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Science Works in Oak Bay closes; lease and distributors force hand

It was a perfect storm for Ron Kirkaldy when he decided to close Science Works on Oak Bay Avenue after being the sole owner for 17 years. At 67, he has other things to do. The lease for the 1889 Oak Bay Ave.
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Former Science Works owner Ron Kirkaldy said consumers using the Internet for scientific items "just scuppered me."

It was a perfect storm for Ron Kirkaldy when he decided to close Science Works on Oak Bay Avenue after being the sole owner for 17 years.

At 67, he has other things to do.

The lease for the 1889 Oak Bay Ave. store was coming up for a five-year renewal today.

And the business environment had changed forever with the growth of Internet shopping. Science Works had a website, but did not sell online. And many Canadian distributors who specialized in small-business orders closed.

Kirkaldy has no regrets as he looks forward to travel and spending more time peering through his telescope, auditing university courses, working in the garden and playing his guitar.

Science Works was a destination retailer, attracting adults and children. Kirkaldy ran his 800-square-foot store with education in mind and considered it an important part of the community. “I loved the idea and concept of the store,” he said.

Many products were priced at $30 or less to make merchandise affordable to customers. Chemistry, physics, biology were all on show for shoppers. Science Works also carried scientific supplies such as bunsen burners.

A science store first opened in the location 36 years ago. It went through a couple of owners and then Kirkaldy and Kathleen O’Brien partnered to buy it. Five years later, in 2002, he bought out his business partner when she relocated.

Kirkaldy was previously in the information technology field, but always had an interest in science and nature. He focused on bringing in quality products, such as real microscopes for adults and children — not the plastic ones.

When new products caught his eye, he would buy one to try out before ordering stock to make sure it did what it was supposed to.

As part of his customer service, there were always models out on the floor so shoppers could see and try products.

“It was very important for us to know all of our products extremely well and to understand how they worked,” he said.

Most products were “hands-on,” Kirkaldy said. “If you build it, you understand a little more about the science of things.”

Some adult customers first started visiting the neighbourhood store as children. One told Kirkaldy that she is studying science at the University of Victoria because she came into the store as a child.

Business challenges included today’s shoppers turning to the Internet. He used an astronomy telescope as an example, saying a customer could buy it online for less than he could get it from a distributor. “Online just scuppered me.”

Kirkaldy did not want to open an online store, saying it would have been a “complete business unto itself.” Extra staff, storage and a larger amount of stock would have been required.

In the past three years, key Canadian distributors closed, leaving product lines to be taken over by U.S. firms.

In one case, a new distributor decided to only sell to large online retailers. Another was only interested in selling to big-box stores. “They didn’t want the order for 24 units. They wanted 2,400 units.”