Squamish has three main businesses districts: Garibaldi Village Shopping Centre in Garibaldi Estates, the Squamish Business Park in Central Squamish, and the main business precinct in Downtown Squamish. Brackendale and Valleycliffe also have small commercial areas with a scattering of cafes, retail shops and services. Below is a snapshot of the different business areas in Squamish. The best way to explore Squamish is to organize a personalized tour of the town in order to see the different neighbourhoods and commercial areas first hand.
Downtown Squamish
Downtown Squamish features the main shopping street Cleveland Avenue plus Chieftain Centre and Squamish Station.
Cleveland Avenue and 2nd Avenue, which runs parallel, host a range of independent coffee shops, pubs, cafes and retail stores. All of the professional services you would need are also found in this area including banks, doctors, dentists, accountants, lawyers, salons and more. The downtown core has been revitalized over the last several years as a youthful energy moves into the town. For a full business listing of downtown Squamish check out the Squamish Business Improvement Association (BIA) website.
Chieftain Centre features Save-on-Foods, a private liquor store, Club Flex Gym, Shoppers Drug Mart, Panago Pizza, Style Zone, and a handful of other small shops and cafes.
Squamish Station, located downtown off the Sea to Sky Highway includes Nesters Market, Starbucks, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, Health Food Heaven, Bosley’s Pet Food Plus, The Source, Karin’s Kitchen Corner, Home Hardware and more.
Downtown Squamish is designed well for walkers, cyclists and motorists alike. There are great trails on the perimeter of the downtown core and well established side walks and pedestrian crossings throughout the town. There is never traffic in Squamish so driving from one end of town to the other is always stress free. There are only three traffic lights in downtown Squamish and driving from one end to the other takes a little over two minutes.
Garibaldi Estates
Garibaldi Estates has a good mix of residential and commercial. During the lead up to the 2010 Olympics the commercial area saw extensive development. Now located off the highway is the Garibaldi Village Shopping Centre on Glenalder Place featuring big box stores such as Canadian Tire and London Drugs; chain eateries and cafes such as Starbucks and Boston Pizza; and retail stores like The Outlet Store, Urban Alpine and Mark’s.
A little north of Garibaldi Shopping Village you can find Extra Foods, the BC Liquor Store and behind that a small collections of restaurants: Sushi Sen, Peppe and Gringos, Essence of India and Wigan Pier plus a great yoga studio, Shala Yoga.
Heading further north to the Tantalus area of Garibaldi Estates there are a number of residential condo complexes with first floor commercial spaces featuring some great cafes, fitness studios and professional services. The Shady Tree sits across the highway from Garibaldi Estates and is one of the local’s favorite pubs.
At the southern-most end of Garibaldi Estates there is a small collection of shops and eateries as well as the Squamish Valley Golf Course.
Squamish Business Park, Central Squamish
Squamish Business Park is quickly expanding and what once housed the majority of Squamish’s industry suppliers and service businesses now features big name stores such as Walmart and Home Depot, car dealerships, gyms, a state of the art indoor climbing centre Ground Up, and an indoor trampoline centre, Airhouse.
Brackendale
Brackendale although mainly residential has two small commercial areas. The Eagle Run complex features a great coffee shop Bean Around the World Coffee, The Beehive Hair Salon, a bike shop, dance academy and The Nest Restaurant. The popular Watershed Bar and Grill is within walking distance to Brackendale and has a great patio overlooking the river. In Central Brackendale there is a post office and general store as well the Crabapple Cafe. In upper Squamish Fergies is becoming a popular restaurant situated amongst the forest.
Valleycliffe
Valleycliffe is primarily residential but also features Squamish General Hospital as well as Valleycliffe General store and a scattering of cafes, shops and fitness centres in the general store complex.
More information on Squamish businesses…
Banks– In downtown Squamish you can find branches for the following banks: Royal Bank, Bank of Montreal, Scotia Bank, TD Canada Trust, Squamish Savings, CIBC, North Shore Credit Union and Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.
Medical- Squamish General Hospital is located on Hospital Hill in Valleycliffe. It is a 21 bed hospital equipped to provide general medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pallative care and more. There are a handful of doctor’s offices in Squamish as well as a 24 hour medical clinic in the Garibaldi Estates. There is also a great selection of complementary therapies such as massage therapy, natural doctors, acupuncturists, physiotherapists and more.
Fitness- Squamish has three large gyms and half a dozen yoga studios. There are also a handful of smaller fitness studios offering cross-fit, bootcamp style training, HIIT and cross training. Of course many people in Squamish choose to keep fit outdoors on the myriad of trails, mountains and bodies of water that are readily available.
Schools- Squamish has six public elementary schools and two highschools plus a handful of private schools, a world-class University and tons of daycare programs to choose from. See here for more detail on Schools in Squamish.
For more information, see the Squamish Chamber of Commerce Website. Want to explore Squamish first hand? Organize a personalized tour today.