Moe’s Home Collection is taking over the former Ocean River Sports location on Store Street at the foot of Fisgard in Chinatown.
The furniture retailer will open the new location in mid- to late-March, said owner Curtis Vertefeuille, and will continue to operate out of the current Chinatown location at 523 Fisgard St. until the end of July, when the lease expires.
The new location at 1630 Store St. is about triple the size of the current location, said Vertefeuille, and the move is fuelled by the best year Moe’s has had since opening five years ago.
Despite the pandemic, the owner said, Moe’s has been busy. “People are nesting. They can’t travel, so they are spending that extra cash on making their homes comfortable,” Vertefeuille said Friday.
“Even though it was a rough year in so many ways, it was also one of the best. I’ve connected to my community more than ever before. There’s a sense that people, both customers and neighbours, have become more authentic and compassionate.”
Moe’s Home Collection will also be expanding to Langford. The retailer has committed to commercial space on the ground floor of the Tallwood at District 56 development, the Island’s first 12-storey mass-timber tower. Moe’s will anchor the rental-unit building on Peatt Road.
Vertefeuille anticipates the Langford opening to be in January or February 2022.
Karen Mason leads Sooke chamber
Karen Mason of Mason Financial is the new president of the Sooke Chamber of Commerce.
She joins two new faces on the board — Tracy Snow of Sooke Optometrist and Debora Shenk of Inshore Fishing Carters — along with vice-president Mike Menard of Menard Plumbing and Heating; and directors Tim Ayres, Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty; Les Haddad, Sooke Delivery Guy; Terrie Moore, Sooke Fine Arts Society; Bev Petow, News Mirror, Petow Design; and Brian White, Royal Roads University.
The chamber said although 2020 had challenges, it achieved significant results. The chamber launched a number of pandemic-related initiatives, established partnerships with community groups and co-hosted a provincial- election forum.
Pandemic initiatives included an electronic shopping mall, a guerrilla “art-bombers” poster campaign encouraging the wearing of masks, and a laptop-exchange program for students. The chamber also contributed to local employment by hiring three youth through the federal employment initiative.
