Independent grocers expand despite sector consolidation
Independent grocers and small grocery chains are expanding across Metro Vancouver even as consolidation makes national competitors ever larger.
The expansion comes not only from longtime independent grocer Stong’s Market, but also from the small chain Choices Markets and newcomer Pomme Natural Market.
Stong’s Market owner Cori Bonina helped turn sod at a March 31 groundbreaking along with politicians, developers and others involved in NorthWoods Village on Dollarton Highway in North Vancouver.
Bonina plans to open her second Stong’s store in the development when the project is complete early in 2016. The 20,000-square-foot store would be the first new Stong’s location in 26 years.
“We were on the North Shore 20 years ago when we had four stores,” Bonina told Business in Vancouver after the ceremony. “We always wanted to come back.”
Drone technology takes off in British Columbia
Although industry experts say Canada’s drone-use legislation is more progressive than that of the U.S., Amazon’s (Nasdaq:AMZN) drone-delivery program, currently being tested in B.C., is still not legal in practice.
Amazon Prime Air would use low-flying delivery drones to provide same-day delivery for small packages.
However, according to Transport Canada regulations, all drones must be operated within line of sight of the pilot at all times, meaning the pilot must be able to see the drone.
Noam Kenig, CEO of AerialX, a Vancouver-based company that sells unmanned aerial vehicles and offers drone operation and consulting services, is optimistic that the rule will change.
The popularity of drone use has soared in recent years, particularly in the construction and real estate markets.
Alleged fraud artist accused of bilking young investors
Judging by his prolific social media postings, John Ferdinand Alexander Spangenberg sounds like one saintly entrepreneur – a wealthy philanthropist who made millions and wants to make the world better.
Recent business ventures in Vancouver included raising private capital in GeoTreasuries Clean Energy Ltd. to invest in renewable energy projects, and last year he started trying to raise money for GeoSteward International, a would-be nonprofit organization dedicated to animal rights and welfare around the world.
The BC Securities Commission, however, alleges that Spangenberg bilked six young investors in B.C. of $170,000 through clean-energy investment schemes.
Reached by email, Spangenberg did not dispute most of the allegations against him and admitted to “lying, cheating and making empty promises.”
He did so, he said, because he was “penniless.”
“Without unlawfully raising capital for my business, I was doomed to live on the streets of Vancouver with my homeless wife and children,” he said.
Red tape for two
Red tape, taxes and fees are making the business of running a restaurant increasingly unviable, say many B.C. restaurateurs.
While restaurant owners accept the need for strictly enforced food safety regulations, many believe governments don’t consider the cumulative effect of other policies, such as civic restrictions on parking or a small hike to the minimum wage, which can drive a borderline restaurant into the red.
With B.C. restaurants having the second-lowest pre-tax profit margin in the country, industry insiders say things need to change or the province will see a swath of for-lease signs hanging in the windows of once marginally profitable restaurants.
“When it comes to new rules and regulations that cost money, it’s like a death by 1,000 cuts,” said Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president for Western Canada of the federal lobby and research group Restaurants Canada.
Holt Renfrew to expand Vancouver flagship, open restaurant
Holt Renfrew plans to significantly expand its Vancouver store while adding a dedicated menswear entrance on Howe Street, opening a restaurant and going even more upscale by launching new luxury shopping options.
The Toronto-based chain owned by billionaire Galen Weston is taking about 40,000 square feet of additional space by expanding west along Howe Street.
The chain’s Howe Street frontage will expand from about 30 feet to around 200 feet after taking over FGL Sports’ sporting goods store, which is branded both Sport Chek and Atmosphere.
FGL will then move those brands to the corner of Robson and Howe in space that Chapters has occupied since 1998 but will leave by the end of June.
“We’ll start construction this summer,” said Holt Renfrew president Mark Derbyshire.
Profile of Kingswood Capital Corp. founder Joe Segal, who turned 90 in January. He stays fit by doing resistance exercises at his home's pool and sharp by staying active in business
"If the door is open and you listen, you'll learn. If the door is closed, you're never going to hear anything."
