Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Taking Stock: North Coast Business Scene, October 2017


The month of October marked the end in a number or areas from commercial closings, to the conclusion of another successful tourism season.

However there was some balance on the local scene, as the start of the fall season also heralded some new business ventures in the community.

As the City said its farewells to the familiar presence of the Sears brand in the region, the residents of the Northwest were preparing to welcome some new additions. With a new optometrist shop preparing to open and a familiar pub in the east end coming back to life as the Seal Cove Neighbourhood pub brought an exciting vibe back to the old Solly's location in the Seal Cove area of the city.

The City owned communication company CityWest  was featured in the news a number of times in October, while the Prince Rupert based financial services group Northern Savings gave back to the region in four communities.

Among some of the other notes on the month, coffee and where we drink it and with whom also made for an October trend, the Bank of Montreal recorded a rarity for the city with an armed robbery and the city's business community celebrated the year with their annual gala this year based on the theme of Bollywood.

Our review of the Commercial and economic scene in the region for the months of October can be found below:

October

A familiar name, one long associated with communications in the city has returned to Prince Rupert based CityWest, as Don Holkestad was named to the Board of Directors for the company in October. The former CEO joins a number of City officials and others as part of the group that guides the phone, internet and cablevision provider in the Northwest.

CityWest also made some news mid month, when the company announced that it had sold its cable operations in Stewart to a Terrace based company, with Sienna Networks now providing communication and cable service to that region.

The communication company also made customers aware of an ongoing fraudulent scam taking place, with their customers being targeted by fraud artists seeking to get personal and financial information from them.

The quest for coffee has knocked Tim Horton's out of the top spot across Canada, with a survey hosted by Maclean's Magazine finding that the new champion for Canadians for their daily cup of coffee can be found at McDonalds, with their McCafe brand claiming the honours.

Earlier in the month, coffee lovers in Prince Rupert were lining up for a free sample of 7-11's autumn temptation, with the local store on 2nd Avenue West reporting a strong turnout for their Free Pumpkin Spice Latte Day.

The City's coffee shops and restaurants also became political gathering stops as part of the BC Liberal leadership campaign, with candidates setting up at such popular local spots as Cowpuccino's  as well as La Gondola and Java.dot.cup.

Young entrepreneurs across Northwest BC received some good news, with the Provincial government providing additional funding towards the Futurepreneur program in the region, the non-profit organization received close to 349,000 dollars that will be put towards its ThriveNorth program which is hosted in a number of communities.

Northern Savings made another contribution to the list of community initiatives across the Northwest, with the Prince Rupert based financial service providing viewing stations in four locations across the region.  The dual viewing binocular stations provide a view of the vistas found in Prince Rupert at Mariners Park, as well as from locations in Terrace and Haida Gwaii.

Businesses and Services in Prince Rupert most likely found an uptick in their summer receipts, with the 2017 summer cruise ship season delivering a boost to the community, as more than 20,000 visitors took to the city's streets during the last season.  

One example of the surge of visitors that could be found in the city came in early October, as the Northland cruise terminal played host to back to back ships in the first weekend of the month.

Prince Rupert is about to add to the list of opticians in the city, with Prince Rupert Optometry beginning work on their storefront operation on 3rd Avenue West.

The Bank of Montreal made news in early October, with the Prince Rupert branch suffering an armed robbery during the afternoon of October 6th, the incident one that is a rare situation for the community. The suspect is still at large, with few updates added to the file as the month progressed. As an additional security measure, the bank placed a security guard at the branch through the month and into November.

It was Bollywood on the waterfront at the start of October as the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce hosted their fall gala celebration, this year featuring a theme of a Bollywood extravaganza.

One of the city's Service Clubs shared in the Thanksgiving spirit last month, as the Lions Club and a number of community volunteers provided for a Thanksgiving Lunch for Seniors on October 9th.

The new ownership of a long  popular east side pub put the final touches on the old Solly's location, with the Seal Cove Neighbourhood Pub making ready to welcome back to the Seal Cove area past visitors and newcomers. The new interior has been receiving some good reviews from those that have been down to check the latest addition to the Rupert pub and club scene.

And October may best be known for the period of Rupert commercial history when the Sears brand disappeared from view, the city's Sears Outlet at Five Corners closed its doors early in the month, part of the ongoing financial troubles that claimed the one time leading commercial retailer in Canada. The local ownership had barely announced the Store Closing sale when the stock had been snapped up and the door lock clicked for good.

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.

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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