The Richmond Olympic Oval left the city with a genuine sport culture and a supply chain to match. Skating, rowing, badminton, table tennis, volleyball and basketball all have serious local followings, and badminton in particular is closer to a civic pastime here than a niche.
Fishing is the other pillar. Steveston tackle shops serve a working fleet and a recreational one, from salmon gear to crab traps. Add the flat-terrain cycling trade, the soccer and field-sport suppliers around the Minoru precinct, and golf shops serving the courses on the island's edges. Big-box outlets sit at Ironwood and Bridgeport; the specialists are scattered. Each listing shows hours and neighbourhood.
East Richmond tackle shop serving Fraser River anglers. Rods, reels, terminal tackle and fresh and frozen bait for salmon and sturgeon, plus the kind of local advice on where the fish are running that you will not get from a big-box sports floor.
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Racquet sports specialist on the upper level of Aberdeen Centre, with a strong badminton focus plus table tennis and snowboarding gear. It runs the adjoining Yonex shop, and does racquet stringing, which matters in a city with a serious badminton scene.
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Independent Steveston skate shop, open since 2013. Builds and repairs complete skateboards and longboards, stocks decks, trucks and wheels from Landyachtz, Sector 9 and Powell Peralta, and carries helmets, pads and slide gloves for the seawall crowd.
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From the blog
Guides and roundups written for Richmond, with the businesses linked inline.
Nothing on Alexandra Road is a hidden gem. It is just in a strip mall with bad signage and no patio, which is why visitors never find it. Here is how I actually use Richmond's plazas and food courts, which specialists are worth the drive, and when not to bother.
The West Dyke Trail is about five and a half kilometres of flat gravel between Terra Nova Rural Park and Garry Point, and I ride it most mornings. Here is what is actually at the north end, which way to walk so the wind is on your side, and why winter is the better season for it.
I live four blocks off Moncton Street, so this is the Steveston I actually use: where to park before the Bayview lots fill, how to buy fish straight off the boats at the wharf, the honest answer to the Pajo's versus Dave's question, and why the history here is not decoration.
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