The business landscape in Lake Cowichan is growing by leaps and bounds.
The increasingly busy little town is attracting a range of new mom-and-pop shops, with a number of them having opened already this spring or on the verge of opening their doors.
Many of the owners say they have fallen in love with the close-knit community, and are confident their businesses will thrive here.
Lake Cowichan Mayor Tim McGonigle said it’s good to see more of the empty storefronts in the town filling up again with the influx of new and unique shops taking advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunities that Lake Cowichan has to offer.
He said he recently went for a walk-about in the downtown core to meet many of the new business owners and welcome them to the community.
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McGonigle said he hopes the tourist season will be busier for local businesses this year than last summer.
“A lot of tourists did come through here last year, but they didn’t do a lot of shopping,” he said.
“Hopefully all the new shops will draw more people into our local businesses this year. There is also new medical opportunities in town these days so more local people are choosing to stay here and shop locally.”
Keir and Brittany McPherson, who own a landscaping company in Victoria called Garden Made, have vacationed in the Lake Cowichan area for six years and became so enamoured with the town, they decided to move here two years ago.
Keir said the couple saw a business opportunity when they noticed there was something missing in the community: a store that provides healthy food options, and they decided to provide it.
They took the name of Garden Made from their landscaping business and applied it to their new shop on South Shore Road, which sells smoothies, chia puddings, salads, energy balls and other healthy grab-and-go items, as well as plants and other material from the landscaping business, which they still operate.
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Keir said Lake Cowichan’s Garden Made has only been open for a few weekends so far, and plans are to expand the shop’s hours, but the business has been welcomed by the community with open arms.
“The local people and the other businesses have really embraced us and it really blew our minds how kind and supportive everyone is,” he said.
“There has been a lot of growth of younger families in Lake Cowichan and that’s a key demographic of people looking for healthier options, so we’re hoping Garden Made will be successful.”
Brittany said Lake Cowichan is considered by many to be a seasonal town, but more businesses will draw more people there and, in time, she feels it will become a year-round destination instead of just a summer one.
In the meantime, she said the couple’s plan for the slower winter season is to diversify into showcasing and selling locally made products at Garden Made, such as cheeses, honey and creamery selections.
“We’ll also have plants and other merchandise for sale,” Brittany said.
“We’re really happy to be here and part of this town.”
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Annette and Brian Brama have operated the Island Pastry Haus bakery on Willow Street in Chemainus for years, and when they came across a perfect location for a bakery in Lake Cowichan on South Shore Road, they jumped at the opportunity to set up a second Island Pastry Haus there, and it opened in April.
The couple live in Duncan but, like the McPhersons, they have come to know Lake Cowichan well over the years and believe their bakery will find success.
“There are other bakeries here, but our main focus is on European breads that are all natural, with no preservatives, which are baked fresh every morning and we pride ourselves on that,” Annette said.
“The local residents have been very supportive and the business community have been great and have come to talk to us and offer assistance. In fact Sheena MacLeod, from Hidden Gems next door, introduced us to Lauren Grieve, and we hired her as our store manager.”
Brian said he has also met Lake Cowichan town councillor Aaron Frisby and he was impressed that Frisby, who owns The Tube Shack, took so much time to talk to him and show him around town.
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Annette said the focus of the bakery right now is on building its business with the local people, and they are also preparing for the upcoming busy tourism season in the community.
She said Island Pastry Haus is currently open Friday through Sunday, but plans are for it to open five days a week.
“We still have a few things to get organized before we expand our hours,” Annette said.
“We’re also planning to eventually open more bakeries in other communities in the Cowichan Valley.”
Seamus Mjollnir had operated his shop, Freedom by Design Tattoo and Body Piercing, for 11 months in Duncan before he decided to move his studio to Lake Cowichan, and he and his business associate, Tyrel Giesbrecht, are currently in the process of preparing the new location at 169 South Shore Rd. for its upcoming opening.
He said the main reason he has decided to move to Lake Cowichan was because most of his clients at his Duncan studio were from the area, so he decided it would be a good and prudent business decision to set up closer to them.
But Mjollnir, who has been building his skills as a tattoo artist for 30 years, said that in the three months that he has been living in the town, he has grown to love the community and its residents.
“It’s a beautiful town that reminds of me of what the rest of B.C. was like 10 years ago,” he said.
“Everything about Lake Cowichan is shining and it seems like the type of community I want to live in. Everyone is so friendly and they are all smiles and hellos. I also like the fact that we’re the only tattoo shop in town and am excited by that. As well as serving local clients, we’re also looking to tap into the tourists when they are here.”
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Mjollnir is also a professional magician, and he has been talking to officials at the Town of Lake Cowichan and the Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce about putting on some small magic shows around town to add some additional flavour to the community.
He said he also intends to have local artists display their work in his studio, and he will have other locally created merchandise in his shop.
“We plan to have a soft opening [sometime this week] and we’ll have specials and discounts,” he said.
Giesbrecht, who has 15 years tattooing experience under his belt, is from Alberta and he said he came to the Cowichan Valley on a whim.
“I was lucky to meet Seamus and now I’m in Lake Cowichan and delighted to be part of Freedom by Design Tattoo and Body Piercing,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Seamus and serving the community.”
Tim Hilliard opened his second EZ-Vape, which sells vaping products, adjacent to Lake Cowichan’s Country Grocer just last week.
He said he decided to open a store in the community after receiving feedback from customers at his location in Duncan, which has been in operation for seven years, who are from the Lake Cowichan area and had been encouraging him to open a shop closer to them.
“I want to be supportive of the community and provide new services here,” Hilliard said.
“I really love this community so I thought I’d experiment and set up a vaping shop because there’s so much potential here. I expect we’ll be busy in the summer months and we’ll be open seven days a week. As for winter, we’ve crunched our numbers and think we’ll be fine because there are lots of year-round activities to take advantage of here, like the opening of new bike trails.”
Hilliard said the town needs more services and merchants, and he’s excited that so many new stores are opening up.
“The goal is to make this a four-season destination for tourists,” he said.
“There’s no reason that Lake Cowichan can’t be as vibrant as the downtown core in Chemainus. Greg Adams has done a great job with Laketown Ranch and Wayne Proctor has rejuvenated a number of businesses here, and both these businessmen really worked hard to make Lake Cowichan a viable vacation resort.”
Hilliard said he plans to have a grand opening for EZ-Vape’s Lake Cowichan location sometime before Lake Days.
“We want to be supportive of the community and we’re going to find a local charity and do something for them with all proceeds going to the charity,” he said.
“It’s exciting to be part of Lake Cowichan.”
Brent Clancy, past chair of the Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce, said he knows of at least six new stores that have opened in the past year just in the downtown area alone, helping to fill in the empty storefronts.
He said that about 10 years ago, Lake Cowichan was relatively unknown, but it’s on the map now and Laketown Ranch, which brings in music fans from all over the world during its summer festivals, has played a large part in that.
“The demographics of the community are also changing with many of the baby boomers now downsizing and moving away and young families are moving in to take advantage of the relatively cheaper housing costs here compared to many other communities, and many of those families are starting their own businesses,” Clancy said.