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John Thomson  

Rumours and things

There have been some major changes at Staples in Kelowna’s Dilworth Plaza. That’s the store where I have shopped for my business supplies since 1998 and still don’t know anybody. The copy shop, which always seems busy when I’m there, has been completely rebuilt to double its size. It has added a new service for designers who need help with their layout problems etc. You can go on their computer and work with some of their experts online and they will help you plan your project.

They installed laminate wood tiling in the furniture department and approximately eighty per cent of the store has been relocated so that shoppers will have an easier time of shopping for their needs. I just got used to going to the right places to find things.

I always liked the store because I could get everything I wanted in one stop shopping and the people in the equipment section were always able to help.

This is the largest remodel in Canada for the chain.

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I wondered how long it would take Joe Huber, the Kelowna hotelier, to get serious about another hotel project. He always is thinking about where and when that next project should be. He chose Sooke on Vancouver Island for this new $15 million dollar oceanfront resort and conference centre. This will be the tenth property in the Prestige chain started by his father Josef in 1933. They also own and operate two Best Western Inns.

The new resort conference centre and spa is completely framed and on schedule and is expected to open next February. Rick’s Grill is certainly a first choice by diners in Western Canada and has become a feature of the hotel chain with new restaurants in Cranbrook, Nelson and soon the Sooke resort along with their feature steak house Sal’s Prime Steak, Seafood & Chophouse Restaurant.
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It pours two billion cups of coffee a year and every cup, no matter where you are in Canada, tastes the same. Of course it’s Tim Hortons and their customers believe in that brand and its taste.

The company has its own roasting facility in Ancaster, Ont. and in the United States in Rochester, N.Y. Five to ten semi trailers loaded with green beans arrive at their shipping doors every week and the testing begins. When the final roast is completed fifteen per cent of that coffee is shipped to Vancouver where it goes through a chemical-free Swiss Water decaffeination process.

Coffee is then packed into seventy-three gram sealed cello/poly packages and is ready for shipping to the 3,600 stores in Canada. It takes about six weeks to process and ship the coffee.

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I remember when Tony Parsons spoke at a fundraiser in Kelowna and told the audience that he was about to semi retire and then after the Olympics would retire to go away and play some golf with his lovely wife Tammy. The brass at Globe didn’t like him telling the audience in Kelowna his plans before they had a chance to do so. He was going to work two days a week. The broadcaster had hired Canadian Chris Gailus who was working for Fox News NY. He was to be the replacement.

I don’t know what happened there but Tony did retire from Global and the story almost immediately was that he had been asked to purchase a share in CHEK-TV Victoria. He was not just interested in that but said that he would do the suppertime news on a regular basis for them. He purchased a home in Victoria to accommodate the move. Meanwhile the CBC head of broadcasting for the province Johnny Michel had other thoughts and decided to pursue an idea with CHEK-TV and Tony about him doing their dinner time news and they in turn would supply the Victoria station with the broadcast daily and whatever other news support they could. Everybody agreed.

It was a surprise to hear the promos from CBC that Tony Parsons would be joining their news team. It was NHL playoff time and we really didn’t know when he would be appearing.

Parsons, 72, anchored the news on the popular BCTV (later re-named Global BC) newscast for 34 years up until December 2009. He came west from a very rewarding career at CFTO-TV Toronto.

CTV Vancouver could well be impacted. Global BC is such a dominant force it can afford to lose some shares and while CTV has a fine newscast it has its own high priced, high profile staff in Pamela Martin and Bill Good anchoring the news, but it still remains Number Two. Global BC is a sharp news machine with new anchor Chris Gailus being touted as BC’s Anchor the network hasn’t blinked with Tony Parson’s departure, at least, until now. Tony on the other hand during those hockey playoffs increased the viewership for CBC-TV with the biggest numbers it has ever had.

It certainly makes it interesting for the viewer.

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There certainly is a lot of new retail space planned for the Kamloops area including, I am told, a new large Rexall Drug store and a grocery store under the Sobeys or Thrifty brand.


More John Thomson articles

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About the Author

John Thomson is the Okanagan's pre-eminent business columnist writing his column, Rumours and Things, for over 24 years. Plugged in to the valley's who's who, John keeps his readers coming back for more with his straight talk and optimistic perspective on where we are headed next.

When John is not writing his column, he runs a sixteen year old think tank called the Executive Roundtable and holds his popular "Thomson Presents" quarterly business speaker seminars.

Have a comment, question, or tip for John? 

E-mail John at
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or send him a fax at 250-764-8255.

 



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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