Small Business

Shayla Hann of Hannmade Designs said the Station Avenue stall has been a great opportunity for her business. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

Langford’s Station Avenue vendors upbeat about the future

New cultural district vendors looking forward to Christmas season

 

Bruce Charbonneau has been professionally framing pictures for more than four decades. (Angie Mindus photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Small Business Week: B.C. has the largest number of local entrepreneurships in Canada

The week is a chance to recognize the hard work, adaptability and determination of small businesses

 

Saravanan “Sammy” Periyasamy, 45, takes a break from his work in Yumbrosia Fine Foods He and his family were set to reopen the business Monday (Aug. 15) after its closure last December following the sudden death of owner Ihsan Askar. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Yumbrosia reopening in Oak Bay after months of closure

Southern Indian family works to preserve late owner’s legacy and business model

 

Jimmy Pavlidis of Jimmy’s Barber Shop is pictured at his Fort Street business. Pavlidis is Greater Victoria’s longest serving barber and has maintained a ’50s style and inexpensive haircuts at his shop. (Photo contributed)

A trim for the ages: How local barbering has evolved over 50-plus years

5 Greater Victoria barbers share their unique approach to cutting hair

Jimmy Pavlidis of Jimmy’s Barber Shop is pictured at his Fort Street business. Pavlidis is Greater Victoria’s longest serving barber and has maintained a ’50s style and inexpensive haircuts at his shop. (Photo contributed)
Roberta Glennon stands in the men’s section of her Government Street shop, Roberta’s Hats. Glennon has run the business for 30 years since moving from Vancouver with her husband Brian in 1992. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Hats off to Victoria’s renowned hat store of 30 years

Roberta’s Hats continues to cap local industry with funky shopping experience

Roberta Glennon stands in the men’s section of her Government Street shop, Roberta’s Hats. Glennon has run the business for 30 years since moving from Vancouver with her husband Brian in 1992. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Yumbrosia Fine Foods has operated as a grocer and deli, as seen here in July 2021, and served the local community with a wide variety of imported European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern products. (Black Press Media file photo)

New ownership signals return for Yumbrosia in Oak Bay

Esquimalt local awaits business licence before reopening

Yumbrosia Fine Foods has operated as a grocer and deli, as seen here in July 2021, and served the local community with a wide variety of imported European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern products. (Black Press Media file photo)
Small business owners are feeling the pinch from inflationary pressures and taxes. (Black Press File Photo)

B.C. small business owners worried about tax bills, inflation

A survey from Ownr found 31 per cent of small business owners are worried about their tax burden

Small business owners are feeling the pinch from inflationary pressures and taxes. (Black Press File Photo)
A produce vendor awaits his next customer during the monthly market at Royal Athletic Park. Mobile food and service vendors are invited to apply for free permits to operate on two-week rotations at one of 15 spots in eight locations around Victoria this summer and early fall. (Photo courtesy North Park Neighbourhood Association)

Prime Victoria sites up for grabs for mobile vendors this summer, fall

City permits free; 15 spots available at eight locations on 2-week rotation

A produce vendor awaits his next customer during the monthly market at Royal Athletic Park. Mobile food and service vendors are invited to apply for free permits to operate on two-week rotations at one of 15 spots in eight locations around Victoria this summer and early fall. (Photo courtesy North Park Neighbourhood Association)
Nanaimo author Josh Gillingham has created the Vancouver Island Coffee Tour website that includes a map with directions to a growing list of more than 50 independent coffee roasters across the Island and Gulf Islands that tourists and residents can follow to find the region’s best brews. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Nanaimo author’s online ‘coffee tour’ an added perk for visiting Vancouver Island

Residents and visitors can follow guide to more than 50 Island-region coffee roasters

Nanaimo author Josh Gillingham has created the Vancouver Island Coffee Tour website that includes a map with directions to a growing list of more than 50 independent coffee roasters across the Island and Gulf Islands that tourists and residents can follow to find the region’s best brews. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Kimberli Koh of Happy Tail Dog Service in Sidney laments council’s decision to offer a shut-down competitor a chance to apply for a temporary use permit, after committee of the whole recommended support for OCP and zoning changes that could have allowed Pooch Parlour to remain in a West Sidney industrial area. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Local dog groomer in Sidney expresses support for shut-down competitor

Kimberli Koh also frustrated by council’s decisions around Pooch Parlour

Kimberli Koh of Happy Tail Dog Service in Sidney laments council’s decision to offer a shut-down competitor a chance to apply for a temporary use permit, after committee of the whole recommended support for OCP and zoning changes that could have allowed Pooch Parlour to remain in a West Sidney industrial area. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
The Nature Bee busy bees outside their Veyaness Road location in Keating. (Courtesy of Nature Bee)

Central Saanich beeswax wrap seller nominated for two Small Business BC Awards

Katie Gamble’s Nature Bee business built on community, sustainability

The Nature Bee busy bees outside their Veyaness Road location in Keating. (Courtesy of Nature Bee)
Darioush Diba, owner of Bubby’s Restaurant, stands outside its Menzies Street location. He questions the need for the level of traffic restrictions into James Bay as are being exercised by VicPD. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Some James Bay eateries less busy, staff late since VicPD checkpoints installed

Operators have mixed views on need for Victoria police controls on neighbourhood entry

Darioush Diba, owner of Bubby’s Restaurant, stands outside its Menzies Street location. He questions the need for the level of traffic restrictions into James Bay as are being exercised by VicPD. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Jenny Crandall, who’s been in business for more than 20 years in Sooke, is closing her shop. Crandall hopes she’ll find somewhere new to operate in the new year. (Bailey Moreton - Sooke News Mirror)

Sooke institution Jenny’s closing after 20 years

Owner Jenny Crandall says she’ll take some rest time then look for new locations in the new year

Jenny Crandall, who’s been in business for more than 20 years in Sooke, is closing her shop. Crandall hopes she’ll find somewhere new to operate in the new year. (Bailey Moreton - Sooke News Mirror)
Downtown Victoria Business Association executive director Jeff Bray discusses the resiliency of downtown businesses throughout the pandemic at an event this summer. (Black Press Media file photo)

COLUMN: DVBA celebrates Small Business Month in Victoria

Small businesses, their owners and employees are the lifeblood of downtown Victoria

  • Oct 11, 2021
Downtown Victoria Business Association executive director Jeff Bray discusses the resiliency of downtown businesses throughout the pandemic at an event this summer. (Black Press Media file photo)
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.’

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)
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

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

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)
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)
Pop-up banner image