OCtObER 2018 BCBusiness 33 bCbusinEss.Ca
Jason mcDougall convinced hudson's
bay Co. to sell him Fields, a chain of 57
small-town discount stores across Canada,
with no idea how he would come up with
the financing. Founded in 1948 by Vancouver
billionaire Joe segal, the retailer had been
owned by
hbC since 1978. but in 2011, the
parent company announced that it was
closing Fields.
"it was a crazy, hair-raising process,"
mcDougall says of assembling a $1-million
non-refundable deposit by april 2012. the
FhC Enterprises chief executive, who grew
up in the village of liberty, saskatchewan,
borrowed against all his assets and called
in favours from friends. to close the deal a
month later, he had to secure another
$12 million in bank loans.
then came the task of reviving a money-
losing business. mcDougall's first move was
to reinstate an employee benefits plan that
hbC had cancelled, "even though we couldn't
afford it." sales dropped significantly in the
first month, taking a few weeks to recover.
today mcDougall is seeing returns from
his community-focused
approach, which gives
store managers autonomy
to respond to local needs.
Over the past six years,
revenue has grown by
more than 50 percent.
Delta-headquartered
Fields is now profitable,
with 62 locations across
b.C., alberta, saskatch-
ewan, manitoba and the
northwest territories–and
plans for more. –J.W.
R U N N E R U P
Jason McDougall
C E O , F H C E N T E R p R I S E S
R U N N E R U P
Josh Penner
C E O , m E R I D I a N m E a T S & S E a F O O D
When Josh penner's father, Darrell, decided he was ready to sell his port Coquitlam
meat and seafood shop in 1996, little did he expect his elder son to make an offer. but penner,
who studied marketing at
bCit and trained in meat cutting, had started managing the store
and was armed with a vision.
With his wife, brother and brother-in-law, he added three new
shops to meridian meats & seafood, focusing on locations next to
greengrocers in maple Ridge and langley. his next move, to expand
into other fresh foods, was inspired by a frustrating supermarket
visit. "i had to walk 50 metres to go find the milk, 30 metres to find a
loaf of bread and then line up," penner recalls. "it was a 25-minute
visit just to buy a couple of things."
penner launched meridian Farm markets, converting the maple
Ridge meat and seafood store and building two more in north
Vancouver and tsawwassen. today, 200 employees work at those
three locations and at three meridian meats & seafood shops in
White Rock, langley and port Coquitlam. in november, penner will
open a fourth Farm market, in mission. –J.W.
e n T r e P r e n e u r o F T H e Y e A r 2 0 1 8 / B U S I N E S S T O C O N S U M E R
