A new and innovative store has relocated from Canmore, Alberta, and has opened in downtown Duncan at 124 Station St.
Wolf Willow Apothecary specializes in providing sustainable Canadian-sourced health and wellness products for its customers.
As well as products that deal mainly with the health and wellness of women, kids and babies, the store also sells decor, clothing, jewelry and cleaning materials.
The business was first opened in Alberta more than a year ago by Kaitlin Nault, who was born on Vancouver Island, and it relocated to Duncan when her family moved back to the Island.
Nault’s sister Stephanie Nault is a part owner of the new Duncan location, as well as Ashley Lott and Kirsten Currie.
“We are primarily a hub of Canadian female-made health and beauty products,” she said.
“There are no chemicals in the completely natural products we sell, which are incredibly high quality. Our customers love it because they know they can come into the store with confidence that what we sell are good for them.”
Nault said the business was well received in Alberta, and has been doing well since it opened in Duncan a few weeks ago.
“We’re getting a warm reception here, so we’re confident of success here in downtown Duncan,” she said.
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The Fort, a retro video and board game café at 250 Jubilee St. in Duncan, has new owners.
Three young couples - David, Kayla, Adam, Kalli, Jeanette and Thomas - who have a passion for community spaces, good food and playing games have taken over the business and are currently doing renovations at the site.
They hope to reopen within the next few weeks, according to The Fort’s Facebook page.
Former owner Emily Lavender said she wishes the new owners and the business well as they move forward.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the business hard and she decided to sell after becoming exhausted, both emotionally and financially, from trying to keep it afloat during a time of lock downs and social distancing.
But Lavender said that with the pandemic apparently winding down, she expects business at The Fort will improve.
She said when she first opened The Fort that she wanted to create a space where people could come together and have some good old fashioned fun doing the things that brought her joy growing up, which included playing board and video games and having snacks.
“I think The Fort has a great future in Duncan,” she said.
“Stay tuned on social media for when The Fort will reopen.”
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Looking for a snack shop with a wide range of products, many of which are hard to find or unavailable locally?
Then check out A Little More, located at 7-3050 Allenby Rd., right next door to A Little Bud cannabis shop, which owns and operates A Little More.
The snacks at A Little More, which aren’t infused with cannabis, include variations on many of the more favourite chocolate bars, potato chips and other products, as well as exotic munchies from around the world.
Manager Magz Hedley said a soft opening of A Little More was held on July 1, and she was pleased with the response from the community for the unique snack store.
A Little More is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday each week.
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Paper Excellence, owner of Catalyst Crofton, has once again been voted one of Canada’s 2022 Best 50 corporate citizens by Corporate Knights.
This is the fifteenth time that the company, which operates six pulp and paper facilities in B.C. and Saskatchewan, has achieved the Best 50 Award with Corporate Knights.
The Best 50 award is judged using key performance indicators that relate to the organization’s raw resource use, emissions profile, social performance, safety performance, and percentage of revenue from clean sources.
“Receiving this award again from Corporate Knights is a tremendous honour, and really speaks to the work Paper Excellence employees do to keep our operations sustainable and environmentally friendly,” said Graham Kissack, vice president of corporate communications for Paper Excellence Canada.
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The Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce’s next local vineyard to host Wine Down Wednesdays is Averill Creek Vineyard on July 20.
Wine Down Wednesdays features various Cowichan area wineries who will welcome members for wine and light refreshments on select Wednesday evenings throughout July and August.
These meet ups, which are only open to chamber members and their guests, are subject to pricing set by the venue, and will run from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Unsworth Vineyards will host the next Wine Down Wednesday on July 27, followed by Blue Grouse Estate Winery on Aug. 10 and Cherry Point Estate Wines on Aug. 17.
Call the chamber at 250-748-1111 to register for each of the Wine Down Wednesdays.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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