You may have noticed that we (The Bownesian) have been in the news lately. It’s been a bit overwhelming (in a good way!), and we thought we’d like to share with you how this happened, our perspective on what’s going on with us as a store, and so far, what the results of the increased publicity has been.
First of all a little of the history that has led us to this point: Craig and I bought the store back at the beginning of 2012. (Because we loved it!). At that time, we both quit our jobs, bought the store and moved to Bowness.
For the first three years, we sailed along nicely; each week, our sales climbed over the previous year … everything was heading in the right direction (yay!). Then (insert ominous music here) Calgary’s economy started to struggle and our sales lagged a bit. At the same time, our costs increased; most particularly our wages which rose each time minimum wage increased. It wasn’t all bad though, by the end of this last year, we had turned our sales around a bit … but still, despite the rise in sales, our costs meant that we weren’t profitable. In each of the unprofitable years, Craig and I borrowed additional money and dug into our savings to cover the losses.
It so happened that one of our customers checked in with Craig before Christmas this past year and asked how business was … Craig candidly told her basically what I’ve shared with you … that we’ve had losses for the last several years and that we couldn’t afford another year with a loss. Our customer, Patricia, was surprised by the revelation and wanted to do something about it, so she decided to write an article for the local newspaper The Bowest’ner. Patricia interviewed Craig and I to be sure she had her facts straight and her article was published in the January edition. We were completely behind Patricia in her efforts; our logic being “Wouldn’t it be sad if we couldn’t make a go of it, yet our customers weren’t even aware of that fact until it was too late to help.” With Patricia’s article; our customers were made aware that we could really use some extra business.
That’s how it started. The article quickly gained some traction when Ward Sutherland (and others) reposted it on Social Media and that’s when Global TV, CITY TV and Livewire contacted us for interviews. You’ll notice that only Craig appears on the interviews (I’m way to shy for that!).
We also wanted to take this opportunity to share that we’re still a financially viable business. We’re still paying our suppliers and our closure isn’t imminent. Also, although increased sales are a necessary part of our future, we’re working on other initiatives to turn the business profitable including:
- reducing the number of paper flyers that we’ll be delivering (BTW – here’s a link to sign up for our weekly eflyer http://web.tgp.ca/weeklyad/index.html … check out the top right hand corner)
- cutting costs where practical; including streamlining our schedule
- we’ve scrutinized charges from all our service providers to get to the lowest operating costs that we can
- casting a wider net; that is; working to attract customers not only from Bowness, but from the city as a whole
- we’re looking to get into on-line ordering (and delivering further afield)
One thing that Craig told Patricia … and it hopefully came across in the other interviews is that we don’t need a “huge” increase in sales to turn a profit (although we’re OK with that).
All of this brings us to today and to how this publicity has affected us. In the immediate aftermath we saw a positive impact … and we continue to receive support from customers cheering us on. More recently, we’ve seen the sales increase drop off, but that may be attributable to this dismal weather. We do want to be sure to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who has shared their enthusiasm for the store with us and who have made it their mission to bring their business to the Bownesian.
All the best, Leann
P.S. Here’s a link to Global TV’s coverage of the story if you’re interested in checking it out https://globalnews.ca/news/6385387/independent-calgary-grocer-potential-closure/?fbclid=IwAR1_2btjj4zoTHNMRMY1Z3FJHiVZDccqS4aHZQlI6xyOWg5SvHYPFe4jBy8
I come from Huntington to your store would be a shame to lose it you will still have my business good luck
Thanks so much for your support! We really appreciate it!
Very well written Leann (not surprisingly), wishing you and Craig all the best this year, wish we lived in Alberta and could shop in your beautiful store!
Thanks Laurie! You can always move to Calgary 🙂 (Maybe wait until the weather is nicer!)
Sorry to say; I think Bowness as an area has been hit far harder by the economic down turn than other parts of the city. The demographics of the area suggest a work force that is tied into Alberta’s resource economy. A number of businesses aren’t in Bowness any more, some have shut down, and other’s have moved. Like ours (Fire Escape). We are now located in the NE, and trying to build ourselves back up in a new location. Our primary rational for leaving was the impossible rent we would have been paying. I hope you are independent of a land lord, owning the retail space is, I think, the best business strategy. There is a bright patch coming, in that you have new neighbourhood development in the area. All the best, here’s to sticking it out!
We have a landlord as well Kate, but they’ve been pretty easy to work with. Good luck to you in your North East location!
Oh! I wondered why Fire Escape left Bowness! I guess I should have known it was something like that. I thought it was a shame because I planned on going in there to buy and paint something, then one day I saw that you guys weren’t there anymore.
Wonder if that’s why the White Rose restaurant closed, too?
But last spring I was forced to move out of Bowness myself now, too, due to the economy. The rents became more than I could afford, too, but for housing, not for retail space in a brand new building. Guess this bad economy affected us all in one way or another.
Hi,
I love the Bownesian Grocer, and Bowness, even though I was forced to move out of Bowness due to the economy. I used to shop there all the time when I lived in Bowness. Both are very special places.
May I make a suggestion that might help you? If you do home delivery may I suggest putting your store on Instacart?
Instacart does home delivery for many stores for people who cannot always go grocery shopping due to things like horrid weather, illness/infirmness, busyness, etc. I use them myself sometimes.
The customer signs up online on the site and chooses the store they wish to shop from. They then choose items from the departments and products stocked in that store, and pay for them online using a credit or debit card. Then they pick a time slot when they would like their groceries delivered. A shopper shops for them then delivers them right to the customer’s door.
I thought putting your store on this service might help you get a lot of online orders, in addition to your customers who come to shop in person. Online groceries are still money in the bank, right?
I am sorry I cannot always get down there anymore, due to the distance, the weather, etc. But I would hate like heck to see you close!
We’ll have a look at Instacart Laurie … thanks for the advice and kind wishes!
You’re welcome! Glad if I could help at all. Praying that you don’t have to wind up closing. The Bownesian is a special place. I miss it, and Bowness, very much since I moved to Huntington last spring. My son and I still love both, but cannot get there when the weather is dreadful like this.
I do, however, still have both my doctor and my mechanic there. And my community membership. I refused to change those. I still need to maintain some ties to Bowness!
P.S. Instacart.ca.
I came to The Bownesian for the first time last week. I was impressed with the selection and competitive prices of many produce – like onions, mushrooms, canned Asian goods, fresh chicken, avocado, and lemons. You also have some really cool “fancy” stuff that you can’t buy anywhere else in Calgary. Best of luck to you and Craig. My husband and colleagues will be making an effort to drop by every couple of weeks, even though we don’t live in Bowness.
So glad you enjoyed the store. Thanks so much for your support! We really appreciate it.
How do I arrange for someone to select and deliver my groceries, and what would be the cost? I live in Greenwood Village mobile home park. An online selection capability would be great. I think this will be more popular as we gradually get used to the post-pandemic way of shopping.
Hi Arlene,
Thanks for your interest. We’re working on developing an on-line ordering system, but we’re not quite there yet. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, could we ask that you email your order to us at thebownesiangrocer@gmail.com along with your name, phone number and address. We’ll give you a call when we go to pick your order; to ask any questions we may have. We’ll phone for your credit card information at check out.
Happy Shopping!