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SEPTEMBER 2010, Volume
25 Issue 9
What's
Happening in Manitoba
Loewen sold to Danish
giant VKR Holding
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| Window-manufacturer Loewen, in Steinbach, sold to
Denmark-based company.
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After leading one of the cornerstones of rural Manitoba's economy for the last 100 years, the owners of Loewen are turning the next century over to a Danish behemoth.
After a couple of years of declining sales and several rounds of layoffs, the Steinbach-based manufacturer of doors and windows has been sold to VKR Holding in Denmark for an undisclosed amount.
"The Loewen shareholders believe that VKR will bring the resources, capabilities and character to ensure the future success of Loewen in the marketplace while maintaining respect for all of its stakeholders as well as for the culture of the staff and community," said Clyde Loewen, a spokesman for the family.
Loewen's primary business is building windows and doors for the luxury housing market in the U.S., but it also has steady sales in its home country.
Loewen has about 700 people on its payroll in Steinbach, located about an hour southeast of Winnipeg, but that's less than half of the 1,600 it employed before the economic downturn.
VKR employs more than 1,400 people in more than 40 countries throughout its group of companies, which produce roof windows, vertical windows and thermal solar-energy products.
VKR CEO Leif Jensen said the acquisition fits in with VKR Holding's strategy.
"The Canadian and American markets have been affected by severe decline in the last three years," added Jensen. "The markets are slowly stabilizing, and we see great potential in Loewen, not least because the company holds a strong niche position in the high-end segment of the market."
New resort rises
on Lake Winnipeg
Neil Hebert, president of Empire Development, has completed the first of what he hopes is several stages in the rebirth of 160 acres on the east side of Lake Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Alexander.
The 18-hole Beaches Golf Course, located about 75 minutes north of Winnipeg, has been converted into a nine-hole facility in an effort to attract the duffer crowd and differentiate it from nearby Grand Pines Golf Course, which caters to serious golfers.
"We want to offer a cheaper, more family-oriented alternative. You could take your nine-year-old with you and they'd have the ability to hit the ball and not have a real frustrating day," Hiebert said.
His plan to create a 137-lot cottage subdivision with 48 condominiums and 43 seasonal campground lots has already received municipal approval and Hiebert is also planning to create a four-acre, man-made lake for swimming.
"It becomes a $30-million-plus project when it's all said and done and developed," he said.
The shovel won't go into the ground on the subdivision, however, until the province completes a "functional design study" on twinning Highway 59 around Grand Beach, Manitoba's most popular beach destination.
Grapes chain withering
Once Manitoba's most successful homegrown restaurant chain, Grapes is down to its last location.
The 30-year-old institution closed down its Pembina Highway store last month, leaving Winnipeg without a Grapes location for the first time since 1980. All that's left is a single restaurant in Thompson.
Grapes is far from the only restaurant to have hit hard times. Scott Jocelyn, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said 500 restaurants have been shuttered in the province over the past decade and he's hoping no more than 50 shut down in 2010.
U.S. chains move
into Polo mall
Winnipeg's premier shopping mall is about to get a double dose of California-based fashion.
Forever 21, a clothier targeting teenage girls as well as men and women who are young at heart, is scheduled to open its first location in the city in Polo Park Shopping Centre in January. Many of its "fast fashion" items, such as jackets, hoodies, vests and tunics, retail for less than $10.
At the other end of the price continuum, BCBGMAXAZRIA has confirmed it will start selling its high-fashion dresses, leather jackets and chiffon gowns in a 38,000-square-foot store around the same time.
John Winter, a Toronto-based retail analyst, said the arrival of two new retailers to Winnipeg represents a significant vote of confidence in the local market. "We're coming out of a recession but these are two chains that want to be in Winnipeg," he said.
Queen first arrival
at new terminal
The new terminal building at the Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg is still a few months away from opening but it has already welcomed its first passengers.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrived at Gate 7 of the still-under-construction $585-million project during their recent visit to Canada, reportedly the first time the pair had used a public airport during their more than 50-year reign.
Liquor muscles
out Salisbury
The CEO of the Salisbury House restaurant chain isn't holding out much hope for customers of its Tuxedo location after he was informed its home for the past 27 years will be leased to the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission.
Earl Barish said he is extremely disappointed because he called the landlord at the Tuxedo Park Shopping Centre several months ago about extending his lease and didn't hear back until June, when he received a letter informing him his 2,600-square-foot space will be used for a liquor-store expansion early next year. He said 60,000 people patronize the restaurant each year.
- Compiled by Geoff Kirbyson |
