A2 NewsLeader Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A celebration of volunteer spirit The City of Burnaby’s Citizen Support Services hosted a volunteer appreciation awards last month at Riverway clubhouse.
photos by Mario Bartel
Clockwise from top left: Deanna Froese was amongst dozens of volunteers recognized; Tina Schipper and Maria Foedisch chat before the special luncheon; Matt Silverman plays classical guitar; A table of volunteers with Citizen Suport Services toasts their efforts.
Fire destroyed Edmonds store in 1998 ⫸
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Edmonds Appliances was there to supply those projects. Almost serendipitously, it had purchased Y. Franks Appliances in West Vancouver, “probably the highest-end appliance retailer in Canada,” in 1990, said Anderson. The owners weren’t looking to get into that market at the time, they simply lived in West Van and knew the owners who let them know they were selling. About 12 years ago, Edmonds Appliances began changing its strategy to serve this niche market. They gave up on selling the usual brands, such as General Electric, Whirlpool and Frigidaire, and focused on
premium brands like Miele and Sub-Zero. It’s now the largest supplier of the Miele brand to the multiresidential market in North America, he said. We’re talking about kitchen appliance sets in the $25,000 to $40,000 range. They’ve supplied such appliances to condo projects such as the Shangri-La, both in Vancouver and Toronto, the latter a recent order for $9 million worth of product, and Harbour Green in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour. Anderson said when an electrical fire burnt down the company’s Edmonds Street store in 1998, he had thought to move
in that direction then, but the owners chose instead to hedge their bets and stay put while eventually working towards the current business model. But in the end, the company decided it had to move. “We’ve been trying to serve that group of clients from Burnaby, hoping people would travel from Shaughnessy, Point Grey, Dunbar and Kerrisdale,” he said. “We were hoping they would want to make the pilgrimage to lovely Burnaby, but that has not been the case.” And so, last December the company sold its Edmonds building and it plans to close its store at the end of June before re-opening at 459 W. 2nd Ave.,
east of Cambie Street, by the end of July. Anderson said he has mixed feelings about the move due to the company’s lengthy tenure in the community. But most of the current staff will be going along to the new location, which along with the low staff turnover, is a testament to how the company treats its employees. He tells the story of how the 1998 fire was devastating, coming just as the store was completing renovations. They opened up shop temporarily a few doors down as their current store was being constructed over two years, and had to deal with a resulting slowdown in business. “I didn’t lay off a single
person—which to me personally, that’s a badge of honour—we managed to find a way to keep everyone busy.” And over the years, as he’s watched other appliance retailers close down around him, Anderson credits co-owners Gunn and Young, both accountants, for keeping the business on course. The global economic downturn of 2008 was “horrifying,” he said. “We were not ever remotely at risk in terms of faltering because we’re extremely well funded … [and from] many years of Barry and Bruce being prudent.”
• See Page 3 for the story of Glenn Anderson and Doodleart.