BCBusiness

$12.8 billion Gross domestic product of the provincial trans- portation and warehousing industry in 2016 FEBRUARy 2018 BCBusiness 19 Warehouse chose the provincial capital for its rst B.C. shop in 2015. DSW has since launched in the Lower Mainland. Chocolats Favoris, a Quebec City–based chocolate and ice cream chain, opened its rst outlet west of Ottawa in Victoria in July 2016. Company president Dominique Brown was walking down Government Street when he saw a space for lease. Expansion west has been on Brown's radar since he bought Chocolats Favoris in 2012. Victo- ria didn't "check all the boxes" in the company's demographic study, but tourism and the appeal of a downtown store- front were enough to take a risk that has proven worthwhile. Johnny Rockets Canada, part of the U.S. diner-style fast-food chain, which has more than 350 restaurants in 29 countries, made its debut in Victoria last year. When JR Canada Restau- rant Group Ltd. president and CEO Lewis Gelmon bought the Canada-wide rights to Johnny Rockets in 2015, he could have chosen any city to launch in. "I picked Victoria because I like the direction the city is head- ing in," the local resident says. "We have a solid foundation of students populating the city, the government o–ces, and we L ast June hundreds of shoppers lined up along Lower Johnson Street in downtown Victoria, waiting for hours in the blistering heat, to attend the opening of John Fluevog Shoes. The new store, in American Apparel's former space, was a homecoming for the Vancouver-based shoe designer, who had a boutique in Victoria in the 1970s with then- partner Peter Fox. "Victoria has never been o› the map; it's been a case of nding the right location," says Stephen Bailey, Fluevog's chief marketing o–cer. "Victoria still has that creative eneržy it used to have, but has a more diverse palate these days, with a strong tourism industry and a com- munity of people wanting to embrace diversity." Fluevog's return coincides with a number of brands com- ing to Victoria for the rst time. U.S. retailer DSW Designer Shoe Victoria's Secret RETAIl have a lot of growth heading into the downtown core as well as the tourists." Johnny Rockets has four res- taurants in B.C., two in Victoria, two in Vancouver, and it made a splash upon opening by o›ering a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Gelmon plans for 20 Johnny Rock- ets diners across Canada by 2021. The next big opportunity for an in±ux of new brands to Victoria is at Ivanhoé Cambridge's Mayfair Mall, under- going a $72-million expansion that will add 100,000 square feet and about 20 new retail locations when it reopens this fall. Victoria is a more appealing market today than it was even ve years ago, says Fluevog's Bailey. The city's developing cultural identity means a desire for more self-expression—and shopping. "Victorians are food- ies, artistic, liberal," Bailey notes. "They're into quirky fashion; they're spoiled for music. Those creative elements are often missed about Victoria." GooD FIT John Fluevog Shoes found a suitable Victoria home Move over, Robson Street: Big brands like the provincial capital's charm, cosmopoli- tanism and thriving tourism industry by Jessica Natale Woollard 26,000 Number of registered trucking companies in B.C. 9.8% Year-over- year increase in Port of Vancouver container tra–c as of last October. In 2016, the port moved some 136 million tonnes of cargo 67% Proportion of sales in the automotive sector that go to supply-chain costs, versus 35 per cent and 79 per cent in the restaurant and petroleum indus- tries, respectively ROCkET mAN SUPPLy CHAiN MANAGEMENT ASSOCiATiON; ABOVE: COURTESy OF JOHN FLUEVOG SHOES 2014 Year Johnny Rockets Canada head Lewis Gelmon moved to Victoria from California 4 domino's Pizza restaurants Gelmon owned in Victoria during the 1990s 25% share of domino's master rights owned by Gelmon, who helped bring the brand to Canada before selling in the '90s

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