Other Manitoba and Saskatchewan Developments

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Siracha lime are my fav. We get the sensations kettle chips when we buy. I wonder who manufactures them. I'll check with my buddy who delivers from Old Dutch. It's likely one of the name brands. Old Dutch makes chips for some of the no name type brands.

Confirmed Old Dutch makes those chips. Sensations and compliments brand.

Good to know, must be made in Winnipeg then.

[Authentic_City]

I like the President's Choice and No Name chips from Superstore. I think I heard that those are also made by Old Dutch?

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

The Canadian division was or is headquartered in Winnipeg, but some years ago, a lot of the key headoffice functions were shifted to Calgary, along with some of the production. If you look on the bags, the customer service number is a Calgary area code, so I'm not sure how much of a Winnipeg company it really is any more. But it is really just an offshoot of the main US company from Minnesota.

Check out "our story":

https://www.olddutchfoods.ca/about/our-story

I didn't think the US and Canadian Old Dutches were closely (or at all) related anymore, even though it was originally a branch plant.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by DavefromSt.Vital

Old Dutch bought Humpty Dumpty to get into the Eastern market back in 2006:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hum...dutch-1.617120

However, it took a really long time for them to introduce Old Dutch products here. They are now regularly at the Sobeys I go to.

Old Dutch tried to crash the Toronto market around 1990, I seem to remember, but people wouldn't switch from Hostess products, no matter how vile they were. Humpty Dumpty had the next best (although still small) market share so OD tried to get in that way. I see the Old Dutch truck around sometimes and immediately start humming "crispy crunchy light and snappy" when I do. Or however that went. (Probably the most entrenched 70s-era local commercial jingle in my brain, after Dominion Motors "Get Your Ford at Dominion" and Poulin's "Dial 2-3-3-2-5-0-0" from Bomber games.)

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Old Dutch tried to crash the Toronto market around 1990, I seem to remember, but people wouldn't switch from Hostess products, no matter how vile they were. Humpty Dumpty had the next best (although still small) market share so OD tried to get in that way. I see the Old Dutch truck around sometimes and immediately start humming "crispy crunchy light and snappy" when I do. Or however that went. (Probably the most entrenched 70s-era local commercial jingle in my brain, after Dominion Motors "Get Your Ford at Dominion" and Poulin's "Dial 2-3-3-2-5-0-0" from Bomber games.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UmftgiWXl4

[DavefromSt.Vital]

No real info there yet, but Holiday Inn Express Brandon now on IHG's site. Accepting bookings for June 26 onwards:

https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/fin...s=true&srb_u=1

While the front door will be on 19th Street, it backs onto 18th Street across from the Keystone Centre. This will likely cut into the Canad Inn's occupancy rate.

More general info here:

https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=711

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Site being cleared for the Gambler First Nation Business Park on 18th Street North in Brandon:

https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=730

This is Brandon's first urban reserve.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by DavefromSt.Vital

Site being cleared for the Gambler First Nation Business Park on 18th Street North in Brandon:

https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=730

This is Brandon's first urban reserve.

"Gambler First Nation"

...is there a better name for their own nation? Just seems extremely racist. Other than that, seems Brandon is on a roll.

[Jeff]

If you do a quick google history search of the FN, it says it was the nickname of a chief from the late 1800's. Voila!

[LilZebra]

The aging Selkirk Water Tower is in need of a new paint job. A local design competition will decide the new look this year.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/design-c...ower-1.4833923





Photo Source: City of Selkirk

[1ajs]

interesting?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...cD07h9xZwWPxW4

Contractor that left new Brandon school unfinished abandons dozens of incomplete houses in Lake St. Martin

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

interesting?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...cD07h9xZwWPxW4

Contractor that left new Brandon school unfinished abandons dozens of incomplete houses in Lake St. Martin

I sure hope they love their new "project" in Stony Mountain, once the cops catch up to them...

[VANRIDERFAN]

Hopefully the dam holds in Rivers. But there will certainly be a project to strengthen it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...-dam-1.5634610

[DavefromSt.Vital]

^ Highway 25 still closed at night below the dam. Alternating one way traffic allowed through during the day. It would not be my preferred route if I was in the area!

Unrelated; a new "Blue Crescent" hotel coming to the truck stop west of Austin:

https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=832

[esquire]

So I spent some time in Brandon on the weekend. It was my first time there since about 2012.

It was interesting to see that, so far as I could tell, there were no new taller (10+ storey) buildings in town. The tallest new building I could spot was the Holiday Inn Express on 18th which clocks in at 6 storeys. There were a few new multi-unit residential buildings in the 2-4 storey range, but nothing taller than that. And certainly no significant new buildings downtown that I could see. There were some nice, modest commercial buildings, mainly offices and the like, but that was about it.

I found it a little curious given Brandon's rapid population growth. I also recall that Brandon saw a lot of construction from about 2000-2010 when the big CanadInns was built and the whole big box shopping district went up. It's still growing, but it does seem as though the pace of construction has tailed off.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Little bit old news but the Old Brandon Fire Hall gastro pub has closed its doors as a victim of the Covid-19 crisis.
Hopefully someone will attempt a re-open once we return to some sort of normal.

https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=797

[dennis]

Originally Posted by esquire

So I spent some time in Brandon on the weekend. It was my first time there since about 2012.

It was interesting to see that, so far as I could tell, there were no new taller (10+ storey) buildings in town. The tallest new building I could spot was the Holiday Inn Express on 18th which clocks in at 6 storeys. There were a few new multi-unit residential buildings in the 2-4 storey range, but nothing taller than that. And certainly no significant new buildings downtown that I could see. There were some nice, modest commercial buildings, mainly offices and the like, but that was about it.

I found it a little curious given Brandon's rapid population growth. I also recall that Brandon saw a lot of construction from about 2000-2010 when the big CanadInns was built and the whole big box shopping district went up. It's still growing, but it does seem as though the pace of construction has tailed off.

I remember the boom coinciding around the time the Maple Leaf pork processing plant opened. No other really large employer opened since. Perhaps that is reflected in the area’s growth. Nearby towns like Neepawa and Virden benefitted from another new pork processor (Hylife?) and the oil boom. I am just guessing. But Brandon seemed to have steady growth for the entire time. I expect Portage la Prairie to have the next big influx of people with the new Roquette plant and the Simplot potato processor expansion. Either that or the new corona virus will decimate us.

Regarding the fireball pub, it really brightened up the area. I ate there once. Brandon has a nice downtown. Lots of potential. I like the setting in the valley.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Originally Posted by esquire

So I spent some time in Brandon on the weekend. It was my first time there since about 2012.

It was interesting to see that, so far as I could tell, there were no new taller (10+ storey) buildings in town. The tallest new building I could spot was the Holiday Inn Express on 18th which clocks in at 6 storeys. There were a few new multi-unit residential buildings in the 2-4 storey range, but nothing taller than that. And certainly no significant new buildings downtown that I could see. There were some nice, modest commercial buildings, mainly offices and the like, but that was about it.

I found it a little curious given Brandon's rapid population growth. I also recall that Brandon saw a lot of construction from about 2000-2010 when the big CanadInns was built and the whole big box shopping district went up. It's still growing, but it does seem as though the pace of construction has tailed off.

The growth period that you are speaking of was entirely due to Maple Leaf Foods. The plant opened in 1999 and a second shift was added in 2008. Adding what became over 2,000 jobs to the city really transformed things. Given that they have had to recruit from abroad from time to time, the Brandon School Division actually had to start ESL classes. You can read more about the impact here:

http://economicdevelopmentbrandon.co...Leaf_Foods.pdf

Once the additional jobs from the second shift were absorbed, things slowed down a bit. While Brandon is still growing, there really isn't a lot of pressure to build "up". The Holiday Inn Express across from the Keystone Centre is indeed the tallest new building. Unfortunately, some buildings have been lost, particularly in a major downtown fire a couple of years ago. Whenever they get around to replacing the three lane bridge on 18th Street over the CP tracks, the building with the "Home of the Wheat Kings" sign will be the next one demolished.

[EndoftheBeginning]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I see the Old Dutch truck around sometimes and immediately start humming "crispy crunchy light and snappy" when I do. Or however that went. (Probably the most entrenched 70s-era local commercial jingle in my brain, after Dominion Motors "Get Your Ford at Dominion" and Poulin's "Dial 2-3-3-2-5-0-0" from Bomber games.)

Poulins has brought back the Dial 2-3-3-2-5-0-0 jingle with the original music. It plays constantly on TSN 1290 radio these days.

[Biff]

I listen to TSN most of the day and their ad get a lot of play. I can't get that jingle out of my head. I guess marketing really works because that is one of the few phone numbers I actually know.