8289 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

A few years? They only bought Island Blue like ten months ago.

[Nparker]

Seems like it was longer ago. Time moves strangely these days.

[Mike K.]

Indeed, I know what you mean.

[Kapten Kapsell]

Lowe’s has sold their Canadian operations and all Canadian Lowe’s stores will be rebranded as Rona (not Corona): https://retail-insid...te-equity-firm/

[Victoria Watcher]

Lowe’s has sold their Canadian operations and all Canadian Lowe’s stores will be rebranded as Rona (not Corona): https://retail-insid...te-equity-firm/

 

We have one at Tillicum Mall and one in Langford?

[spanky123]

We have one at Tillicum Mall and one in Langford?

 

I can't see that one surviving. Never been there where there wasn't more staff than customers. Half the stores in the mall are now closed. if it wasn't for cell phones and nails there wouldn't be anything other than the anchors.

[Victoria Watcher]

I can't see that one surviving. Never been there where there wasn't more staff than customers. Half the stores in the mall are now closed. if it wasn't for cell phones and nails there wouldn't be anything other than the anchors.

 

Maybe schools should teach nail tach in art class.   

[Matt R.]

I’m boycotting Tillicum mall now, but still happy to enjoy their public washrooms. They can all burn.

[Nparker]

I’m boycotting Tillicum mall now...

That's a boycott of what, 6 or 7 businesses?

[Matt R.]

I only ever really went to a couple anyways.

[Victoria Watcher]

Screech, 62, who has three grown children, had two of his four grandchildren in the upholstery shop helping out on a “bring your kids to work day.”

 

He’s focusing on the business — with one eye open to politics — while considering moving Gregg’s Furniture & Upholstery from its long-time location on Government Street to View Royal, where has he lived since 1998, or the West Shore. But it’s easy to see he’s going to miss local politics.

 

“The business has been in Victoria since 1955, and we’re very proud to continue it,” he said. “But the municipal end of things really gave me that [sense of] purpose, and over the years you develop all sorts of relationships with public, staff, colleagues all across the region and province.”

 

 

https://www.timescol...olitics-6063264

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2022 - 07:14 AM.

[Mike K.]

Oh. Wild. I didn’t realize it was that upholstery shop.

[Matt R.]

Recently had a couple 120+ year old pieces done here. Long wait list but amazing workmanship. $$$$.

[Victoria Watcher]

Some time ago our family had some work done here. Excellent results.

[Victoria Watcher]

2013:


The furniture market has changed in the past 10 to 15 years as competitors carry low-cost products made offshore, he said.

A standard Greggs custom-made sofa is about $2,200 to $2,500, Screech said. Price is largely dictated by fabric, which can range from $30 to $300 per yard.

Customers ordering from Greggs can watch their order in progress by walking upstairs to the manufacturing area. This suits buyers who, for example, want to try out two or three different levels of firmness for foam in seats.

https://www.timescol...ound-up-4580754

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2022 - 01:38 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A new survey finds Canadians will spend an average of $675 this holiday season despite the fact that millions have not paid off their purchases of last year’s Christmas presents.

 

A NerdWallet Canada survey of more than 1,000 Canadian adults found that more than 30 million Canadians (82 per cent) plan on spending an estimated $20.5 billion (an average of $675 per shopper) on gifts this holiday season.

 

But spreading Christmas cheer isn’t coming without its share of anxiety for shoppers, as 74 per cent say inflation and economic uncertainty are making them wary of overspending on gifts. The survey found 36 per cent plan on spending less per person than last year, while 27 per cent will be giving gifts to fewer people.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....cash-registers/

[Nparker]

With the exception of Save-on-Foods and Panago, everything other space here has remained vacant for over 3 years.

I am not sure more retail space is desperately needed in the area.

 

ps: I didn't see a single person using the Vancouver Street bike lanes this afternoon.

[Ismo07]

Oh. Wild. I didn’t realize it was that upholstery shop.

 

 

They made mattresses too for years....  My mom was the bookkeeper and general there for around 20+ years till she retired..  Always quality out of their shop...

[Victoria Watcher]

If furniture store owner David Screech thought he had seen it all, a full-sized campfire set up right against his building a few Sundays ago was a new one.

And just last month, employee Glenn Drew had his car window smashed and then a knife pulled on him after he confronted the suspect.

“He turned around and just had a knife and was like get the f*** away so I backed off and he ran up Government Street,” said Drew.

But it was something that happened earlier this week that has Screech seriously considering moving after nearly 70 years in business in the city.

“We had a fellow come into the store who was very vocal, physically threatening, screaming at us, hitting our windows and I was here by myself and it made me feel extremely vulnerable,” said Screech, owner of Gregg’s Furniture and Upholstery on Government Street.

https://www.cheknews...-years-1116394/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 November 2022 - 07:37 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Ryan Burghardt was recently charged by a man brandishing scissors and a handful of his own feces.

 

It wasn’t the first time the owner of Budget Brake and Muffler, at Douglas and Bay streets, has had to ward off attacks and threats or absorb the costs of ongoing thefts and vandalism by an unsheltered population in the downtown core, many of them suffering from drug addiction and severe mental-health issues. And it isn’t going to be the last, Burghardt said.

 

“It happens all the time around here,” he said.

 

Vehicles have been damaged, staff have been put in danger and items have been stolen, including a cellphone off the front counter.

 

“You just wonder if it’s ever going to end,” Burghardt said. “Moving my business out of the downtown core is a weekly thought. Langford is an option, but it’s pretty hard to uproot a 40-year-old business. I already commute from Mill Bay because I’ve moved my family to a safer place to live.”

 

Burghardt’s nine staff are used to the almost daily incidents. Some have pepper spray for protection.

 

A block away on Government Street, David Screech of Gregg’s Furniture is considering moving his business; it has been there for 55 years.

 

This week, Screech was in his office when a man burst in and started yelling at him to clean his windows, and violently punched the big panes as he left.

 

“It was the first time I’ve felt really vulnerable in my ­business,” said Screech.

 

The incidents have been piling up. He has found remnants of fires around his building. Last month, the company delivery van had its catalytic converter ripped out and mirrors destroyed — an $1,800 bill — and one staff member was threatened with a knife after a man was found sleeping in his car.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...iolence-6154831

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 November 2022 - 02:34 AM.