Thomson report

It looks like it is a finally a go for the Sheraton Four Points Hotel across from the entrance to the Kelowna International Airport. Argus Properties of Kelowna is the developer.

It's good to hear that the project is going ahead as it has been a rumour mill for years and years and if my numbers are correct at least three other development projects for a hotel for that site have been announced, one of them including a Sheraton banner.

The developer has called for an operator to take over the restaurant food
operation for the 120-room hotel. I understand conference services will also be available, but all of that information is yet to be announced.

This will be the third new hotel for the city in the last three years.

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It is a beautiful piece of land and you can’t help but wonder as you drive by on Gordon Road just how big the the Mission Creek Ranch is. It’s 68 acres and it’s on the market for sale by the consortium that owns the property.

The price is $7.9 million and it has been a very successful equestrian ranch for the last number of years. The property is classified as a farm and they do grow a sizable crop of hay each year.

There are two homes on the site along with several stables and sheds. The property is fully fenced. Joe Ungaro at Royal LePage Kelowna is handling the sale.

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I originally wrote this story a number of years ago when it was announced that the California burger chain, Carl’s Jr., was coming into Canada for the first time. Then the story was that the owner of Rickie’s Day & Night Grill was the Canadian franchiser and it would be about 100 new restaurants for the country.

If my memory is correct Frank Di Benedetto was the interested party and I don’t know what happened there but Di Benedetto now has the Fatburger franchise with twenty of them planned so far.

CKE restaurants own Carl’s Jr. and it has licensed a franchise for the Interior of B.C. to an Alberta entrepreneur. He has been here and it looks like he has made a decision to open his first restaurant on the old Burger King site on Harvey Avenue next to the Chamber of Commerce.

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Calgary-based Fleet Brake has acquired the wholly owned subsidiary, 1527490 Alberta Ltd., operating as “McCoy Parts & Service” from the McCoy Corp. The transaction consists of five locations, including three parts and service centers located in Edmonton and Red Deer, AB, as well as parts operations in Grande Prairie, AB and Penticton, BC.

The division employs approximately 90 employees who are expected to join the Fleet Brake group of companies. Started in 1914 by Henry McCoy, McCoy Parts and Service is one of the most established and capable businesses in the heavy-duty parts and service industry, said Fleet Brake.

”McCoy shares Fleet Brake’s strong commitment to its employees, believing that a well trained staff is one of the major building blocks to a healthy and successful company,” the firm noted.

The new subsidiary will operate as Peerless Parts & Service.

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I was reading the article by Leslie Beck on theatre popcorn in the Globe & Mail the other day and I always knew that theatre popcorn was a heart stopper but I didn’t realize some of the numbers were through the roof.

Many years ago, and we have been married for 56 years, we were traveling in the United States and got our first taste of buttered popcorn in a Minneapolis Cinemascope theatre. Now that dates me. It was real buttered popcorn - we watched them place the butter in the dispenser. That was good stuff and a real treat.

Now with what the theatre chains call butter topping, who knows what oils there are in the mixture. The numbers range for the large size at 1,060 to 1,225 calories depending what theatre you are in. Grams of butter topping, 41 to 75, and sodium 883 mg to 2,114 mg. That is an entire day's salt intake. I’m sure this also depends on the size of the container the chain is using for its large popcorn.

I can’t help it, I need a popcorn fix.