Save-on-Foods in Parksville is staging the grand opening of its in-store wine section today. It is the first grocery store on Vancouver Island to sell B.C.-made wine since the province changed liquor laws last year to allow supermarkets to apply for a licence to sell this product. The store will carry 900-plus varieties of wine from more than 150 wineries. It is the Langley-based chain’s eighth location to carry B.C. VQA wines. It plans to expand its wine offerings into stores in northern B.C. and the Lower Mainland. Thrifty Foods is already selling wine. In April, it bought Metro Liquor locations at the University Heights Shopping Centre and at Tuscany Village, both in Saanich.
Former Travelodge now the Ramada Duncan
Ramada Duncan is the new name of the former Travelodge Silver Bridge Inn at 140 Trans-Canada Hwy. The 34-room hotel, rebranded in late June, has been extensively upgraded. Owners and managers are unchanged.
Quan joins Viola VandeRuyt management group in Sidney
Annette Quan is joining the Viola VandeRuyt Wealth Management Group at National Bank Financial in Sidney. Quan brings a wealth of knowledge in responsible investing to assist clients. VandeRuyt is building a team focused on serving the wealth-management needs of women in Greater Victoria.
V2V Vacations team in place to develop passenger service
V2V Vacations, aiming to launch a harbour-to-harbour passenger service between Vancouver and Victoria next year, has five employees in Victoria to develop the business. Nick Cheong is vice-president of operations. Callum Campbell will focus on both Victoria and Vancouver’s terminals, as V2V finalizes the arrival and departure experiences for their passengers and guests. David Payne is project manager for the vessel refit. Hayley Low will work on setting up the reservations and booking system and on training of reservations and sales staff. Lauranne Cheong is executive assistant and responsible for development of collateral, outreach and logistics for the team. The company plans to hire up to 50 employees in Victoria and Vancouver.
