Kristen Hilderman

Four years after L’Abattoir opened in the heart of Gastown—winning over the hearts and stomachs of Vancouverites with its effortlessly cool, exposed-brick interior and inventive West Coast cuisine (with a dash of French flair)—the award-winning restaurant has launched its first-ever lunch service. “We just feel it was a natural progression...

John Blakeley, the veteran restaurateur who owns Kitsilano’s Bistro Pastis, knew that Vancouverites had grown tired of Le Parisien, his traditional French restaurant in the West End. “I made a business decision,” he says of closing the space to launch a new concept. “It was time to turn the page...

It’s 12:30 p.m. on a Tuesday and the lineup for the recently opened Café Medina, in its new Richards Street location, is at least 20 people deep. It took owner Robbie Kane over a year of scouring the city to secure a suitable location, having considered one of his favourite...

Metro Vancouver has welcomed an influx of American brands over the past year, and its retail landscape continues to shift—especially in the downtown core. According to CBRE’s most recent Vancouver Retail MarketView report, vacancy rates have increased in the 1100 block of Robson Street—thanks to high rent prices and struggles...

What constitutes a PR crisis for an organization runs the gamut from the somewhat comical—Lululemon’s see-through pants—to the deadly serious, including the recent Mount Polley mine tailings pond breach. Yet while the gravity of a crisis can vary, the approach needed to control the damage is similar. “Every company that...

Just five weeks after opening Wolf in the Fog—a laid-back, West Coast-inspired eatery in Tofino—chef Nick Nutting has already changed up the menu. But when the bounty of Vancouver Island is at your fingertips and your mandate is to keep things fun and unpredictable, it’s a no-brainer. “We’ve got lots...

Like many startup stories before his, Charles Chang’s tale begins in a basement with a shoestring budget of his own savings and an idea that could disrupt an industry. Chang launched Sequel Naturals in 2001, first selling health supplements, and then plant-based nutritional shakes. The second—and business-defining—chapter for his company...

1. Studies show that taller people earn more money, so don’t be shy with the sky-high heels—that includes both men and women. 2. Exude ambition by one-upping each of your boss’s outfits. 3. If you bike to work, don’t change out of your gear—socially conscious employees are a boon to any business...

Launching a business is a risky financial venture, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Paul Savage, a chartered financial analyst and certified business intermediary with Pacific Business Brokers Inc., and John Nicola, CEO of Nicola Wealth Management Ltd., share some tips for small business owners struggling to...

An impressive 56 per cent of the world’s top 50 e-tailers are based in the U.S., while not one is based in Canada. BCBusiness chatted with Geoff Le Quelenec, director of information technology, Retail Council of Canada; Kyle Vucko, CEO and co-founder, Indochino Apparel Inc.; and David Ian Gray, owner and principal, DIG360 Consulting...

The BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association (BCAMA) named Tourism Victoria, the island city’s non-profit destination marketing organization, as the winner of its 44th annual Marketer of the Year award Tuesday. Tourism Victoria beat out fellow finalists the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and BlueShore Financial to stand alongside past winners and...

Pembina Institute released a report Friday that compares rapid transit in five of Canada’s largest cities—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa—and looks at how well the respective transit networks serve residents. Check out the above infographic to see how Vancouver's system and investments in its rapid transit network stack up nationally.