Small Business

Enjoying a beverage on a restaurant patio in Port Alberni comes with some new COVID-19 conditions as of Sept. 13, 2021. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Island businesses grapple with threats as new COVID-19 vaccine passports start

‘These things are beyond our control…there is no option to opt out.’

 

Markus Spodzieja (centre) with his crew members at the Bikery bakery. (Kiernan Green / News Staff)

The Bikery opens Island’s first kosher bakery in Victoria’s Public Market

Baker Markus Spodzieja and business partner Kimanda Jarzebiak filling a local niche

 

Isaiah Archer (from left), Nina Colovic, Iwan Williams and Matt West-Patrick are partners of Whistle Buoy Brewing Co. Fifth partner Colin Curtis is not pictured. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Best of the City: Beers, buds, no boats – this is Whistle Buoy Brewing Co.

Following the local craft brewing trend, Whistle Buoy has made over 120 names for itself

 

Customers fill their carts at The Root Cellar store on McKenzie Avenue. Daisy and Adam Orser opened the location 13 years ago and are working on transforming the former Oxford Foods in Cook Street Village into theiir second store. (Emma Rossum Photography)

Second Root Cellar store to open in Victoria as early as late fall

Customers serve as motivators for co-owner Daisy Orser amid pandemic

Customers fill their carts at The Root Cellar store on McKenzie Avenue. Daisy and Adam Orser opened the location 13 years ago and are working on transforming the former Oxford Foods in Cook Street Village into theiir second store. (Emma Rossum Photography)
Street and sidewalk patios are officially OK until June 2022. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff).

Oak Bay peruses potential for permanent patios in public spaces

Current patio use on sidewalks and parking spaces has been extended to June 2022

Street and sidewalk patios are officially OK until June 2022. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff).
Gonzales Coffee owner Doug Pelton, left, and manager Sam Benson enjoy a coffee outside their store in Fairfield Plaza. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Gonzales Coffee has filled caffeine gap at Victoria’s Fairfield Plaza

Owner aims to connect community, offer unique goods in place of coffee giant

Gonzales Coffee owner Doug Pelton, left, and manager Sam Benson enjoy a coffee outside their store in Fairfield Plaza. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Eric Taccogna (left), Justin Kopetzki, Adam Conlin co-own Victoria-based Justo’s Craft Dips – a finalist in two Small Business BC Awards. (Courtesy Justo’s Craft Dips)

Victoria craft dip company a finalist in two Small Business BC Award categories

Young entrepreneurs behind Justo’s Craft Dips focus on sustainability, positivity

  • Mar 27, 2021
Eric Taccogna (left), Justin Kopetzki, Adam Conlin co-own Victoria-based Justo’s Craft Dips – a finalist in two Small Business BC Awards. (Courtesy Justo’s Craft Dips)
The Very Good Butchers, a vegan butcher shop, is opening a new flagship location in downtown Victoria. (Courtesy of the Very Good Butchers)

Vegan butcher shop to open new flagship store in downtown Victoria

The Very Good Butcher Shop appeared in Dragons’ Den in 2018

The Very Good Butchers, a vegan butcher shop, is opening a new flagship location in downtown Victoria. (Courtesy of the Very Good Butchers)
The coronavirus and the drastic measures put in place by government officials to try to control its spread had a severe toll on many small businesses. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

B.C. pilot program launches to help small businesses weather COVID

1,000 entrepreneurs across the province will be chosen to receive free help from experts

The coronavirus and the drastic measures put in place by government officials to try to control its spread had a severe toll on many small businesses. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Kiki Lally is seen in an undated handout photo at Pinnovate, a craft studio in Calgary. When the pandemic began, Lally couldn’t host birthday parties, camps or bridal showers anymore, so she started making DIY kits and offering them for delivery. The DIY kits had to be sold through a new website called DIY Delivery that she built. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jennifer Chabot, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

‘Not as easy as it looks’: Small businesses share what it takes to move online

Shipping, fitting all made complicated by COVID

Kiki Lally is seen in an undated handout photo at Pinnovate, a craft studio in Calgary. When the pandemic began, Lally couldn’t host birthday parties, camps or bridal showers anymore, so she started making DIY kits and offering them for delivery. The DIY kits had to be sold through a new website called DIY Delivery that she built. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jennifer Chabot, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
In a whirlwind of a year, Sarah Shaw and her husband met, married, moved to Victoria and bought a sailboat that they plan to move onto in April. (Courtesy of Sarah Shaw)

Greater Victoria residents share positive pandemic experiences

Silver linings come from challenges of COVID-19

In a whirlwind of a year, Sarah Shaw and her husband met, married, moved to Victoria and bought a sailboat that they plan to move onto in April. (Courtesy of Sarah Shaw)
Shopping in the evening in downtown Victoria can be a good time to go, with relatively few people in store and plenty of room to physically distance, as this photo from Government Street shows. (Don Descoteau/News Staff) Shopping in the evening in downtown Victoria can be a good time to go, with relatively few people in store and plenty of room to physically distance, as this photo from Government Street shows. But thanks to a new program from the Downtown Victoria Business Association, many downtown businesses will soon be able to provide free delivery for customers across the region. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

Downtown Victoria businesses offered free delivery for regional customers

DVBA launches ‘Downtown Delivers’ program Dec. 7

Shopping in the evening in downtown Victoria can be a good time to go, with relatively few people in store and plenty of room to physically distance, as this photo from Government Street shows. (Don Descoteau/News Staff) Shopping in the evening in downtown Victoria can be a good time to go, with relatively few people in store and plenty of room to physically distance, as this photo from Government Street shows. But thanks to a new program from the Downtown Victoria Business Association, many downtown businesses will soon be able to provide free delivery for customers across the region. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)
Pedestrians stroll along Spring Garden Road in Halifax on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. A new retail shopping event has arrived, encouraging consumers to support local, independent businesses during the holiday season. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

‘Nightmare on Main Street:’ After a tough year, campaign urges consumers to buy local

Only 38 per cent of retail businesses are reaching their usual sales levels

Pedestrians stroll along Spring Garden Road in Halifax on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. A new retail shopping event has arrived, encouraging consumers to support local, independent businesses during the holiday season. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Uber Eats is offering half-off pickup orders on Saturdays through November. (Kevin Clark/The Herald)

Uber Eats offers 50 per cent off Victoria takeout for Small Business Saturdays

Limited number of people to get half-off order on Saturdays through November

Uber Eats is offering half-off pickup orders on Saturdays through November. (Kevin Clark/The Herald)
Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. (rickcollinsphotography.com)

COLUMN: Holiday shopping in 2020 crucial to Greater Victoria businesses

Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association

  • Nov 19, 2020
Jeff Bray is the executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. (rickcollinsphotography.com)
Shawn Magnus, owner-operator of Sidney Courier.

Shopping locally in Sidney comes with FREE delivery!

Initiative boosts options for shoppers and businesses

  • Nov 16, 2020
Shawn Magnus, owner-operator of Sidney Courier.
Candice Woloshyn prepares her flower beds for the next season at her ‘Dirty Girl Flowers’ farm in Merville. Despite the pandemic, Woloshyn was able to sustain her homegrown business as community members opted for regular deliveries of fresh cut flowers. Photo by Binny Paul/ Campbell River Mirror.

Vancouver Island flower farmers were blooming as the pandemic wilted everything else

Floriculturists saw increased subscriptions as fresh flowers became a ‘sight for sore eyes’ during isolation

Candice Woloshyn prepares her flower beds for the next season at her ‘Dirty Girl Flowers’ farm in Merville. Despite the pandemic, Woloshyn was able to sustain her homegrown business as community members opted for regular deliveries of fresh cut flowers. Photo by Binny Paul/ Campbell River Mirror.
The City of Colwood is asking business owners to join their roundtable discussion on how the city can help them prosper during the pandemic. The virtual event takes place on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. (Aaron Guillen/News Staff)

Colwood hosts roundtable discussion on prosperity during pandemic

Attendees must RSVP for virtual meeting on Oct. 15 from 12 to 1:30 p.m.

The City of Colwood is asking business owners to join their roundtable discussion on how the city can help them prosper during the pandemic. The virtual event takes place on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. (Aaron Guillen/News Staff)
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South Vancouver Island businesses achieve international success with Export Navigator

South Vancouver Island businesses achieve international success with Export Navigator

How small businesses are finding new customers in changing times

  • Sep 21, 2020
South Vancouver Island businesses achieve international success with Export Navigator