Newfoundland to Nanaimo

Our wooden sign

On September 27th 1993 Newfoundland to Nanaimo was born! What a stupid time to open a Canadiana gift store on the waterfront here in Nanaimo. The tourists totally disappear at the end of September and do not come back until May! In my defence, I will say that the Harbour Commission had expected the complex to be finished by June and it wasn't.

Woof Design had a small factory outlet for our products, so I used the pattern of sales to develop a business plan for Newfoundland to Nanaimo. For a whole year the sales, inventory, and expenses were within 2% of the projection. I had expected better sales in the second year and opened another outlet in West Van the following fall. This was a disaster – sales did not increase in Nanaimo and sales in West Van were very poor.

Gill and Flick
outside Newfoundland to Nanaimo

Jen in Newfoundland to Nanaimo

I really enjoyed being on the waterfront and selling crafts made by Canadians, many of whom are good friends. However, I did not like the seasonality – I did not enjoy the quiet winters.

In 1997 I started work as a financial planner and insurance broker and put the store up for sale. In July 1999 it sold.