years was going up in smoke right in front of my face.”Grant had just moved the business back to the Hastings Street location in December, after a two-year stint in Chinatown, where he had hoped to help revitalize the neighbourhood.He decided to move out of that neighbourhood because clients told him they no longer felt safe in the area.But establishing his new shop in the Dayton building wasn’t cheap — requiring about $15,000 in renovations, he said.
1:43
Fire destroys three Vancouver businesses, including the iconic Dayton Boots
Trending Now
Live Updates
Canada election: Live results from the 2025 vote
Read Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s election concession speech
While he has since heard the building won’t be torn down, all of his recent efforts have been lost. Story continues below advertisement
if ( typeof( gn_monetize ) !== 'undefined' && typeof( gn_monetize.Ads ) !== 'undefined' && gn_monetize.Ads.initialRequestMade() ) {
// Ads script has been loaded, create the ad.
gn_monetize.Ads.create( {"sizes":"[300,250]","biddable":true,"id":"gpt-ad-300250-11","lazy":true,"targeting":{"pos":11,"slotid":"gpt-ad-300250-11"},"companion":false} );
} else {
// if Ads script not yet loaded, queue up ad data for initialization.
var gnAdSettings = gnAdSettings || {};
gnAdSettings.ads = gnAdSettings.ads || [];
gnAdSettings.ads.push( {"sizes":"[300,250]","biddable":true,"id":"gpt-ad-300250-11","lazy":true,"targeting":{"pos":11,"slotid":"gpt-ad-300250-11"},"companion":false} );
}
“I had to physically build the shop; it was just an empty factory when I moved in, so I had to put all of the walls in, all of the electrical, all of the plumbing, and then the paint and the finishings,” he said.“So many antique items and pieces of art are going to be impossible to replace … antique barber chairs, all of my electronics and my antique barber pole, some hand-made artwork, signage.”Grant said he is one of just a half-dozen other small business operators, artisans and musicians who were displaced by the fire.Vancouver police say the fire, which ignited around 4 a.m. on April 23, is suspicious and may have been deliberately set.Investigators have yet to thoroughly examine the site, however, saying the buildings are still not safe for entry.In the meantime, Grant has secured chair space at another barbershop in Main Street so that he can continue working.‘Right now I am just happy to have a place to work and where my clients can come to get their hair cut,” he said.
More on Crime
More videos
Lapu Lapu festival tragedy: What we know about the victims
Lapu Lapu festival tragedy: Search warrant executed at suspect’s home
Kim Kardashian $10M jewel heist suspect says he regrets ‘trauma’ he caused
Lapu Lapu festival tragedy: 3 members of the same family among victims
Community in shock as after-school tragedy in Illinois leaves 4 dead
Grief and healing following the Lapu Lapu Day attack in Vancouver
Candle light vigil held in Vancouver for Lapu Lapu Day victims
Calgary’s Filipino community mourning Vancouver tragedy
Neighbours worry after Vancouver assault suspect released to their building do sex
Stranger confronts two women with a knife at a Vernon, B.C. park do sex
Abreu’s three-run blast helps Red Sox rout Jays do sex
Sens blank Leafs to again stave off elimination do sex
Spain feels the aftermath of massive blackout do sex
Putin announces 3-day truce as Trump struggles to secure Ukraine peace do sex
‘I existed’: Women’s suffrage in France do sex
What caused Spain and Portugal's sweeping power outage? do sex
‘Dying for sex’: Arts24's series of the month do sex