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  #3141  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2022, 1:01 AM
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This article seems to contradict recent sunny news:

They were hoping someone would step in and keep their business going, but it never happened and now the owners of Wallflower Diner in Vancouver are closing their doors for good.

On their social media platforms they say, in part, “We really hoped someone would be able to pick up the pieces and keep the legacy going, but everyone is broke.”...

...Mark von Schellwitz with Restaurants Canada says amid inflation, a staffing crunch, and increasing debt, this will likely be a make it or break it summer for many eateries and he expects more to close by summer’s end.

“We’re down in sales here in B.C. over the last two years, 13 per cent combined down before 2019 and there’s no question, we’ve had about 80 per cent of our members that have taken on additional debt as a result of the pandemic. We understand about three-quarters of those will take a year or a year-and-a-half to return to profitability and we still have 38 per cent of our members with that debt that are saying unless conditions improve, their survival is still very much in doubt. Not surprising that we still have some people that are struggling to survive, and we still have some casualties. Over the last two years, we estimate we’ve had about 13,000 restaurants close across the country, so it’s been a pretty significant hit.”...


https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2022/07/12/vancouver-diner-closes-economy-concerns/
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  #3142  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2022, 6:00 AM
zahav zahav is offline
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There's always some good some bad right now, we are not in boom times, that's for sure, but we're holding up OK. I think there's a decent resilience here, let's just hope interest rates don't hit 20% and there's an incurable strain of covid... That article was also Canada wide, and I think nationally it's such a mixed bag
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  #3143  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2022, 9:40 PM
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Michelin guide is coming to Vancouver. Kind of a surprise really.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/michelin-guide-vancouver-bc-canada

The bar to one star isn't all that high so I can see a few make the shortlist. Two stars
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  #3144  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2022, 10:13 PM
officedweller officedweller is offline
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Chipotle at Robson & Homer is open. It was open yesterday too.
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  #3145  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2022, 4:20 AM
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Conrad Yablonski Conrad Yablonski is offline
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LaLa Island Bakery Cafe has opened @ 2951 W Broadway a great space no one has ever been able to make work no matter the format.

I spoke briefly with management earlier in the week-a lovely person I wish them well.
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  #3146  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2022, 4:34 AM
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Originally Posted by officedweller View Post
Chipotle at Robson & Homer is open. It was open yesterday too.
It's been open for a couple of weeks. No inside seats, but tables outside on both Homer and Robson, (sometimes occupied by people who bought food somewhere else!) There's a separate prep area for collect orders, with a window on Robson.
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  #3147  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2022, 4:39 AM
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Donair Dude, taking over the former Starbucks space underneath the Main St SkyTrain station, have finally got signage up and appear to be close to be fitted out.

The first unit in the W2nd & Main building (close to MEC) is fitting out as a Mr. Sushi.
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  #3148  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2022, 3:17 AM
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Conrad Yablonski Conrad Yablonski is offline
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Granville & 7th NE corner ex-Starbucks space has a Leased sign up so slowly those spaces are being absorbed.
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  #3149  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2022, 8:37 PM
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Originally Posted by svlt View Post
Michelin guide is coming to Vancouver. Kind of a surprise really.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/michelin-guide-vancouver-bc-canada

The bar to one star isn't all that high so I can see a few make the shortlist. Two stars
Having been to a decent number of 1 star in several locations and a few two and three star places. It isn't saying Vancouver restaurants are bad, I just don't believe the quality and accompanying requirements are up to the level of even some one star places. Maybe a few bib gourmand places but even that, nothing is truly a great value here (in the finer dining sphere).

I wonder how much destination Vancouver paid them to come and I really hope that they have concluded all their visits BEFORE it was announced.
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  #3150  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2022, 10:53 PM
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Pizzeria Ludica on Keefer st is for sale. how many pizza places have been there over the past decade is that 2 or 3? I guess we are in for another if they can find someone willing to lose $$ in that spot

https://restaurantbusinessbroker.ca/rest...keefer-place-vancouver-v6b-6b9.97531447/
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  #3151  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2022, 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth View Post
Pizzeria Ludica on Keefer st is for sale. how many pizza places have been there over the past decade is that 2 or 3? I guess we are in for another if they can find someone willing to lose $$ in that spot

https://restaurantbusinessbroker.ca/rest...keefer-place-vancouver-v6b-6b9.97531447/
Sushi place on Abbott is for sale too
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  #3152  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2022, 6:43 PM
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Anyone been to Quiznos in the past decade?

Quote:
New Vancouver Quiznos to be template for global chain

A new Vancouver Quiznos location comes with tweaked logo, altered corporate colours and additional kitchen equipment that enables it to have an expanded menu compared to the approximately 500 other Quiznos stores worldwide.

The Denver-based sandwich chain has one other redesigned prototype store, in Hobbs, New Mexico, said Mark Lohmann, president of REGO Restaurant Group, which owns Quiznos.

“The intent with both of these first two prototypes is to learn what works and what doesn’t work because we don't want franchisees to invest in something that doesn't make sense for them,” he told BIV.

New flat-top grills enable the prototype Quiznos locations to offer a range of Philly cheesesteak sandwiches.

The store's Quiznos logo is lime green, instead of olive green and red, which is the case at other Vancouver locations.

Quiznos has long looked to Vancouver as a key market.

Alvin Blais and Chris Moradian opened the chain’s first international location, in 1996, on West Broadway at Heather Street. That duo then bought Quiznos’ Canadian master-franchise rights in January 1998, and ambitiously aimed to operate 650 locations Canada-wide by 2008.

They sold those master franchise rights to partners in 2001, with the rights later reverting back to the U.S. parent company.

Blais told BIV in 2014 that by 2001, he had built the chain to 138 stores in Canada, including 82 in B.C., with more 300 restaurants in development.

All Canadian Quiznos locations are now directly franchised out of Denver.

Quiznos enjoyed phenomenal expansion in the early part of this century, before enduring some stumbles.

q

(Image: The flat-top grill in the background is where the meat for Philly cheesesteak sandwiches can be prepared | Chung Chow)

In 2009, for example, it agreed to pay a US$95 million out-of-court settlement to 6,900 franchisees in a class-action lawsuit that alleged that the company overcharged franchisees for supplies and failed to provide sufficient marketing support.

A range of factors prompted the company to shrink to fewer than 400 U.S. restaurants in 2017, from around 4,700 locations in 2007.

That time period included the company filing for bankruptcy protection in 2014, when it was more than US$500 million in debt.

Private equity firm High Bluff Capital spent undisclosed sums to buy Quiznos and Taco Del Mar in separate 2018 transactions, and rolled those companies into its new REGO Restaurant Group. High Bluff Capital then bought Church’s Chicken, said Lohmann, who was in Vancouver last week to hold a launch event at the SE Marine Drive Quiznos.

On hand were South Korean master franchisees who plan to soon open their 100th location in that country, said Lohmann.

“We’re in 20-plus countries globally,” he said. “There are roughly 300 Quiznos in North America.”

All Quiznos locations are franchised except for one corporately owned store, at Denver International Airport, he said.
https://biv.com/article/2022/07/new-vancouver-quiznos-be-template-global-chain
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  #3153  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2022, 7:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jollyburger View Post
Anyone been to Quiznos in the past decade?
There's a Quiznos in Brentwood that's nice to walk past.

I wonder if green iconography sells better.
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  #3154  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2022, 9:20 PM
jollyburger jollyburger is offline
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Originally Posted by chowhou View Post
I wonder if green iconography sells better.
I think they are long past the bad logo problem. Too much competition and had a history of burning franchisees.

Quote:
“We have several current ideas in testing phase,” Lohmann said. “The flat-top grills and fryers will be used for both sandwich and non-sandwich items that will add flair and an entertainment factor for dine-in guests, as well as an enhanced aroma.”


https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/quiznos-prepares-launch-prototype-rebranding
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  #3155  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2022, 11:16 PM
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oh I went to Quiznos a few days before I went on my trip. I won't be going back. I remember now why I haven't gone there in at least a decade or more. By the time you get the sandwich home it's no longer toasty. The toppings slide off every time you try to bite it and it makes a big mess and you have to really figure out how to hold it in such a way that you can eat it. Plus they were really cheap with the toppings and costs a few dollars more than Subway.
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  #3156  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2022, 11:40 PM
jollyburger jollyburger is offline
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Fatburger/Famoso is finally going out of business on Dunsmuir

https://www.spacelist.ca/listings/b/c2b2qs0u2w/c2b2qg566t/retail/for-lease/page/2#687279
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  #3157  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2022, 3:20 AM
svlt svlt is offline
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Originally Posted by theKB View Post
Having been to a decent number of 1 star in several locations and a few two and three star places. It isn't saying Vancouver restaurants are bad, I just don't believe the quality and accompanying requirements are up to the level of even some one star places. Maybe a few bib gourmand places but even that, nothing is truly a great value here (in the finer dining sphere).

I wonder how much destination Vancouver paid them to come and I really hope that they have concluded all their visits BEFORE it was announced.
It almost certainly won't tell us anything we don't know already with VanMag and Canada Top Restaurants already likely having the top end covered. I would be shocked if there is a random restaurant Michelin selects that isn't already on both of those lists.
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  #3158  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2022, 3:25 AM
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Originally Posted by svlt View Post
It almost certainly won't tell us anything we don't know already with VanMag and Canada Top Restaurants already likely having the top end covered. I would be shocked if there is a random restaurant Michelin selects that isn't already on both of those lists.
The Quiznos at 1050 West Pender Street, maybe?
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  #3159  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2022, 3:27 AM
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Originally Posted by svlt View Post
It almost certainly won't tell us anything we don't know already with VanMag and Canada Top Restaurants already likely having the top end covered. I would be shocked if there is a random restaurant Michelin selects that isn't already on both of those lists.
Michelin isn't for the locals. It's target audience is international.

There are people who design entire vacations around Michelin-starred restaurants. If even a few hundred people come to Vancouver to spend an arm and a leg at a fancy restaurant who wouldn't have come otherwise, the free publicity will be well worth it.
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  #3160  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2022, 4:31 AM
NewfBC NewfBC is offline
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Michelin isn't for the locals. It's target audience is international.

There are people who design entire vacations around Michelin-starred restaurants. If even a few hundred people come to Vancouver to spend an arm and a leg at a fancy restaurant who wouldn't have come otherwise, the free publicity will be well worth it.
You don't have to spend and arm and a leg to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant.. you can do it for $5 in HK.

https://www.journiest.com/michelin-starred-meals-hong-kong-2543163010.html

Ron.
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