Rumours and things

I don’t know where this promotion came from but it is kind of interesting.
A company called Zagatwine.com will deliver 12 bottles of premium wine to your address (US) for just $69.99 and you save $100. The Zagat Wine Club offers you a regular supply of great value wines delivered to your door – and the chance to share your views and help guide future selections. If you enjoy just one good bottle a week, the Zagat Wine Club makes perfect sense according to their brochure. You can’t order from Canada.

But for those traveling to the U.S. for the winter it might be something to investigate. With the order you receive four professional wine glasses at no charge.

Check out their website here: Zagat Wine

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The owners of the Pharmasave in the Mission Shopping Centre are building a second store in the Mission on Lakeshore Road next to Mission Meats. We still hear rumours that both Rexall and Shoppers Drug Mart are interested in the Mission. At one time we were fielding rumours that Rexall, the giant international Canadian Drug company out of Edmonton, was going to establish an outlet at the Surgery Centre which Stober Construction had planned for a group of doctors who had a contract with IH for minor surgeries. The centre was planed for the site of the old Liquidation World store. But that deal fell through when the surgeons lost their contract for the service.

The Pandosy corridor is the hottest place in the city at the moment with construction on five buildings underway at different stages of the construction process. On Cedar Avenue, under construction is a professional building. At the corner of West and Pandosy developer Scott Brown has his project well underway with the crew working inside. This will be the home of the Ethan Allan Home Interiors store.

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. is a leading interior design company and manufacturer and retailer of quality home furnishings. The company offers free interior design service to its clients and sells a full range of furniture products and decorative accessories through ethanallen.com and a network of approximately 280 Design Centers in the United States and Canada. Ethan Allen owns and operates seven manufacturing facilities in North America, including five manufacturing plants and one sawmill in the United States and one manufacturing plant in Mexico. Approximately seventy percent of its products are made in its United States plants. Kelowna will be their first store in B.C. with Richmond the second. The company has two stores in Calgary and Edmonton, one in Regina and one in Winnipeg.

One of the classiest projects is the building by Worman Construction. The building on Tutt and Wood is quite frankly one of the nicest office buildings in the city. There are two residential penthouses on the top floor. I understand the building has been built for Dr. Fred Nado the dental surgeon.

The SOPA project seemed to be getting underway the other day when I went by - there were some workers doing something on the Pandosy property. I understand the builders are also raising money for the project at the present time. As one commercial real estate man said to me, this project has to be worth at least $60 million.

On the side street across from Stober's property there is a building going up that also seems to be for the professionals. Worman Construction has designed the property for the Pinette Family.

There is lots of action and it is all positive.

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Didn’t we have a Ponderosa Restaurant here years ago? It’s the end of an era as Moncton’s Ponderosa Restaurant, the last in a chain of nearly 150 restaurants that once spanned the country, will close its doors in the next two weeks. Restaurant owner Colin Coady said that attendance at the 35-year-old eatery has dropped steadily as customer tastes changed.

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The burger giants are changing their menus more these days than they have in years. Customers tastes have changed. Here is what we have to look forward to in the fast food business in the very near future.

The big cheese: White Cheddar

The burger sauce to watch: Barbecue/steak sauce

The trending-up topping: Onion straws

On the side: Funkier, fancier fries

2011 will also be the Year of the Stuffed Burger, as Burger King will show off its new broilers by adding cheese-stuffed burgers early next year. Once it does, others will answer with their own versions.