Brooks, AB Florists

Brooks Flower Shop News

Parker: Momentum carries new Canadians to successful floral business - Calgary Herald

It was while perusing the web that she discovered Momentum — a program that provides training to new Canadians and low-income Albertans in a bid to improve the economy as a whole — made an appointment and told the counsellor, “I want to start a business here, but I don’t know how.”After relating her previous business history, she was told she had the ability to run her own enterprise in Calgary and was encouraged to take a six-month Momentum course. Her sink or swim attitude resulted in her quitting her job at Market Mall, dedicating her time to school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, plus homework.Thanks to all that she learned from the course, she was granted a Momentum small business loan and a crucial, larger loan from BDC, and with some added family savings the couple bought the former Unique Flower Boutique business that had been in the same location for 22 years.That was in 2012, just over a year after they arrived here.Refat says he enjoyed being his own designer of floral arrangements and, with a number of inherited clients in the shop’s database, they were off and running.Then came the 2013 flood, and although they didn’t suffer water damage the shop was closed for two weeks and they lost another week due to an ele... https://calgaryherald.com/business/commercial-real-estate/parker-momentum-carries-new-canadians-to-successful-floral-business

Man to be sentenced in Edmonton flower store owner’s mall death during robbery - theglobeandmail.com

When she arrived at the mall, she saw the building surrounded by emergency vehicles, she said. “I felt my heart drop,” she told court. She was diverted to the University of Alberta Hospital, where she was met by police and called her son and daughter to meet her. “We were all so scared and confused,” said Ms. Armstrong, who added that doctors started using words like “dire, catastrophic” to describe her husband’s injuries. The family decided to take him off life support three days later. Story continues below advertisement Sharon Armstrong was one of eight family members and friends who provided victim impact statements. The couple’s daughter, Dana Mikulasik, said her world came crashing down when she received the call that her dad was in the hospital. “I was crying so hard I couldn’t breathe.” Ms. Mikulasik said her family has a tradition in which members get to pick their favourite meal for dinner on their birthdays. “That Friday, I was supposed to come home to my favourite food: my father’s homemade pizza,” she said through sobs. “Instead, on the eve of my 29th birthday, I sat with my family in the hospital making the decision to take my father off of life support.” Ms. Mikulasik said her mental health has been seriously damaged. Sean Armstrong said he will never forget hearing his mom’s voice on the phone, running in his work boots to the hospital emergency room and seeing his father on a hospital gurney. Story continues below advertisement “Such a sight was something previously unfathomable, unimaginable to me.” He said his father was a titan among men, full of kindness and a role model. Others – including Mr. Armstrong’s brother, sister-in-law, a friend and employees – spoke of his “ordinary goodness,” his hard-working nature and his willingness to help others. The Crown and the defence jointly recommended the six-year sentence. Mr. Cushnie had been in custody while waiting the conclusion of his case. Justice Simpson said manslaughter cases can be difficult because they range from near accidents to near murders. “Obviously, the close friends and family of Mr. Armstrong have been forever harmed,” the judge said. “Society has also been harmed.” Story continues below advertisement He said society loses its sense of safety when a tragedy happens in a public place such as a mall. The justice said he accepted the joint recommendation because Mr. Cushnie pleaded guilty and may not have anticipated that the blows would lead to Mr. Armstrong’s death. Mr. Cushnie was also sentenced to three years for the robbery... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-man-to-be-sentenced-in-edmonton-flower-store-owners-mall-death-during/

Lethbridge-area garden centres slammed with curbside orders - Global News

Spring weather has officially hit southern Alberta, and with warm weather comes gardening season. READ MORE: Coronavirus: Alberta announces 216 more cases, 1 new death Related News With COVID-19 impacting businesses of all avenues, Lethbridge County garden centres and vegetable markets have had to adjust.Paul De Jonge has owned and operated Broxburn Vegetables and Café since 1994. He said there is no other place like it in the area.“Broxburn Vegetables has always been kind of a destination,” he said.“The food in the café, of course, reflects what we grow here. We have a ‘you-pick’ strawberry farm so a lot of families in the summertime want to come out and pick strawberries.”However, due to COVID-19 health concerns, De Jonge said he has closed the café and limited customers who shop in the store for peppers, eggplants, cauliflower, broccoli and other products. Story continues below advertisement Workers hired from Mexico arrived later than usual due to travel restrictions an... http://globalnews.ca/news/6868970/plants-gardening-lethbridge-covid-19-coronavirus/

Flower growers see sales wither as planting season launches - CBC.ca

Andi Kuyvenhoven, noting garden centres' crucial role for bedding plants in particular. British Columbia — the second-biggest flower and plant producer — Alberta and Manitoba and have allowed garden centres to keep running, while Quebec deemed them essential along with nurseries as of April 15, though not in time for Easter. Kuyvenhoven, who with his wife co-owns a $2.5-million business selling potted Chrysanthemums and indoor calla lilies — largely to U.S. distributors — on a pair of farms west of Toronto, says clogged supply chains south of the border remain a problem. 'I haven't slept in five weeks' "U.S. customers for a time closed their distribution systems to floral and so the main grocery chains were not purchasing plants," he said, which was hard on growers of cut flowers such as roses and tulips. "If a truck can take 24 skids and four skids were flowers, the flowers came off the trucks and they put more food on the truck — which we completely understand. The only challenge is, when you're growing flowers as we do, they also have a shelf life," said Kuyvenhoven, who bought his business from his parents in 1990. "Now we're now facing liquidity issues...I haven't slept in five weeks." Flowers Canada Growers says exports to the U.S. make up about one-third of greenhouse flower and plant sales, which hit $1.6 billion in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. Nursery sales topped $500 million. While garden centres can continue to operate across much of the continent, growers wonder whether bouquets and flower pots will remain on the shopping list of consumers struggling to make rent amid soaring unemployment numbers and a looming recession. Kuyvenhoven is hoping that families confined to their homes for most of the day will choose to spend what they've saved from unpurchased vacations and lattes on plants for their vases and flower beds. "That's part of what's carried us through downturns in the past," he said. Growers associations are in talks with federal and provincial governments over potential financial relief, with Flowers Canada Growers asking for a "cash injection" as well as extended debt repayment plans secured in part by Ottawa, Kuyvenhoven said. So far, the federal government has extended a stay of default for eligible farmers until Oct. 31, giving flower and potted plant producers an extra six months to pay off federal loans that would have been due at the end of April. Ottawa has also granted exemptions on air travel restrictions to temporary foreign workers and invested $50 million to help farmers fly in labourers on charter trips. "New flights are being booked ever day," the agriculture department said in an email. Back at the greenhouse, VanZanten mulls the overripe lilies and orchids. "Flowers do make you happier, they do actually lift your spirits...but there are farms that can't bounce back from this," he said. "This all happened at the wrong time."... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/flower-growers-hamilton-1.5546023