For anyone who’s ever dreamed of escaping reality to live in a fairytale for a little while, Tyson Leavitt is hoping to take your reservation this summer.
His Alberta company has been making high-end children’s backyard playhouses for the rich and famous for five years — including kids’ castles, playground pirate ships or tree houses — with some fetching up to a half-million dollars.
Now, the former landscaper from Lethbridge, Alta., is working on plans to open his first resort in the province this year, offering playhouse cottages that families can rent.
“We wanted to be able to do something that we could allow all families to be able to experience the magic of what we build,” said Leavitt, who owns Charmed Playhouses with his wife, Audy.
To those unfamiliar with the Leavitts’ work, or their TV show on TLC, the idea of spending a weekend in a playhouse with the kids might sound a bit more like a hardship than fun.
That is, until you see the playhouses they build — and the cottages they have planned.
WATCH | Take a look at what the resort plans to offer:
Not everyone can afford a six-figure custom playhouse like one of the Jonas brothers or basketball star Stephen Curry, so the Lethbridge company behind them is putting together its own family resort in southern Alberta. 3:47
A Cinderella story
Employing a team of 15 people, their high-end playhouses are built from wood. Artists sculpt Styrofoam to add embellishments like giant mushrooms or colossal tree stumps. There are towers and spires as well as slides, swings and climbing walls.
Clients have spent between $15,000 and $500,000 to get one, the Leavitts say, with buyers coming from as far away as China.
Customers — the ones they can talk about — include basketball superstar Steph Curry, pro golfer Jason Day and baseball’s Ryan Zimmerman.
As business tales go, Charmed Playhouses is a bit of a Cinderella story.
Tyson and Audy Leavitt, owners of Charmed Playhouses, stand in front of one of the cottages that will be part of their new resort in southern Alberta. (Tony Seskus/CBC)
“We kind of thought we might be able to convince people to spend $5,000 or $10,000 on a playhouse and it’s turned into people willing to spend a few hundred thousand dollars,” Audy Leavitt said. “So it was just as shocking to us as it’s been to anyone else.”
Making something accessible
But the Leavitts, who come from blue-collar backgrounds themselves, said they wanted to make something that was accessible to more families like theirs.
So they’re building “play cottages” for a resort that they’re striving to open as early as this spring.
Their strategy focuses on cottages built around storylines. One example is a cottage with a tower and a Rapunzel-like braid flowing from its window.
Comparable to a tiny house, the cottages can accommodate up to six people, come with a kitchenette and are made for year-round use.
“We’re going to have all different types of cottages at the resorts,” Tyson said. “Whether it’s a tree house or a storybook home or Rapunzel’s tower or half-ling houses or castles.”
The anticipated price of renting one of the cottages will be about $300 to $400 a day.
One of 15 employees at Charmed Playhouses, which makes luxury playhouses at its shop in Lethbridge, Alta., works on a tree made from polystyrene foam. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
Last July, Charmed launched a trial cottage near Waterton National Park in southern Alberta. It didn’t take long for the cottage to be booked all the way into October.
The new resort will be located in southwest Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass, about 150 kilometres west of Lethbridge. The ultimate plan is to have as many as 20 cottages available to rent.
Craving experiences over things
It’s difficult to know exactly what the tourism market will look like as the country gradually emerges from the pandemic — such as the distances people will be willing, or able, to travel — but Rachel Dodds, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at Ryerson University, believes some pre-pandemic trends will continue.
That includes families wanting to share unique experiences rather than purchasing things, she said.
“We crave things to do, experiences to have with our children, with our friends and families,” Dodds said in an interview. “If it’s unique and different and can somehow bring in some kind of learning, that’s even better.”
The cottages that Charmed Playhouses is building for the resort will be able to accommodate up to six people. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
Dodds pointed to Singapore’s Changi airport, where customers are paying up to $269 US per night to camp in a tent in its retail wing, a novel travel experience that’s proven popular and helping the airport improve revenues during the pandemic.
Closer to home, she noted the popularity of virtual visits to museums and attractions, like the Vancouver Aquarium, during COVID-19, demonstrating people’s appetite to learn and share experiences.
She expects interactive exhibits will again be big draws in the future, like Marvel’s Avengers-themed exhibition in Toronto. Everyone wants a “little bit of inspiration, a little bit of hope.”
“People are getting really creative right now and I love it,” she said.
Tyson and Audy Leavitt hope people will flock to their idea, too. For now, the focus is on getting ready for what they hope will be their spring launch.
“We’ve really believed in what we’re doing,” Audy said.
“That has kept us going through those hard times and … now we’re really, really grateful to be where we are — even though we have a long way to go.”
The company opened this trial cottage last summer at Alberta’s Waterton National Park for a test run of their resort idea. (Charmed Playhouses)
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
