The Post Christmas blahs hit the Prince Rupert commercial sector in force this year, with a pair of Store Closing announcements making for a tough start to the New year.
A strong number of readers of the blog reviewed our notes on the pending closures for Acklands-Grainger and Oceanside Sports, making our reports on the shift in the commercial sector some of our most read items of January.
There were however, many more positive trends to report on through the month, with CityWest in the forefront of some significant investment plans for the region.
The Friendship House continued to expand on its services to the community last month as well.
The two craft brewers in the region also had a good month, taking their products to a major Northern Beer and Ale Festival last month.
And among the news from January, was a look at Awards Season for the region's business community, with voting underway for the Business Excellence Awards presented by the Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce.
Our review of the Commercial and economic scene in the region for the last month can be found below:
January
Commercial sector closures dominated the first month of the year, with word of two Prince Rupert businesses planning to shut their doors.
At the start of the month, Acklands-Grainger confirmed the news that had been percolating through the holiday period, announcing that they would be closing their Prince Rupert location most likely by March.
Two weeks later, Oceanside Sports an eight year fixture in the community put up the Going out of Business signs in the front windows of their Third Avenue store.
Despite the unwelcome notes on closures, there were some positive trends in this first month for the community, starting with the Friendship House and its expansion of some its operations in the city.
First with an update on their recent purchase of the Pioneer Inn in Cow Bay with the organization planning to continue its operations as a well regarded accommodation close to the city's downtown.
The Fraser Street offices also have become the home for the newly announced Highway 16 shuttle service, with Friendship House offering trips to and from Terrace twice a week.
Dining on the North Coast received a boost in January, with the Dine Out Prince Rupert program returning for another year, providing Prince Rupert residents with a chance to sample some of the cuisine of the region at participating establishments.
CityWest, the City of Prince Rupert owned telecommunication service made news in January, with a major announcement finding CityWest the recipient of significant federal and provincial funding for a Sub Sea Fibre project to link coastal communities and Haida Gwaii, as well as to provide for a second backbone for service in the Northwest.
Following the announcement in Vancouver, CityWest provided some further background on what's ahead for the Sub Sea Link.
The best example as to why such a second backbone is going to be a valuable asset for the Northwest, came in February, with a major communication outage taking place over this past weekend.
The Communication company also made news with the addition of a familiar Northwest face to their Board of Directors, announcing the appointment of Roy Henry Vickers to the Board.
The craft brewers of the Northwest hit the road in January, with representatives from Prince Rupert's Wheelhouse Brewing Company and Terrace's Sherwood Mountain Brewers heading to Prince George for that city's fourth annual AleFest.
Prince Rupert's Business community joined in with a number of local organizations in support of a new initiative from the Prince Rupert RCMP, taking part in the "Safe Place" program, which offers a safe place for members of the city's LGBTQ community, should they feel threatened in any way.
And January saw the Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce Awards process moving into high drive, with voting getting underway for this years Business Excellence Awards, the final day for voting by the public is this Saturday, February 10th.
You can keep up to date on the ebb and flow of the Prince Rupert commercial scene through our Taking Stock Archive for 2018.
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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