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TOP HEADLINES

Elections B.C. will not extend HST deadline for Canada Post lockout
Mobile wallets and cloud computing are future for retailing industry
U.S. retail giant readying Canadian entry
Increase duty-free limits, U.S. urges Canada
Bank of Canada to Unveil New Polymer Bank Note Series

ALBERTA NEWS
Edmonton proves to be a retailers’ gold mine
Calgary consumers most optimistic in country
Lowe's set to open first Edmonton store

BRITISH COLUMBIA NEWS
Pop-up boutique sells local designer wares
Vancouver businesses up their game

► TOP HEADLINES

Elections B.C. will not extend HST deadline for Canada Post lockout

Source: Rod Shaw, Times Colonist, June 15th, 2011

Elections B.C. said Wednesday it will not extend the deadline for a mail-in referendum on the harmonized sales tax, even though the process is now stalled as part of a nation-wide lockout at Canada Post.

The independent elections agency said it can still hit its timelines for the provincewide referendum, but will have to re-evaluate the integrity of the voting process if the mail disruption lasts much longer.

“We’ll be re-assessing it within four to five days,” said Anton Boegman, assistant chief electoral officer.

While B.C.’s chief electoral officer has the power to extend the cut-off date to submit ballots, that’s not currently being considered, said Boegman.

Elections B.C. began mailing three million referendum ballots Monday, with the first batch being sent to Vancouver Island households.

If the mail disruption is brief, it would still be possible to mail the rest of the ballots to most people in the province by June 24, as was previously planned, said Boegman.

The deadline to return ballots is July 22.

Voters who recieved their HST referendum packages before the mail disruption can mark their choice and deliver their envelope in person to a Service B.C. Centre. A full list of centres is located at: http://www.servicebc.gov.bc.ca/locations

It’s unclear exactly how many ballots are currently stuck in limbo within the mail system, but Boegman said Canada Post has promised to securely store them until service resumes.

The mail-in referendum will decide whether to scrap the HST and replace it with an old combination of the provincial sales tax and federal GST. The government has pledged to follow the majority of voters and scrap the tax if necessary.

The HST has been a subject of controversy in the province since the Liberal government announced it’s introduction only two months after winning the 2009 provincial election, in which the party said a harmonzed tax was not on its agenda.

Gordon Campbell resigned as premier amid public outrage about his handling of the tax. His replacement, Christy Clark, has promised to cut the HST to 10 per cent, from 12 per cent, and provide cash payments to families with children and seniors if the tax survives the referendum.

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Mobile wallets and cloud computing are future for retailing industry

Source: International Supermarket News, June 13th, 2011

According to various experts, mobile wallets and cloud computing will be the next big technologies to hit the retailing industry.

Therefore it is important for retailers to invest money in these technologies to get prepared.

Mobile phones with an embedded NFC chip will allow consumers to pay with their smart phones at the point of sale. It’s a trend that many have forecast for some time, but is now finally coming to fruition.

James Dion, a retail technology consultant, draws an analogy between mobile wallets and debit cards. He said debit cards were the fastest- adopted technology in retailing thus far. Within a year of their release, every retailer was accepting debt cards because the consumer demanded it.

Last month when Google launched its NFC-based mobile payment system called Google Wallet, it was a significant development in mobile payments.

Rick Feuling, another retail technology expert, believes that a major development in the retailing industry would be the increased use of cloud based technologies, which use hosted solution instead of on-premise technologies.

Joel Friedman, CEO of SurveyWriter a web-based software service provider, says cloud computing is the central model of his business because of its many advantages.

He said: “The benefits are the ability to access your data and application on multiple devices, access to the application and data from any location and the ability to build virtual communities.”

According to Dion, one way for retailers to help improve consumers’ in-store shopping experience is investing in QR codes.

QR codes, or the square box codes, are URLs and when consumers take pictures of these QR codes with a mobile device that has the right software, it directs them to an embedded website where they can find out more about the product, get product reviews and even find out comparative product prices.

Retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot and others are currently using this technology in their stores,while others like Nordstorm and Crate and Barrel have rolled out mobile catalogs, which consumers can browse on their iPads.

But Feuling argues: “For the time being, tablets are more of a gadget than a serious business proposition for retailers. I believe mobile apps on the phone are going to play a bigger role in the next 12 months than tablets will.”

He draws attention to one pressing issue which can have huge ramifications for retailers – making sure their software is PCI compliant.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that retailers process, store or transmit credit card information in a secure manner.

“If a retailer is using software that is not PCI complaint, let’s say they use old software that still keeps the credit card numbers visible and they are hacked, they can be fined by credit card issuers up to $10,000 per credit card number that is stolen,” Feuling explained.

James Dion concluded: “We are headed toward a cashless society.”

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U.S. retail giant readying Canadian entry

Source: Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, June 4th, 2011

U.S. retailer Big Lots has entered an agreement to buy the 92 Liquidation World stores in Canada and is setting its sights on opening numerous new stores under its corporate banner in the near future.

Recently, Liquidation World Inc., which began with its first store in Calgary in 1986, announced it had entered into a definitive acquisition agreement with Big Lots, the largest closeout retailer in the U.S. The offer is expected to close by July 31 subject to and shortly after receipt of shareholder and court approvals.

Big Lots will acquire all shares of LW, Canada's largest operator of closeout retail stores, for six cents per share, or about $1.8 million.

"We estimate our initial investment would approximate $36 million, including payment for the acquisition of all outstanding shares, satisfying the debt of Liquidation World, and normalizing the working capital needs of the business," said Big Lots.

Tim Johnson, vice-president of strategic planning and investor relations for Big Lots, said this will be the company's initial entry into Canada. A decision has not yet been made on the 92 current Liquidation World stores which employ 1,200 people. Also, the company sees an opportunity to open new Big Lots stores in Canada in the near future -150 stores or more in Canada with expansion focused on the Big Lots name.

"It's too early for us to make a real clear determination, but we do understand there to be value and brand recognition in the Liquidation World or the LW name. So it's very likely that we'll continue to operate a number of stores under the Liquidation World or LW banner," said Johnson.

"The number and the extent of that we're going to go through the process of really evaluating the real estate portfolio, but we see value in the name and you will likely continue to see that in a fair number of stores."

Big Lots, founded in 1967 with headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, has annual revenue of nearly $5 billion in more than 1,400 stores in 48 states.

"Over the last two to three years if not a little bit longer, we've been watching the Canadian market from coast-to-coast, looking at Liquidation World stores as well as other concepts that might have been of interest to us," said Johnson. "We also considered just starting from scratch, ground up and putting in infrastructure in a Big Lots organization from Canada and start opening stores with the first one.

"For us, what's most appealing about this option is first it gives us 92 stores to start with . . . We control the real estate. We think there's an opportunity here to put a Big Lots strategy into Liquidation World or into Canada that provides highquality goods, better value, lower prices, saving money compared to buying similar type items elsewhere. . . . We just think there's a wonderful opportunity here to tap a market in Canada that really doesn't have a retailer who does what we do. And that is brand-name closeout merchandise at value that they're not going to find anywhere else."

Seth Marks, president and chief executive of Liquidation World, said "this is a wonderful opportunity for all of our Liquidation World associates to grow with Big Lots and the Canadian consumers to experience the extreme value and unique treasure hunt deals that Big Lots is famous for."

Dale Gillespie, who founded Liquidation World, retired from the company nearly eight years ago and today has no remaining stock.

"Over a period of time we went from this one store to 100 outlets in North America. I guess at one time we had 110," said Gillespie.

"We were excited (when the first store opened). There was so much opportunity because there was very few people in the business that had the same approach."

But in recent years the company, which moved its headquarters to Brantford, Ont., has been struggling. After Gillespie retired, decisions were made which were "totally different than what we had founded the business on," he said.

The colour of the signage was changed from black and yellow to blue and white. Besides cosmetic changes, a new board of directors came in. The way business was done changed too.

"It's been such a discouraging (series of) events not just this last few weeks or months," he said.

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Increase duty-free limits, U.S. urges Canada

Source: CBC News, May 13th, 2011

The United States is calling on Canada to raise its duty-free limits for day trips to the U.S., but the idea isn't getting a warm reception from retailers or government officials north of the border.

Americans are allowed to bring back $200 US in merchandise duty free, but Canadians must stay in the U.S. for at least 24 hours to bring back duty-free goods. The Globe and Mail says the U.S. wants to increase those limits to $1,000 for American shoppers making a day trip to Canada, and wants Ottawa to do the same.

Allowing the same exemptions for Canadians returning from the U.S. could be a big problem for Windsor, Ont., businesses, according to Freeds of Windsor clothing retailer Dan Orman.

He said he works hard to keep Canadian dollars on this side of the border. A change to duty rules would mean fighting even harder.

"It almost feels like we are at the end of the world in Canada and that no one is thinking of people doing business in this city, so we are concerned," said Orman.

Consumers buying in U.S. may be doing 'damage'

He admits cross-border shopping can benefit both sides, but adds if it's lopsided in favour of American stores, Windsor's already fragile economy won't stand a chance.

"Hopefully if that Windsor consumer is going over, they realize what kind of damage they're doing to the core of our city," Orman said.

At Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills, Mich., retailers roll out the red carpet each year to accept loonies and toonies on the Canadian Thanksgiving in October. It's their third-busiest annual shopping day.

The strong Canadian dollar — the Bank of Canada's website reports the loonie peaked at $1.0582 US at the end of April — has been enticing even more Windsor consumers and those in other parts of Canada to cross into the U.S. to shop.

Brian Masse, Windsor West's NDP MP-elect, was shopping at Freeds on Thursday, but said cross-border shopping can be a perk of living in a border town.

"That's part of our culture here, but when it becomes so lopsided in the sense that the dollar is being artificially raised, it becomes a real concern," Masse said.

Limits may play into perimeter security talks

As a member of the Official Opposition, Masse said he will fight any change to the Canadian duty-free amounts.

However, it may not be much of a fight.

The Globe and Mail said Thursday that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has told the U.S. that increasing travellers' exemption threshold raises competitiveness issues for Canadian retailers. It was reported he wasn't considering making any changes to Canadian exemptions.

Bill Anderson, a professor of cross-border policy studies at the University of Windsor, said the issue of personal exemptions could become a bargaining chip in the border security talks currently heating up between the U.S. and Canada.

The talks are really about harmonization of different policies so that the two governments can reduce border restrictions between the two countries and improve the flow of trade, Anderson said. Increasing duty-free limits could be something Canada would consider in order to see the U.S. ease those restrictions, he said.

But it would be good for Canada if the Americans increased their limits unilaterally, he added.

"If the Americans were to do it unilaterally, I think it would be a positive thing for tourism in Ontario because this is something that has been hurt," Anderson said.

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Bank of Canada to Unveil New Polymer Bank Note Series

Source: Bank of Canada

OTTAWA – Canada’s new polymer bank note series will be unveiled on Monday, 20 June 2011. The themes for the entire series, as well as designs, images and security features of the first denominations to be issued – the $100 and $50 notes – will be unveiled by the Honourable James M. Flaherty, Minister of Finance; William J. S. Elliott, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; and Mark J. Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada in a ceremony at the Bank of Canada (photo opportunity only).

This unveiling ceremony will be audio- and video-webcast on the Bank’s website. A separate briefing session for the media with Bank of Canada officials will follow the unveiling.

Time	At 13:00 (ET), journalists, press photographers and TV crews are invited to attend the unveiling ceremony in the Bank of Canada’s Garden Court, located at 245 Sparks Street. Please be sure to have your press card with you. For security reasons, those wishing to attend must confirm by calling Jeremy Harrison at 613 782-8782 before noon on Friday, 17 June 2011. Note: This ceremony is a photo op only; no Q&A period with journalists is scheduled. At 13:25 (ET), individual photo opportunities with the Minister, Commissioner and Governor, as well as with the new polymer notes will be available to press photographers and TV crews in the side court of the Garden.
Media Briefing Session	At 13:25 (ET), journalists (excluding press photographers and TV crews) will be escorted to the Bank of Canada media centre for the background briefing with Bank officials. This will be followed by a Q&A session.
Distribution	A press release and additional background information will be available at 13:00 (ET) on the Bank’s website.
Webcast	Audio and video webcasts of the unveiling ceremony will be accessible from the Bank’s website.
Note/Information	Note to editors: Journalists will be provided with a media kit that will include high-resolution images, fact sheets, the press release and other relevant information. Video B-roll will also be available. Regional briefings: In addition to the national unveil event, a series of regional media briefings will take place on Monday, 20 June. Bank of Canada Senior Regional Representatives across the country will be joined by representatives of the RCMP to present the new polymer bank notes and answer questions: B.C./Yukon Region: At 10:15 (Pacific Time), media are invited to attend a briefing session at the Surrey RCMP Detachment, 13130 76th Ave, Surrey, British Columbia. Prairies Region: At 11:15 (Mountain Time), media are invited to attend a briefing session at the RCMP’s Calgary Commercial Crime Section, Stephen A. Duncan Building, Supt Bob Boyd Room, 7575 - 8th Street NE Calgary, Alberta. Ontario Region: At 13:15 (Eastern Time), media are invited to attend a briefing session at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, Regency Room DE, 370 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Quebec Region: At 13:15 (Eastern Time), media are invited to attend a briefing session at the Delta Montreal Hotel, Concerto Room, 475 President-Kennedy Avenue, Montreal, Quebec. Atlantic Region: At 14:15 (Atlantic Time), media are invited to attend a briefing session at the Atlantica Hotel, Commons Room, 1980 Robie St, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Information note: If you have any questions, or for more information, please contact Jeremy Harrison at 613 782-8782 or jharrison@bankofcanada.ca. Background: As announced on 10 March 2011, the Bank of Canada will begin circulating the new $100 polymer bank note in November 2011 and the new $50 polymer bank note in March 2012. The period between the unveiling and the issuance of the notes will provide time for the Bank to work with its partners to familiarize Canadians with the new polymer bank notes and their innovative security features. The remaining denominations – the $20 note, followed by the $10 and $5 notes – will be unveiled and issued by the end of 2013. Further details regarding timelines for the unveiling and issuance of these notes will be made available in the coming months.

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► ALBERTA NEWS

Edmonton proves to be a retailers’ gold mine

Source: Bill Mah, Edmonton Journal, June 13, 2011

EDMONTON - If anyone should know why so many retailers and restaurants choose Edmonton to break into a new market, it’s David Ghermezian.

He’s an executive with Triple Five Group of Companies and a member of the family who runs the largest shopping and entertainment centres in North America — West Edmonton Mall, Mall of America — and is rescuing the even-bigger, but unfinished American Dreams Meadowlands in New Jersey.

West Edmonton Mall is where iconic U.S. retailers Apple Store and Victoria’s Secret opened their first Alberta locations in recent years.

But the mall is also luring other big-name retailers to Edmonton, Ghermezian says.

Click here to see photos of some of the retailers that have broken into the Edmonton market.

They include: J. Crew, Steve Madden, Simons and True Religion. Apple, meanwhile, is also expected to double its West Edmonton Mall store, which was already its largest Canadian outlet when it opened in 2008.

Edmonton is a magnet for expansion-minded U.S. and Canadian retailers.

“They pay attention to the demographics,” Ghermezian said. “They know that the incomes in Western Canada are high and they know the incomes north of Edmonton in the oilpatch and Fort McMurray. There’s a lot of disposable income and it proves out in the sales per square foot.”

And the action isn’t limited to the mall. Cabela’s, the popular U.S. hunting, fishing and camping retailer, opens this fall for the first time in Alberta at Currents of Windermere, and Southgate Centre scored a Restoration Hardware.

A national report by commercial real estate firm Colliers International says American retailers have set their sights on the lucrative Canadian market over the next five years.

Major brands rumoured or confirmed to enter the Canadian market include J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, J. Crew, Kohl’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods, it said.

The report lists Edmonton as Canada’s fourth fastest-growing municipal market. It averaged 2.3 per cent growth over the last five years, attracting nearly 17,500 residents per year.

Calgary was third-fastest with a 2.9-per-cent growth rate and nearly 29,700 new residents a year. Brampton was second and Surrey topped the list.

“Larger municipalities with high-growth rates tend to be excellent markets, not only for anchor and sub-anchor retailers seeking multiple locations, but also for very large destination retailers (e.g. Ikea, Cabela’s) that require very large trade area populations.

“Alberta got hit pretty hard with the slowdown in the economy and the oil and gas sector,” said Arlyn Stoik, a principal at commercial real estate firm Avison Young.

“We were flying pretty high in 2005, 2006 even 2007, but when the sales dropped, they dropped significantly. Two thousand and eight and 2009 saw a major decrease in our percentage of retail sales. But we’ve bounced back quite nicely to absolutely lead the country at about 7.7-per-cent retail growth versus the 4.9 per cent Canadian average.”

Albertans spend roughly $5.2 billion annually in retail purchases.

For Edmonton, at least 1.1 million square feet of retail space is projected to be added in the Edmonton area in 2011, he said. “You’ve got 28-year-old guys driving $50,000 trucks in Fort McMurray and they do their retail shopping in Edmonton because there’s not a lot of retail in Fort Mac because there’s not much serviced land up there,” said John Marotta, senior vice-president western region for Bentall Kennedy.

For Cabela’s, Edmonton’s youthful, outdoors-oriented workforce was key in opening its second Canadian and first Albertan store there.

“The economy probably plays into it, but really for Cabela’s the most important thing is to make sure we start our business where the per-capita users are there and that’s the idea in the northern Alberta,” said Jeff Tymo, general manager of the Edmonton Cabela’s.

Alberta’s food service industry is expected to lead the country in sales growth over the next few years. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association said total sales in Alberta are estimated to reach $6.8 billion in 2011, compared with $6.6 billion in 2010.

The industry group says Alberta will be No. 1 in average annual real food-service sales growth of 1.6 per cent between 2011 and 2015 because of strong consumer spending and high disposable income.

Milestones, a Vaughn, Ont.-based upscale casual-dining restaurant chain, is adding a second location in Edmonton in the fall, with plans to eventually open three or four more in the city.

“I don’t think you can go wrong here when you look at how successful a lot of the restaurants in this market are,” said Milestones Edmonton general manager Iain Dodge.

“In the winter, people want to get out.”

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Calgary consumers most optimistic in country

Source: Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, June 9th, 2011

CALGARY — Calgary is the most optimistic market in Canada with 60 per cent of consumers stating the economy is getting better and just 17 per cent saying it is getting worse, according to the 2011 Major Market Retail Report study, conducted for the 15th year by KubasPrimedia.

The report, released Thursday, found that consumers across the country are more optimistic about the economy with 48 per cent stating the economy is getting better and only 28 per cent saying things are getting worse. “This is a stark contrast to the 2008 findings, where 44 per cent of respondents felt the economy was getting worse,” said the report.

According to a report by RBC Economics, retail sales in Alberta are forecast to grow by 6.0 per cent this year and by another 5.8 per cent in 2012 — both years leading the nation in year-over-year growth.

The MMRR report said Montreal is the most pessimistic market in Canada with 35 per cent of survey respondents saying the economy is improving and 40 per cent saying the economy is getting worse.

“Despite the increased economic optimism, we do not expect to see significant increases in consumer spending this year,” said Ed Strapagiel, executive vice-president of KubasPrimedia. “Nearly 70 per cent of consumers told us they expect their retail spending to be the same or less than in 2010.”

The survey also showed that the Apple Store is Canada’s highest-rated retailer. The other retailers rounding out the top five are Lowe’s, La Maison Simons, Jean Coutu, and Holt Renfrew. Walmart, Canadian Tire, and Shoppers Drug Mart are the three most-shopped retailers in Canada.

“The Canadian retail landscape is about to undergo a significant change with the arrival of Target in 2013,” said Strapagiel. “While MMRR found significant consumer interest in shopping at Target, the company faces two big questions as they prepare to enter the Canadian market. Can they challenge Walmart’s popularity – Walmart is the most shopped retailer in 15 of 33 product categories and the second most shopped in eight others. Or, conversely, are Walmart shoppers anxious for a new retail option?”

MMRR, based on surveys with over 1,500 Canadians in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, examines consumer behaviour in 33 product categories at 147 retailers.

“The retail spending power of consumers in this survey is impressive. We estimate the top six Canadian markets will generate a projected $223 billion in retail sales in 2011, or about 49 per cent of the national total of $460 billion,” said Strapagiel. “Despite these big numbers, retailers have to pay close attention to their competitive position in the marketplace, because retail is growing only modestly and waves of new competitors are moving in to Canada from the U.S.”

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Lowe's set to open first Edmonton store

Source: Bill Mah, Edmonton Journal, June 10th, 2011

Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse is opening its first Edmonton store Monday.

And the world's second-largest hardware retailer isn't stopping at one store in the region.

"I can tell you that we've got several sites under consideration," said Lowe's Companies Canada president Alan Huggins Wednesday at the company's latest store at the southern edge of South Edmonton Common.

"We've got good plans for Edmonton, but I can't disclose how many sites we're going to have. But we'll be in the general vicinities where you would expect us to be."

Although dignitaries sawed a ceremonial board to celebrate the launch Wednesday, the store won't open to customers until Monday.

"We're right here at the gateway entry to Edmonton. Our store is the first retail shopping store that you see as you come up Highway 2 from the airport, so it's a great entry into the market. There's good strong growth, good high income, good family housing, good family values -all things that have been successful for us before," Huggins said.

It's the fourth Lowe's in Alberta; three are in Calgary. Other stores will open in Regina and New Westminster, B.C., for a total of six in Western Canada this fiscal year.

There are now 25 Lowe's in Canada after entering the market from its U.S. base about four years ago.

Lowe's is the latest entry into a local market already thronged with bigbox rivals such as the Home Depot and Rona. In fact, both competitors have stores within a few minutes' drive of Lowe's South Edmonton Common site.

"We think it's a great market. There's a lot of stores here, but what we found is every time we go into a market, the customer decides where they want to shop and we've been pretty well-received."

He said Lowe's differentiates itself with brighter, wider aisles and a larger assortment of "fashion-forward categories" such as lighting and bathroom accessories, while keeping price parity.

The company also advertises policies where lineups of more than three trigger the opening of another checkout and help buttons in every aisle.

The 103,000-square-foot South Edmonton Common store cost more than $20 million and employs about 150 people.

"It's just another feather in our retail cap in terms of first stores coming into the area," said Tony Rota, marketing director for South Edmonton Common owner Cameron Development Corp.

"Lowe's is the cherry on the icing."

With Lowe's occupying space at the southern border of South Edmonton Common, the power centre on more than 130 hectares is nearing completion, Rota said.

But there's still room enough for five to 10 more tenants, Rota said.

That includes a portion on the northwest corner of the property, near the 23rd Avenue interchange, which could not be developed previously.

"Originally, we were never allowed to develop on it because of the pipelines on that site. Now that they've been realigned, it's freed up enough residual land to build a significantsized anchor tenant should one show interest," Rota said.

The Colliers International 2011 Canadian Retail Report said Edmonton ranks as the fourthfastest-growing municipal market in Canada behind Surrey, B.C., Brampton, Ont., and Calgary.

Cities with high growth rates are sought by anchor and sub-anchor retailers seeking multiple locations and by very large destination retailers such as Ikea and Cabela's, the report said.

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► BRITISH COLUMBIA NEWS

Pop-up boutique sells local designer wares

Source: Loren Romei, North Shore News, June 10th, 2011

A young entrepreneur from West Vancouver is curating a show of local designer wares at a pop-up store in Vancouver's trendy Mount Pleasant neighbourhood all this month.

Jenna Grant, 22, and her collection of local artists and entrepreneurs are selling fashion and gift items in a temporary retail space at the Rize condominium development at Kingsway and Broadway in Vancouver. They've assembled their wares under the store name Concordia.

Concordia is the ancient Roman Goddess for peace and harmony. Grant said she chose the name because it represents the coming together of artists and entrepreneurs at the Rize.

Rize Alliance Properties Ltd. is offering the retail space free of charge to local entrepreneurs to support local business, according to the developer's website.

Grant is selling her teacup candles alongside jewelry, giftwares, clothing, housewares and art by other local artists.

Grant said she knows many people who are trying to make it in the creative world, as artists or fashion designers, and this motivated her to open the store at the Rize. "There's so many young people my age . . . that are just looking for that opportunity to get the exposure for themselves and get themselves out there and I think sometimes it's hard to bridge the gap from making crafts and art at home and then getting into a retail space and getting it to consumers," she said.

Five of the 13 artists featured at Concordia are from the North Shore. Grant said gathering artists for the store was easy because word of the initiative quickly spread through the design community.

Among the featured artists is fashion student Emily Joe Heaps, whose clothing designs are made from fabric donated by Retro Rock Vintage.

Grant said all the items for sale are moderately priced and she thinks the community will be supportive of the locally handmade products.

"Despite Canada's economic state, I think that the demand for good quality locally made products is strong. The more people are learning about eating locally, growing food locally, and eating organic, I think the more they learn as a consumer it has a ripple effect, so buying locally handmade stuff directly contributes to the locally community, the local economy," she said.

Every month the Rize retail space is given to a new retailer. Concordia is currently sharing the space with a retail concept called Velveteen Vintage, which features handmade and re-made products by a group of East Vancouver youth.

The developers are still looking for retail concepts for late summer and early fall. For more information and to download an application, visit www.rize.ca.

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Vancouver businesses up their game

Source: Marsha Lederman, The Globe and Mail, June 8th, 2011

If you’re not a bar or restaurant playing the game on TV, it can be an uphill retail battle when the Canucks broadcast begins at 5 p.m., or even earlier in the day as fans are busily painting their faces blue and the like. Some spots are pulling out all the stops with the goal of keeping people flowing.

Kiehl’s

Shopping for Facial Fuel or Lip Balm #1 when the Canucks score? You score, too: the upscale skin-care chain’s Robson Street location is handing out free samples to everyone in the store when the Canucks get a goal. They were no doubt left with a surplus of samples on Monday night.

Vancouver Art Gallery

The gallery closes at 5 p.m. most days, so it isn’t taking much of a hit from Canucks glory. Still, it’s found an artful way to get in on the action: if you show up in a Canucks jersey or T-shirt this week, it will knock $5 off the price of admission.

The Narrow Lounge

Staunchly anti-television, this Main Street spot is one of the few places not showing the hockey game (hey, even some grocery stores have the game blaring over the speakers these days). On nights the Canucks play, The Narrow is offering everything on its menu at half-price. Yes, that includes alcohol. “It’s always pretty packed,” says owner Rachel Zottenberg.

Mountainside Lodge

Just because a game is on, it doesn’t mean you can’t be booking your next vacation. For each playoff game the Canucks win, this Whistler hotel is offering three rooms at a rate based on the jersey number of the winning goal scorer. So if Alex Burrows scores the winning goal, three rooms will be up for grabs at $14/night. You’re advised to call directly after the final horn blows.

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