Saskatchewan will have the hottest economy for 2008. Alberta will slip into third place. The "have not" province of just a few years ago will lead all provinces in economic growth this year at 2.3 per cent. Second is Manitoba at 3.6. This from the Conference Board in their recent forecasts. No wonder so many ex-Saskatchewan residents are returning home to good jobs, affordable housing as well as a friendly place to live and bring up a family. B.C. is fifth on the list at 2.2...

I just saw a picture of Veranda by Country Coach. As the ad says, “it is one of those ideas that makes you wonder, why didn’t someone think of this before.” This is an RV unit with a roll out veranda off the sliding sun doors. It seats about three and looks terrific. Yes, it’s a good idea...

Jim Pattison started his empire with his first car store, which I believe was a GM dealer. He now owns seventeen dealerships. Five Toyota, two Lexus, four Volvo, four Hyundai, a Chrysler Jeep Dodge and a Suzuki Super Service Centre. That is the Jim Pattison Auto Group...

I was surprised by two things at the new Wal-Mart SuperCentre in South Surrey. First at how large the store is. It is huge at 218,000 square feet and I thought the company would introduce the new employee uniforms at the opening but they did not. The Westside store now being built in The Hub II is 178,000 square feet. The South Surrey store is open from 6 a.m. through until midnight...

One of the owners of Quality Foods on the island, Ken Schley, has purchased the S.S. Minnow. Yes, that S.S. Minnow from the still playing somewhere everyday, every hour on TV Gilligan’s Island. The grocer had it anchored in Departure Bay as the Great International Bathtub Race participants hit the beach. It is undergoing repairs and renovations to bring it back to its original 1960's appearance. It will be used for Quality Foods promotions. Plans are underway to bring Mary Ann and the Professor to take part in a tour. I didn’t realize people on the island have owned the famous boat for twelve years...

Rona Home Improvement Centres started life back in Quebec in 1939 and now has 680 stores across Canada. Certainly a number of them are small and in rural communities while 77 of them are big box stores. The company generates $6.3 billion in retail sales annually. There are still rumours out there that the American chain will at some point make an offer for the Rona Big box stores but that is just a rumour perpetuated in the business continually. It would give Lowes a heads up to covering Canada quickly. They are the second largest home renovation chain in the U.S. and have built
their first six stores in Ontario and ten more have been announced...

There are big changes at Northern Computers this month as they move into a new location on Banks Road next to End of the Roll. Jim Condon started the company in 1981 in Terrace, selling mostly Apple computers. In 1989 he bought out Kelowna Computers and opened the first Northern Computers on Leon Avenue. In 1997 they moved to the Harvey Avenue location and were known for their complete stock and service. As always seems to happen in this business, times change quickly and Northern developed their focus on service and network installations. They merged with Computer Techs in 2007 and now have twenty-six staff with twelve of them in their technical support division. More than half the staff has been with the company for over seven years...

There has been much written this year about the lack of sales in the music business of CDs. Some of the numbers are horrible. But there is one part of the music business that is making the big bucks a new revenue stream and the public are prepared to pay. For years at concerts there has always been the sale of CDs, T-shirts and posters. It was money in the bank for the big acts. During his tour, Prince sold pillowcases for $30. Bon Jovi hit the jackpot with a grade A cowhide leather jacket for $750 US. Jack and Meg White $180 cameras. Bon Jovi signature bottles of wine $22 to $145. Canadian Avril Lavigne has seventy eight items in her touring store...

We have been away for a few days and wondered, did that lady who saw Ogopogo show off the pictures she took of the mythical lake monster? Didn’t I read where she had a camera and was able to get pictures. She said she was convinced the legendary Ogopogo does exist...

Every year at this time, my friend in Toronto, Len Kubas and his company Kubas Consulting, does their Major Market Retail Report. They interviewed 1,243 Canadian consumers. One of the questions was to rank furniture stores and the number one store was IKEA, followed by The Brick and surprisingly Wal-Mart...

Are things changing in retail to an all-in-one customer experience? For example, Canadian Tire and Mark’s Work Wearhouse in the same building or The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters together. It’s like the old general store, the merchants we knew as we grew up. Remember Fumerton’s store in downtown Kelowna? Was there anything you couldn’t find in that store at Pandosy and Bernard in soft goods? It was a fun place. I bought the best pair of gloves there.