Business

Tears galore as popular Kitsilano diner serves up its final meals, Nelly's forced to close due to rent increase – Vancouver Sun

Published

2 years ago

July 24, 2022

“Things happen beyond our control and people bigger than us can crush dreams. Come say goodbye and we will try not to cry.” — Nelson Ma

Publishing date:

Jul 24, 2022 • 19 hours ago • 3 minute read • 9 Comments

Nelly’s Grill will close at the end of July after 30 years in business in Kitsilano. Photo: Joyce Yee. Photo by Joyce Yee /jpg

The owner of a diner that’s been serving breakfast to Kitsilano with a smile for 30 years says a sudden increase in rent is now forcing him to close.

Business representatives for the community say they are witnessing a similar trend happening along the West 4th Avenue strip. Other mom-and-pop shops are folding under the growing weight of commercial market costs.

“Things happen beyond our control and people bigger than us can crush dreams,” Nelson Ma, 68, said to his customers in a Facebook post, announcing his plans to close the diner at the end of July.

“Come say goodbye and we will try not to cry.”

Located east of Arbutus Street, Nelly’s Grill is a popular spot among locals, known for combining two brunch favourites in a fried chicken eggs Benedict.

After its building was bought last September, restaurant manager Joyce Yee, said the new landlord — Novena Land Property — told them their plans to increase the rent once Ma’s lease ended in 18 months.

“He’s been paying close to $9,000 a month in rent and property taxes but to renew he’d have to pay more than double that,” said Yee, who has worked at the diner for 17 years.

“All of us employees have been grieving. We’ve watched customers’ families grow up and get bigger throughout the years,” Yee said.

Nelson Ma, 68, is the owner of Nelly’s Grill, which is being forced to close at the end of July after 30 years in Kitsilano. Photo: Joyce Yee jpg

Though Ma has tried finding other leasing options, inflated rent costs across the city are keeping him from being able to relocate the diner, Yee said. Trying to sell the business also proved tricky.

“The new owner said ‘no’ to the one offer we got. He has the final say and has even started renovations upstairs during food service. We feel we have no choice but to leave.”

Lauren Angelucci, a Kitsilano resident of 20 years, said she’s saddened to hear news of the restaurant’s closing.

“I’m so sad to see the place go. Our baby’s first meal was there when he was just a week old.”

The restaurant wasn’t the first along the strip to feel pushed out by rising rent costs proposed after a change in ownership. In December, a realtor who came into Bishop’s restaurant told the owner the building had been sold and a rent hike was coming.

“The realtor told us that rent alone would be costing $100 per square foot,” said John Bishop, who opened the fine-dining establishment in 1986 when the cost of rent and property taxes were around $2,000 per month.

By the start of 2022, costs had risen to 10 times that much.

“We simply couldn’t afford to stay open,” Bishop said. “After 37 years in business, paying rent and taxes, I thought being a good tenant may have mattered but we weren’t offered any chance of negotiating rent.”

A business that used to operate two doors down from Nelly’s, Peak Golf, told Postmedia it made the move to a less-costly West 4th storefront once new landlords took over in September.

When contacted by phone, Novena Land’s managing director told Postmedia he did not wish to comment on Nelly’s Grill decision to shutter.

Jane McFadden, executive director of the Kitsilano Business Association, said she’s seen various shops and eateries along the thoroughfare go out of business because they are priced out of the commercial market.

“It’s unfortunate to see long-standing businesses like Nelly’s, ones that contain a lot of memories, go out of business. However, these new landlords are often just rising rental prices, many that have stayed the same for years under the old landlord, up to current market value.”

McFadden said the West 4th business district continues to thrive.

“In the past six months, 11 new small businesses have opened up brick-and-mortar business locations along the strip.”

While commercial rents dropped in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Statistics Canada’s commercial rent prices index, they began to climb back up and by early 2022, had rebounded to pre-pandemic levels even though sales had not bounced back to the same degree.

In Vancouver, the average asking net commercial rent was up 27 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2022, according to Canadian real estate giant Colliers.

sgrochowski@postmedia.com

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Business

Canada Goose to get into eyewear through deal with Marchon

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GOOS)

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Business

A timeline of events in the bread price-fixing scandal

Published

6 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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)

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Business

TD CEO to retire next year, takes responsibility for money laundering failures

Published

9 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TD)

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