BC Business
Whole Foods, which operates four stores in the Vancouver area, plans to launch at least two more.
Whole paycheque Another competitor has waded into Vancouver’s competitive high-end grocery market. Pomme Natural Market, a Victoria-based chain founded by several chain grocery veterans, opened its second store on Davie Street Monday (their first and only other location is in Port Coquitlam). Big Grocery and upstarts alike have turned to the top bracket of the grocery market—adding more organic and diet-friendly food (gluten-free, for one), airy well-lit spaces, and prepared food cafeterias. And the competition isn’t just Whole Foods: Loblaw’s is trialling its upmarket ‘City Mart’ in North Vancouver, HY Louie’s Fresh Street Market, owned by H.Y. Louie, has a two-year old concept store in West Vancouver, and Urban Fare continues to expand its footprint.
Lulu’s luck Lululemon’s incoming chief financial officer will start his new gig in February with some good news: the company has raised its revenue and profit forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2014 due to strong holiday season sales. The retailer estimates $595 million to $600 million in revenue for the final quarter of 2015, which sent the company’s stock up 7 per cent in pre-market trading. (via Reuters)
Big OilExxon Mobil plans to spend up to $25 billion on an LNG export terminal that would open in 2024, according to its application to B.C.’s environmental review board. Along with its Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil, the Texas oil giant hopes to make a final investment decision by 2017—to construct an onshore or a floating terminal—on Tuck Inlet, just outside of Prince Rupert. (via The Globe and Mail)