The Future Of Sayulita - When Will Chain Stores Become The Norm?

We visited Sayulita from Park City, Utah in 2006 and saw many comparisons between the two towns. In 2006, the shine of The 2002 Olympic Games was still fresh and the world now knew a lot more about The Greatest Snow On Earth.  In 2006 Sayulita was not necessarily off the beaten path any longer but it was still a long way from what Park City had become.

Time passes and Park City becomes "Big Time".  There is no "offseason" any longer.  Every weekend is a festival or some kind of event.  Real estate prices go up with more homes being used as vacation homes.  Nightly and monthly rental prices go up.  Locals, seasonal employees and lower wage earners have a difficult time finding housing.  Commercial space rates also see an increase.  Long time local shops hope to survive but many cannot afford the going rate for operating a business.  Who can afford it?  Bigger, more established chain stores can.  North Face, Starbucks, Patagonia, LL Bean, Lululemon etc.  When I first arrived in Park City it was full of locally owned stores and businesses and because of this it had it's own character, it's own color and charm.  This has changed over the years.  I can't say if it is good or bad but Park City is certainly a bit less unique than it once was.

I feel like we are seeing Sayulita travel the same path.

Real estate prices are rising.  Inventory is down.  Monthly rentals are very limited and rent is high.  When you can rent a 2 bedroom one bath house nightly for a minimum of about $100 USD and there are bills to pay it is hard to offer it up to local seasonal workers or a young family at $350 USD per month.  There is money to be made and landlords are getting premium rates.  Our landlord could get over $1200 USD or more for the place we rent and he has asked us to move on for just that reason.  It is impossible to afford that when you earn less than $50 per day.  Locals, seasonal employees and lower wage earners have a very difficult time finding housing.  Sound familiar?  Yes, it does.

We have already seen the arrive of two chain convenience stores.  There are lots of arguments about whether they are good or bad for town.  Prices for commercial space are high too, inventory is limited and small bodega store spaces are popping up everywhere.  I wonder when we will see the chain stores become a bigger presence in the pueblo.  I do not think it will be long.  My guess is that it will be a surfing related chain.  Slowly but surely the chain stores will happen as Sayulita continues on it's current path.  More exposure, more popularity etc.

Again, I am only a visitor and cannot say this is good or bad.  What I can say is that we have seen the progression before.  Sayulita is following the same path as Park City as well as many other cool places in the world.

This is an article from the local Park City paper that talks about the possibility of limiting chain stores in it's historic downtown district.  Might Sayulita do something like this?  Does town have that kind of vision?  I am guessing not but we will be here to see.  I hope to be proved wrong.

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