Three Prince Rupert business leaders were on the panel at the January 19 Chamber of Commerce luncheon to discuss success, challenges and opportunities, and some common themes emerged amongst them.
Crest Hotel manager Scott Farwell joined Homework and Seahorse Trading Company owner David Smook and Glen Saunders, owner of Cow Bay Gift Gallery and Udderbags, in the discussion.
Noting successes such as the addition of a forth floor to the hotel and the great team of 85 people he works with, Farwell said the catalyst to much of the success of the Crest Hotel was the redesign and relaunch of the dining room from a fine dining and high-end space only open to the evening to somewhere more accessible to everyone.
In terms of challenges, Farwell said recruiting skilled labour is a challenge as is the shift in shopping in the northwest.
“The most significant challenge is the decline in the regional market. Eight to 10 years ago people from Haida Gwaii and the outlying communities would come and stay in Prince Rupert as a shopping destination. With the decline in retail that has fallen off, and when Terrace opened Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire that decline increased more,” he said, noting that he is still optimistic when it comes to Prince Rupert’s future.
“I truly believe Prince Rupert is on the edge of very exciting times with the increase in traffic through the port facilities…I also believe there are good retail opportunities out there in Prince Rupert for people to start a business and fill a need. If you are hard working and committed, you can make it happen.”
Noting success with the launch of the Seahorse Trading Company and the continued success of Homework, Smook said people need to offer more than retail to be successful given competition from big box stores and online stores.
“Homework is not just shopping, it is entertainment. To be successful in this day and age you can’t just be a shopping place because there are so many places that are just shopping places. You need to create an emotional attachment or an experience or a social outing for people in your store,” he said, noting that Prince Rupert as a whole should be more focused on development.
“I would like to see people pick one point and put our energy and resources into developing that. I may be bias because I operate there, but I do believe Prince Rupert is a lynch-pin for development.”
The message that Saunders brought was that Prince Rupert has more assets than any other community he works in, including Nanaimo and Terrace, but people need to take pride in their businesses. And a little paint could go a long way.
“We need to make Second and Third Avenue as appealing as Cow Bay is…[Cow Bay] is a combination of people who take pride in the businesses they own and want to bring people there,” he said, adding that the community needs to come together more to draw people here.
“We all have to get out and sell Prince Rupert as a destination. We have the best jewellery stores in the northwest, we have the best restaurants in the northwest, we have the best hotel rooms in the northwest, we have the best convention centre in the northwest and we have the best museum in northern BC. We just need to work together.”
One area that both Smook and Saunders touched upon was the need to expand the yacht club to draw in more visitors.
“I have never been able to understand why the yacht club is so undersized and not able to handle the swell of summer traffic. We’re turning people away because we don’t have space, and I don’t understand it,” said Smook.
“People are going by because we don’t have good moorage, we don’t have a breakwater and we don’t have space. These people spend 10-times more per person than anyone on the cruise ships would,” added Saunders of the yacht traffic.