A potential one year ban for commercial marijuana shops became a discussion point for the community, while some new developments from the offices of the Prince Rupert based Northern Savings Credit Union, along with another expansion for CityWest made for some of the news of the last month.
As well there were openings and closings announced in January as North Coast shoppers heard of the final days for a long time clothing retailer, while fitness devotees now have one more option for the workout plans.
On the culinary scene, those looking for a new taste sensation were making their way to the recently opened Pita Pit location in the downtown area.
A road trip to Vancouver is ahead for two of the city's businesses, as they make plans to try to impress the judges of a provincial business awards program, with the celebration of local business about to hit the home stretch in Prince Rupert as well.
The month came to an end with the Chamber of Commerce opening up the voting lines for the annual Excellence in Business Awards, with North Coast residents quickly taking to the online voting booth to make their selections for 2017.
Some of our observations on the Commercial and economic scene in the region for Janaury can be found below:
January
The month began with the City of Prince Rupert taking a proactive approach to the prospect of Commercial Marijuana operations setting up in the city, putting in motion a plan to prohibit such ventures for one year while the City awaits further clarity from Federal legislation. The public will have an opportunity to share their thoughts on the issue with a Public Hearing on February 6th.
Commercial building owners got their first glimpse of how their properties were valued as BC Assessments released their 2017 assessment notices earlier this month.
The much anticipated opening of the newest dining option for the city came in the early part of January as the Pita Pit opened its doors on Second Avenue West.
Norther Savings Credit Union made news twice in the month, the first with a call for members for the Board of Directors, the second when it was learned that Geoff Grodecki the recently hired CEO and President of the financial organization had left his position late in 2016.
Prince Rupert based CityWest continued on with its eastward expansion plans, as the communication company introduced new services to the Houston region.
The city's commercial scene saw more change in January as clothing retailer Reitman's began its process of closing its long time location in the Rupert Square and to leave the community.
The Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce had a strong presence in the news flow from January, first as they celebrated the 103 nominees for this years Business Excellence Awards and then as they narrowed down the finalists for each of the fifteen categories and opened up the online voting process.
Prince Rupert's Wheelhouse Brewing Company took to the road in January, setting up an exhibit at Prince George's Kiwanis AleFest, the local craft brewers along with the folks at Terrace Sherwood Mountain Brewery brought some tastes of the Northwest to thirty residents of the central interior.
Those with an ambition towards a strong fitness regimen have one new option to take advantage of now, as January saw preparation for the opening of Genetics Fitness in the Ocean Centre. The latest in a growing list of fitness locations in the city opened for business on February 1st.
Shoppers at the City's WalMart faced a disruption to their routine in late January, after a small fire in the store resulted in a closure of the Rupert Square location for close to a day as staff took care of the required clean up and ventilation for the building.
Two Prince Rupert businesses received some positive news for the month as The Argosy and The Wheelhouse Brewing company made it the final round of a Provincial Small Business awards competition. The two Prince Rupert operations will now have put together a presentation to try to sway the judges vote for the February 23rd awards show.
You can keep up to date on the ebb and flow of the Prince Rupert commercial scene through 2017 from our Taking Stock tracker archive which can be reviewed here.
A full review of the the trends and developments in business for 2017 can be found on our Commercial Sector archive page here.
We imagine we probably have missed a few here or there, so if you know of a business having opened, or seen the Going out of business sign appear somewhere in the area, drop us a line at our email account of northcoastreviewpr@yahoo.ca
Or send us a short message through our twitter feed of @CharlesHays
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