Save On Meats owner hits back at anti-gentrification ‘anarchists’ with humour

A landmark business in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside that's been the target of anti-gentrification "anarchists" is hitting back with humour.

Last month, someone swiped the sandwich-board sign outside Save On Meats, a Hastings Street butcher shop that's been refurbished by a new owner who added a restaurant.

A photo of the purloined sign showed up in a post on the Anarchist News web site, along with a rant about the shop/diner's role in making the impoverished district unlivable for its low-income residents. The thieves promised to chase owner Mark Brand out of the neighbourhood.

Social outreach work by the newly arrived businesses, such as the free breakfast sandwiches Save On Meats hands out, are nothing more than window-dressing for evil businesses bent on driving up rents and property values to turn the neighbourhood into another upscale enclave, the anti-gentrifiers claim.

[ Related: Save On Meats sign theft latest attack on gentrification in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside ]

But Brand apparently is not one to be cowed by some guy in a hoodie, dark glasses and scarf mask.

He's counterattacked with humour, putting out a new sandwich-board, this time topped with a silhouette resembling the thief's full-Nixon double-V sign. There's a hole where the face should be, so people can stick their mugs in for a photo.

In a posting on Save On Meats' Facebook page, Brand said that for every photo taken and shared on social media, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, the store would provide breakfast to one resident of Rainer Hotel, a Downtown Eastside woman's centre that, according to the National Post, recently lost most of its federal funding.

"Yes this is meant to spread the word and leverage media," Brand wrote on the Facebook post. "It's meant to show people that we will not be intimidated or bullied, nor have we ever been in the dozens of attacks in our 26+ months here.

"Misguided folk steal sign and hurl threats. We rebuild sign with donation and work within our community. People help said community with two clicks on their mobile device and show support."

"Save On Meats –1 Jackasses - 0"

[ Related: Voices rise up against anti-gentrification protesters ]

Save On Meats is one of several businesses targeted by anti-gentrifiers. Nearby Pidgin Restaurant has been the site of protests, with patrons heckled as they go in and out, while a pizzeria on hitherto bohemian Commercial Drive has been vandalized several times.

Critics say the impact of gentrification on low-income residents is a legitimate issue but that threats and vandalism are not the answer.

According to CBC News, Brand wrote on Instagram that ""One of the things we pride ourselves on is turning a negative situation into a positive.

"Let’s do this together. Thank you 'anarchists.' "

(Photo courtesy of Save On Meats Facebook page)