BURST
A Victoria staple since the late-1800s is about to close its doors.
Old Morris Tobacconist has been in business at the same Government Street location since 1892, weathering two world wars, the Great Depression, a pandemic and tough smoking bylaws.
But it is expected to close in October.
Building owner Rick Arora sold it in 2024 — B.C. Assessment lists the sale of the property for $2.4 million last June. This fall, the lease for the tobacconist will end, which will bring the curtain down on one of the city’s oldest businesses.
Old Morris has been operating continuously since 1892, when Edward Arthur Morris, who had come to Canada from London to dig for gold, decided to settle in Victoria, buy the two-storey building and open his shop.
According to Victoria history writer Danda Humphreys, Morris was still involved in the business when he died in 1937 and left it to his wife and daughters.
The family sold it in 1947. It was owned by Jack Delf and then Don Taylor before its last owner, Arora, managed to secure it in 2000.
For Arora, the closure of the store is bittersweet. Old Morris is one of the prized possessions of the long-time retailer, who owns several buildings downtown.
“I had been wanting to buy this place for 45 years,” he said, noting that when he was a young man, he would come by Old Morris for a 50-cent cigar and ask then-owner Don Taylor if he was ready to sell the business and the building.
“I always loved this cigar store.”
Arora said he probably drove Taylor a little nuts with the question, but it finally paid off in 2000.
Arora heard that the store had been sold, so he had his real estate agent look into it. They found out Taylor had been handed an offer he couldn’t refuse.
So Arora decided to give him a better one — whatever Taylor had agreed to, plus $100,000. The deal was done the next day.
“Our main business was jewellery, and I bought this for kicks because I wanted it so badly,” Arora said, noting they took pains to rebuild cabinets, repair old fixtures and maintain the historic allure of the place.
He also brought in high-end men’s accessories, artwork, gift items and shaving products, creating something of a club atmosphere.
It paid off, as Arora recalls the increase in sales helped him pay off what he paid for the building and the business within four years.
But now the building belongs to a new retailer, with its historic façade of onyx and alabaster, heavy wood shelves and cabinets, and its historic electrolier.
The electrolier is described by Humphreys as a Mexican onyx column standing on a Nootka marble pedestal, topped by a globe with gas jets extending from either side of the column for people to light their cigars.
The new owners did not respond to requests for an interview.
The sale seems to be a bit of history repeating, as Arora said he sold the building to a friend after a conversation over dinner.
“The building was never for sale — it just happened over dinner,” he said, noting it was the right offer from the right person. “They wanted a building on this street and I said this is the only one I will sell,” he said, although he admits it was still a difficult decision.
“If I didn’t have other shops, I would never sell this shop in my life, because I enjoyed it.”
Arora said the new owners plan to establish a jewellery store in the building. But he said they don’t intend to make big changes to the Georgian-style structure.
Arora said there was no one reason for selling the building, citing a confluence of factors, including the state of downtown, rising commercial taxes, lease-holders struggling to pay rent, and difficulties facing the tobacco business.
The street disorder is getting worse, he said, noting the front windows of the shop have been broken more than a dozen times.
Before it closed, the 7-Eleven a few blocks south on Government Street was losing $1,500 to $2,000 a day just in theft, he said. “This is not what this street used to be. Locals don’t come down like they used to.”
As for tobacco sales, Dilip Sahijwani, who has been running Old Morris as the leaseholder for the last eight years, said there is now a 126 per cent markup on prices due to taxes and other fees.
Sahijwani, who moved to Victoria from Aruba to be closer to family members who were studying here, said as hard as it is to see the store close and his lease end, it’s been just as hard to watch the downtown deteriorate.
“I’m crying inside already — it’s a real pity,” he said.
Sahijwani, who owns a department store in Aruba, said he will look for another downtown spot to reopen, although he is concerned about the high cost of rent in the core.
He said he expects Old Morris to wind down by Oct. 15 and the keys to be handed over to the new owners by the end of October.