l`indépendant - Allied Properties REIT

AUTOMNE 2012
Le magazine des locataires du Fonds de placement immobilier Allied Properties
V I C TO R I A • VA N C O U V E R • C A L G A RY • E D M O N TO N • W I N N I P E G • K I T C H E N E R • TO R O N TO • OT TAWA • M O N T R É A L • Q U É B E C
[PAGE 6]
L’INDÉPENDANT
ACCEO Solutions, anciennement
GFI, fait maintenant cavalier seul
et offre des solutions d’affaires
électroniques.
Gilles Létourneau,
président et chef de la
direction d’ACCEO Solutions
[ PAGE 22 ]
Chez Wooky,
le jeu, c’est sérieux
[ PAGE 10 ]
TRÈS RECOMMANDABLE
Les avis fournis par les utilisateurs
sont au cœur de la plateforme de
média social ChickAdvisor.
+
• À Calgary : la revue UPPERCASE est source
d’inspiration créative
• À Montréal : Kids & Company ouvre une
garderie en pleine rue Sainte-Catherine
• À Toronto : Cologix assure la fiabilité des
TI de ses locataires à 100 %
INCOMING...
Allied ajoute d’autres immeubles de Calgary à son portefeuille dans l’Ouest
Construit en 1913 pour y abriter le siège social de Burns Foods, l’immeuble
a été rénové à plusieurs reprises depuis 1983. Il a été désigné par la province
de l’Alberta comme ressource historique.
Avec l’acquisition de l’édifice Chambre de commerce et l’achat
prévu de l’édifice Demcor en novembre, le nombre d’immeubles
d’Allied à Calgary passera à 14, pour un total de plus de
600 000 pieds carrés.
L’achat, l’été dernier, de l’Édifice Burns (237-8th Avenue S.E.)
du côté nord du Stephen Avenue Mall, juste à l’ouest du Calgary
City Hall, permet d’ajouter ce joyau à l’état brut à une suite
d’édifices de haut niveau à Calgary, dont l’Arts Central, le
Fashion Central, l’Alberta Hotel et l’édifice Lougheed. Ils sont
tous situés au cœur des activités et possèdent tous ce caractère
historique que l’on retrouve dans tous les édifices d’Allied à
travers le Canada.
Bien que l’Édifice Burns ait besoin d’être restauré, les travaux
ne peuvent démarrer assez rapidement pour la Chambre de
commerce de Calgary, qui a temporairement installé ses locaux
au troisième étage de l’édifice en attendant que les ouvriers
terminent le réaménagement de ses 10 000 pieds carrés d’espaces
administratifs pour le déménagement prévu en mars 2013.
Dès le départ, l’achat de l’Édifice Burns constituait une occasion
de redéveloppement, expliquait Michael Emory, président et
chef de la direction d’Allied plus tôt cette année. ■
La stratégie d’intensification
urbaine encourage les projets
de coentreprises d’Allied
L’édifice de deux étages sur Spadina au sud de la rue King
Ouest accueille actuellement un magasin Winners et une
poignée de locataires administratifs mais Allied prévoit que ce
n’est là que le début, grâce à une coentreprise qu’elle a formée
avec l’entreprise d’aménagement des terrains Diamond Corp.,
qui contribuera à en faire une propriété à usages mixtes.
Allied a vendu un intérêt de 50 % dans la propriété à
Diamond, qui supervisera le changement de zonage de la
propriété pour usage résidentiel, administratif et de détail.
Au terme du changement de zonage, Allied et Diamond
prévoient engager un partenaire possédant une expertise
en développement de condominiums pour superviser le
développement de la propriété.
« Comme c’est le cas avec notre coentreprise d’intensification
en cours avec le Fonds de placement immobilier RioCan,
nous voulons travailler avec « la crème de la crème » pour
chacun de nos projets » nous confiait Michael Emory,
président et chef de la direction d’Allied.
L’été dernier, le Fonds de placement immobilier RioCan et
Allied ont conclu une entente afin de créer une coentreprise
alliedreit.com • 2
57 Spadina Ave.
pour acquérir des sites dans les régions urbaines des grandes
villes canadiennes qui, sur une base individuelle, sont
propices à une intensification de l’usage mixte.
La coentreprise tentera également d’identifier des propriétés
faisant actuellement partie du portefeuille d’Allied et/ou
de RioCan qui sont propices au redéveloppement ou à
l’intensification. ■
COMMUNIQUÉ
Allied Outperforms National
Tenant Service Benchmarks
Are you registered with
Allied Tenant Services?
Results of a national survey launched throughout
Allied buildings earlier this year in May found
that tenant satisfaction exceeded the industry
benchmarks in Canada. The survey focused
on asking respondents whether they would
recommend Allied buildings, as well as how
they felt about issue resolution and overall
satisfaction of the ‘Allied Experience’. Results
will help Allied identify areas outlined for
progress and improve the general provision of
services consistently across its geographically
diverse portfolio. Visit alliedreit.com for a
summary of the survey results.
Our Tenant Services Request System allows
you to easily submit, log and track work
orders relating to building and or in-suite
concerns. Our team is hands on in responding
to and resolving these issues in a timely
manner. Not a User? Need to reset your
Login ID? Contact Property Management
today and use the system to:
Allied surclasse les comparables nationaux : sondage
• Track the progress of a repair.
• Submit online service requests
• Receive immediate assistance
• Access information easily
• Receive important notifications
Les résultats d’un sondage national mené dans les édifices d’Allied plus tôt cette année
au mois de mai ont révélé que la satisfaction des locataires dépassait les normes de
référence de l’industrie au Canada. Le sondage se résumait à demander aux répondants
s’ils recommanderaient les édifices d’Allied et leur point de vue sur la résolution des
problèmes et la satisfaction générale de « l’expérience Allied ». Les résultats aideront
Allied à identifier les domaines où des progrès sont souhaitables et à améliorer la
prestation générale des services de façon cohérente d’un bout à l’autre de son portefeuille
géographique varié. Visitez alliedreit.com pour un résumé des résultats du sondage.
Kids & Company Wins E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Victoria Sopik and Jennifer Nashmi took top honours in the business-to-business
category this year at the Ontario Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Awards for their work developing progressive childcare and eldercare options
for companies. Their firm, Kids & Company, an Allied tenant at two Montreal
sites, currently operates 44 child care centres across Canada. See the full story
on page 16.
Victoria Sopik et Jennifer Nashmi ont remporté cette
année les grands honneurs dans la catégorie des
produits et services d’entreprise à entreprise lors
de la remise des Grands Prix de l’entrepreneur
2012 d’Ernst & Young pour la région de
l’Ontario pour leur contribution à l’élaboration
de nouvelles solutions de gardiennage et
d’aide aux aînés pour les entreprises. Leur
firme, Kids & Company, locataire d’Allied
dans deux emplacements de Montréal,
exploite actuellement 44 garderies à travers
le Canada. Lisez l’article à la page 16.
Êtes-vous inscrit aux Services
aux locataires d’Allied?
Notre Système de demande de service aux
locataires vous permet de soumettre et
d’enregistrer des demandes de travail en
lien avec l’immeuble ou des problèmes dans
les bureaux et d’en effectuer le suivi très
facilement. Vous n’êtes par un utilisateur?
Vous devez réinitialiser votre identificateur
d’utilisateur? Communiquez avec la
Gestion des immeubles et faites appel au
système pour :
• soumettre vos demandes de service en ligne
• obtenir une aide immédiate
• accéder à l’information facilement
• recevoir des avis importants
• faire le suivi de l’avancement des travaux
de réparation
www.alliedreit.com
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Editor: Yvan Marston • Design: Gravity Design Inc.
3 • AUTOMNE 2012
[PHOTOGRAPHY]
TheWORKS
One of the city’s last standing film processing labs, Toronto Image Works
is focused on high quality digital output and education. By Yvan Marston
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - Despite the
Spadina began early on to expand its courses beyond traditional
presence of its state-of-the-art, large format, high-speed digital
portraiture and lighting to graphic design and web production.
Chromira 5x photo printer, the light vinegar smell of stop
PLACING 87% OF ITS STUDENTS Initially, students were
bath continues to haunt Toronto Image Works’ post-industrial
asking for various computer skills so TIW sought out industry
studio space. Twenty-seven years on, the photo printing
experts and assembled a few courses. But now it offers
studio is still anticipating the needs of
full-time, Ontario-accredited college-level
photographers at every tumultuous step
diplomas in both digital publishing
of the digital revolution, all the while
“There’s a thirst for
and multimedia web, and the photo
remaining faithful to its fine arts roots.
lab’s classrooms are turning out approxiknowledge in this sector
mately 50 students a year with an 87%
Starting with 2,000 square feet in
that is being driven by the
placement rate.
1985, and fulfilling a simple need for
darkroom rentals in a city devoid of such
need to understand
Its students are always in search of
facilities at the time, Toronto Image
hands-on
skills, says Baxter. The school
application, to think beyond
Works (TIW) founder and renowned
helps them develop portfolios of applied
just taking the photo.”
photographer Edward Burtynsky sought
work so that one’s ability to take good
to cater to all levels of Toronto’s art
photos forms the basis for projects such
community. Now occupying 11,000
as a balanced magazine layout, a striking
square feet, TIW remains one of the
movie poster or an eye-catching package design.
city’s last-standing film processing labs, but focuses its efforts
“Now we have a lot of people coming from ad agencies who
on high quality digital output and education.
are looking to learn the web side – art directors and creative
“There’s a thirst for knowledge in this sector that is being
directors who never worked on web sites but were doing the
driven by the need to understand application, to think beyond
conceptual stuff,” she explains, adding that her team saw the
just taking the photo,” says Jeannie Baxter, TIW’s managing
need for graphic designers to become web savvy some seven
director, explaining how the lab at King Street West and
years earlier.
“
alliedreit.com • 4
Photos: Toronto Image Works
TORONTO
Photo: Yvan Marston
A dedicated gallery space changes shows monthly and is also used
to exhibit 4th year Ryerson photo student works as well as host a
dedicated show for Ryerson’s graduating MFA in image arts students.
Edward Burtynsky needed a darkroom
When Edward Burtynsky graduated from Ryerson in the
1980s it meant that he no longer had use of the school’s
darkrooms. This was a problem because there were no
darkroom rentals available to professionals in Toronto
(the nearest facility was in Buffalo, NY). So, despite a
lack of experience running a photo lab, Burtynsky
secured space downtown and started offering rental
darkrooms in 1985.
While he remains president of Toronto Image Works,
he has distinguished himself with his work, and is
known best for his remarkable photographic depictions
of global industrial landscapes. His imagery explores the
intricate link between industry and nature, combining
the raw elements of mining, quarrying, manufacturing,
shipping, oil production and recycling into eloquent,
highly expressive visions that find beauty and humanity
in the most unlikely of places. His work is featured on
over fifty major museums around the world.
Workstations let clients load files for printing, or scan from the Imacon or
flatbed scanning stations.
“WHO WILL BE OUR FUTURE CLIENT BASE?” While digital
helped to drive the demand for education, it had a reverse effect
on the film processing side of the business.
“When most of our competition went out of business,” recalls
Baxter, “we asked ourselves, who will be our future client base? It
would be artists because they will always have a need for high
quality prints. But they won’t want to have to maintain a printer.”
TIW kept the film processing to serve the needs of its specialist
clientele, but shifted its energies to printing quality digital files.
Baxter says the early years of running digital output were a lot of
hard work, mostly because the printing technology hadn’t caught
up to the quality of image being captured.
FINE ART PRINTING But TIW has remained at the forefront of
this technological change and now offers such services as fine art
printing, where prints are made using archival inks on archival
substrates, including a wide variety of fine art papers available
in considerable widths – depending on the medium (60 inches
wide on photo-inkjet paper, for example).
Painters, illustrators, mixed media artists, photographers,
designers and architects use this service to create a fine art
version of their work, explains Baxter.
Besides offering a full range of photographic services (processing
slide, colour and black and white film, high quality large format
prints and a host of mounting and framing options) TIW also
remains actively involved in the community is serves.
It has been active with the Scotiabank CONTACT photography festival since its start and has 460 square feet of dedicated
gallery space that features a new show monthly. The space is
also used to exhibit 4th year Ryerson photo student works as
well as a host a dedicated show for Ryerson’s graduating MFA
in image arts students.
Despite its expertise in the digital field, Baxter says she has
seen a recent rise in the amount of film processing work the lab is
doing. “You can’t beat the speed of digital, but for some applications, film is just better.” And in that respect, it is unlikely the
scent of stop bath will ever truly leave the TIW premises. ■
torontoimageworks.com
5 • FALL 2012
[INFORMATIQUE]
L’ENVOLÉE
Photo: Denis Bernier
Après avoir établi un partenariat européen il y a six ans pour prendre de l’expansion,
ACCEO Solutions – et vole de ses propres ailes pour aller encore plus loin. Par Yvan Marston
CITÉ DU MULTIMÉDIA, MONTRÉAL / - Les préparatifs
du changement allaient bon train depuis des mois avant que
les employés ne se présentent en ce matin de septembre. Le
hall d’entrée du 75 de la rue Queen était décoré de ballons
bleus et les portes d’ascenseur garnies de petits points bleus.
Bien que l’annonce officielle aurait lieu plus tard en matinée
à 11 h – en simultané aux 1 000 employés répartis dans huit
places d’affaires de l’entreprise (y compris le bureau situé en
France) – les sphères bleues indiquaient clairement la fin de
GFI Solutions d’affaires Inc.
C’est avec tambours et trompettes que l’un des chefs de file
des solutions TI au Canada changeait son image de marque
pour ACCEO Solutions en cette journée chaude d’automne,
six mois après le rachat de la part de son partenaire français
GFI Informatique par un groupe d’actionnaires locaux.
Le groupe français visait une croissance en Europe alors
qu’à Montréal, Gilles Létourneau, président et chef de la
direction de GFI Solutions d’affaires Inc., faisait de même
pour l’Amérique du Nord.
ENTIÈREMENT CANADIENNE « L’entreprise est maintenant
entièrement canadienne et nous sommes déterminés à
alliedreit.com • 6
poursuivre activement notre stratégie de développement à travers
l’Amérique du Nord » confiait M. Létourneau au quotidien
montréalais The Gazette lors du lancement. « Ce changement
de nom marque un tournant clé pour notre entreprise. »
C’est en effet une étape importante pour cette entreprise qui
a débuté sous sa direction en 1988 sous le nom de Conceptum.
Elle compte maintenant sur un chiffre d’affaires annuel de plus
de 100 millions de dollars et propose des solutions d’affaires
pour les PME et les municipalités, ainsi que pour diverses
industries, y compris la construction, les quincailleries et les
centres de rénovation, les garderies, les cabinets de notaires et
de comptables, et les banques.
Avec cette nouvelle dénomination sociale, inspirée par les
idées d’accélération, d’ascension et d’accessibilité, et une
autonomie renouvelée, ACCEO Solutions n’a pas tardé à
s’établir, grâce à diverses acquisitions présentement en cours,
comme fournisseur essentiel de solutions d’affaires électroniques.
SOLUTIONS DE GESTION Et comme son offre est constituée
essentiellement d’un mélange de services de TI, de développement de logiciels et de consultation d’affaires, les clients
d’ACCEO Solutions peuvent être à peu près tout type
CITE DU MULTIMEDIA, MONTREAL / - The change had been
in the works for months before employees arrived that
September morning. The lobby at 75 Queen was decorated
in blue balloons and the elevator doors decaled with blue
dots. While the official announcement would be made
later that morning at 11:00 – simultaneously to the 1,000
employees across the company’s eight offices (including
one in France) – the blue globes signaled clearly that it was
the end of GFI Business Solutions Inc.
With much fanfare, one of Canada’s top software
companies was changing its name to ACCEO Solutions
that warm fall day six months after its French partner GFI
Informatique had been bought out by a group of local
shareholders.
Une Beetle VW portant la nouvelle dénomination sociale, inspirée
par les idées d’accélération, d’ascension et d’accessibilité.
d’entreprise, peu importe leur stade de développement
d’affaires.
Certaines des solutions commencent avec des entreprises
à domicile, où un logiciel de comptabilité à la fois simple et
puissant comme Acomba peut être utilisé tout au long de la
croissance de l’entreprise alors que les besoins deviennent de
plus en plus complexes et exigent des solutions de gestion
plus spécialisées, comme des outils d’intelligence d’affaires.
Parmi d’autres solutions offertes, mentionnons la solution
de paiement intégrée aux points de vente, utilisée dans
90 000 caisses enregistreuses à travers le Canada et les
États-Unis par des détaillants tels que les Boutiques Apple,
Burger King, Ikea, Winners et Jean-Coutu; ses logiciels
financiers ou de cour municipale sont exploités dans les
systèmes de la quasi-majorité des municipalités au Québec.
SYSTÈMES QUI COMMUNIQUENT « Notre vision des
affaires électroniques ne se limite pas au commerce
électronique : il s’agit plutôt de systèmes qui communiquent avec d’autres systèmes et qui optimisent la gestion
et les opérations » explique André Desjardins, directeur
marketing de l’entreprise et membre de l’équipe derrière
les activités de changement de marque.
« Toutes nos solutions sont conçues pour faire circuler
l’information – à partir de la prise des commandes en
passant par leur exécution jusqu’à la facturation aux clients
– toutes ces étapes peuvent être automatisées à l’intérieur
d’un même processus » affirme M. Desjardins, ajoutant
qu’un grand nombre de clients d’ACCEO Solutions sont
de petites et moyennes entreprises qui ne sont pas assez
imposantes pour justifier d’importants investissements dans
des infrastructures de TI mais qui pourraient profiter d’une
solution d’affaires électroniques complète et adaptée.
The French group was focused on growth in Europe
while in Montreal, GFI Business Solutions president and
CEO Gilles Letourneau had been pursuing opportunities
in North America.
“Now we are wholly Canadian and can pursue our
development strategy across North America,” Letourneau
told The Montreal Gazette at the launch. “It’s a major
turning point for our company.”
Indeed, it’s effectively another major turning point for
the company that began under his leadership in 1988, then
under the name Conceptum. Now it counts annual revenues
of $100 million, providing business solutions for SMBs
and municipalities, as well as for a number of industries,
including construction, hardware and renovation centres,
daycares, notaries, accountants, and banks.
With a new name – inspired by notions of acceleration,
ascent and accessibility – and a renewed autonomy, ACCEO
Solutions has wasted little time establishing itself, through
a series of ongoing acquisitions, as an essential provider
of electronic-based business solutions.
And given that its offering is essentially a mix of IT
service meets software development meets business
consulting, ACCEO Solutions clients can be almost everyone,
and at any stage of business development.
Some solutions start with home-based businesses,
where a simple but powerful accounting software like
Acomba can serve a business through its growth as it
becomes a larger firm with more complex needs requiring
specialized management solutions like its business
intelligence tools.
Other solutions include its point-of-sale integrated
payment system used in 90,000 sales points across Canada
(continued on page 8)
(Suite à la page 8)
7 • FALL 2012
MONTRÉAL
GFI se donne une nouvelle identité –
It forged a European partnership six
years ago to move ahead but now GFI is
rebranding itself ACCEO and branching
out alone – to go even further. By Yvan Marston
(continued from page 6)
and the U.S. with retailers such as Apple stores, Burger
King, Ikea, Winner’s and Jean-Coutu, and its financial or
municipal court softwares run in the systems of almost
every municipality in Quebec.
“Our vision of e-business is not just e-commerce: It
is systems talking to other systems and optimizing
management and operations,” explains Andre Desjardins,
the company’s marketing director and part of the team
behind the rebranding effort.
ACCEO Solutions se concentre donc sur la prestation de
services permettant de trouver et de gérer chaque maillon de la
chaîne d’affaires qui unit les clients et les consommateurs.
Depuis 1988, le cheminement de l’entreprise a été marqué par
une série d’importantes acquisitions et d’importants partenariats.
L’acquisition d’ActiveMedia, Fortsum, Bell Solutions d’affaires,
Accovia et Tender Retail l’an dernier a permis à l’entreprise
d’accroître la portée de sa mission et de passer officiellement d’un
fournisseur de services à un fournisseur de produits et services.
À titre d’exemple, l’acquisition de Tender Retail (solution de
paiement intégrée au point de vente), dont le siège social est situé
à Toronto, a permis de boucler la boucle en s’appropriant des
segments verticaux de la chaîne d’affaires électroniques de sorte
que tous les aspects d’une transaction soient gérés par des solutions ACCEO.
DANS CE DOMAINE DEPUIS LONGTEMPS Bien que l’entreprise
elle-même ait fait sa marque pendant plus de 20 ans, certaines
de ses filiales œuvrent dans ce domaine depuis plus longtemps
encore. Son équipe est formée d’experts spécialisés dans certaines
des solutions PGI (ERP) les plus en demande sur le marché :
Sage 300, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft
Dynamics AX et IFS, de même qu’Acomba et Avantage, deux
des solutions comptables les plus populaires auprès des PME
québécoises.
«
« Ses logiciels financiers... sont exploités
dans les systèmes de la quasi-majorité
des municipalités au Québec. »
Aujourd’hui, quelque 55 000 clients au Canada seulement
comptent sur les produits et services d’ACCEO Solutions pour
payer leurs employés, gérer leurs transactions, faire évoluer leurs
produits à travers la chaîne d’approvisionnement et gérer les
innombrables étapes logistiques qui font rouler l’économie.
La synergie derrière cette offre unique de produits et services
stimule également la croissance professionnelle de ses employés.
L’entreprise a instauré divers programmes de RH pour la
formation, le perfectionnement professionnel et la gestion de la
contribution – qui reposent tous sur ses valeurs fondamentales
de qualité, créativité, intégrité, responsabilité et respect. Le
lancement de la nouvelle image de marque d’ACCEO Solutions
a ainsi favorisé encore plus la création de cet environnement de
travail stimulant et mobilisateur. ■
acceo.com
alliedreit.com • 8
“All our solutions are designed to make information
go around – from taking orders, to filling them to invoicing
clients – it can all be automated into a process,” says
Desjardins, adding that many of ACCEO Solutions’ clients
are smal-and medium-sized businesses who aren’t large
enough to warrant investing in IT infrastructure but
could benefit from a full-fledged and adapted electronic
business solution.
And finding and managing every piece of the business
chain that links clients and customers is what ACCEO
Solutions is focused on delivering.
Since 1988, the firm has been on a path marked by a
series of significant acquisitions and partnerships.
Acquiring ActiveMedia, Fortsum, Bell Business Solutions,
Accovia and Tender Retail last year have helped the
company broaden its mission and complete the shift
from being a services provider to being a products and
services provider.
The purchase of Toronto-based Tender Retail (pointof-sale integrated payment solution), for example, served
to continue closing the loop by capturing vertical
segments of the e-business chain so that every aspect
of a transaction can be managed by ACCEO solutions.
Indeed, while the company itself has been making its
mark for over 20 years, some of its subsidiaries have
been on the scene for even longer. Its team brings together
experts specializing in some of the most in-demand ERP
solutions on the market: Sage 300, SAP Business One,
Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and IFS,
as well as Acomba and Avantage, two of the most popular
accounting solutions used by Quebec SMBs.
Today, some 55,000 clients in Canada alone count on
ACCEO Solutions to pay employees, process transactions,
move goods along the supply chain and manage the
countless logistics that make an economy function.
The synergy that is driving this unique product and
service offering is also fostering professional growth
among its employees. The company has various HR
programs in place for training, career development and
performance management – all of which is based on
its core corporate values of quality, creativity, integrity,
responsibility and respect. And creating this stimulating
and engaging work environment has been tidily bolstered
by the new ACCEO Solutions corporate identity. ■
Handling Holiday Hors d’Oeuvre
Hors d’oeuvre can be time consuming, but if you’re up to the
challenge, they can really demonstrate a host’s skills for planning and
execution. Indeed, the real art of hors d’oeuvre is to be able serve
them without neglecting your guests. And that takes preparation,
says Susie Reading, Executive Chef at Toronto’s Caphalon Culinary
Center at King Street West and Spadina in Toronto.
Check the Calphalon Center course calendar for December and
you’ll find a couple of hosting-focused classes – including the sit
down holiday dinner class and another of holiday hors d’oeuvre. If
you don’t have the time to spend an evening learning, here are a few
of Reading’s tips to serving up a memorable evening of hors d’oeuvre.
OFFER VARIETY. Serve a selection of cold, warm and hot, says Reading. “This relieves last-minute fussing,” she says because
you can prepare the cold items in advance and concentrate on finishing the warm and hot items, which of course are already
assembled and ready to heat. Just pop them in the oven at the last minute or throughout the event. And keep your oven set
high at around 375F, advises Reading.
HORS D’OEUVRE INSPIRATION
SERVED COLD:
SERVED WARM:
Smoked salmon on dark rye
round with dill cream
Melon wrapped with prosciutto
and goat’s cheese
Rare roast beef on herb crostini with grated horseradish
Seared scallops wrapped in pancetta
Veggie salad rolls
Dips with a selection of olives,
charcuterie and breads (“This
is always a hit, says Reading,
“but be sure to include a dish
for the olive pits.”)
SERVED HOT:
Crab and mango salad
on crisp wontons
Salmon ceviche on tortilla chip
USE QUALITY VEGGIES. Veggies and dips are always a great add-on
platter because they’re easy to put together and require very little
maintenance from the host. “When putting together a crudité platter,
use the freshest vegetables available and offer a selection of textures
and colours,” says Reading.
SAMPLE VEGGIE PLATTER
Grape tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Tri-coloured peppers
Carrots
Celery
Cucumber
Hot brie melt on crouton with pear chutney
Stuffed mushroom caps
Mini pizzas
5
STEPS TO HOSTING AN ELEGANT
HORS D’OEUVRE EXPERIENCE
1. Build a menu that does not require cutlery.
2. Start early. Plan, shop and prep (as much as
possible) two days in advance of party.
Green beans
(blanched and refreshed)
3. Visualize your event. Draw a diagram of how
the rooms will be set and where food and
drinks will be placed.
Also try something exotic like:
• Jicama (a sweet, root vegetable
that looks like a turnip)
• Daikon (long white crunchy
vegetable from the radish
family).
4. Set up two beverage stations to avoid congested
areas. And don’t forget to pre-cut lemons and
limes, have plenty of ice and include a selection
of non-alcoholic beverages.
5. As guests arrive, set your oven at around 375F
so that it’s ready for the hot hors d’oeuvre.
For class schedule and details, visit Calphalon.com/centers
9 • FALL 2012
TORONTO
[CALPHALON CULINARY CENTER]
[MEDIA]
STRONG RECOMMEN
From electronics to electrolysis, user-generated reviews are the lifeblood of social media platform
By Micayla Jacobs
Photo: Greg Tjepkema
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - It’s been three
years since ChickAdvisor broke onto the scene offering its
brand of common sense product reviews from real women
and building an online community of activist shoppers. But
a new partnership announced in the spring is set to broaden
its reach and bring its business to the next level.
In May, ChickAdvisor announced its partnership with
Beyond the Rack, a Montreal-based startup named one of
the fastest growing e-tailers in the U.S. last year by Internet
Retailer Magazine. Essentially an online shopping club,
Beyond the Rack’s members access authentic designer apparel,
accessories, beauty and home décor products at a discounted
price through limited-time sales.
Beyond the Rack reaches 7 million consumers across North
America and ships 129,000 products each month. It’s a distribution bandwidth ChickAdvisor.com can leverage to expand its
reach, explains Alex de Bold, who founded the site with his
wife and business partner Ali.
Operating from its sunlit offices at King Street West and
Spadina, in Toronto, jammed with eight employees,
ChickAdvisor currently acts as a facilitator for major brands
like CoverGirl, L’Oreal and Garnier and their target audiences.
“Many brands right now typically use high velocity sampling
where they have someone stand at Union Station handing out
samples, but that’s expensive and it isn’t targeted,” he says.
ChickAdvisor currently runs sample distribution programs
for its clients, but they’re on a small scale sending out 200 to
1,000 samples to a targeted audience. Working with Beyond
the Rack’s North American distribution network could push
that number to ten times its current size.
“
“Many brands right now typically use high
velocity sampling where they have someone
stand at Union Station handing out samples,
but that’s expensive and it isn’t targeted.”
Going forward, the new model might look like this: a Beyond
the Rack client ordering a pair of shoes also receives a sample of
a new perfume that hasn’t yet hit the market. That client is then
invited to use the product and post a review on ChickAdvisor.
Despite a close relationship with its advertisers, ChickAdvisor’s
product reviews are user-generated, providing a trustworthy
place for women to share advice on everything from beauty
products to restaurants and retailers.
Authenticity is its currency and given that it’s a social site,
there are also plenty of chats chronicling relationship issues,
wellness and pop culture, but for the most part, users tend to
be in search of product advice.
The tried and tested technology of ChickAdvisor, meshed
with the scale of Beyond the Rack allows for what de Bold
argues is an unprecedented opportunity for brands across North
American to have a really targeted process-driven platform that
is extremely efficient.
With over 2,000 Proctor & Gamble and Unilever products
in each category and some 56,000 reviews, brands working with
ChickAdvisor are not only able to target consumer segments,
but also collect metrics on who is receiving a sample and what
they thought of it.
And it is information brands use, explains de Bold, citing
ChickAdvisor reviews being referenced in ad campaigns both
in print and social media. The new partnership between
ChickAdvisor and Beyond the Rack will only help to broaden
that reach. ■
ChickAdvisor.com
alliedreit.com • 10
TORONTO
DATIONS
Photo: ChickAdvisor
ChickAdvisor and the reason brands are working with the duo behind it all.
Despite a close relationship with its advertisers, ChickAdvisor’s
product reviews are user generated, providing a trustworthy
place for women to share advice on everything from beauty
products to restaurants and retailers.
Offering direct access to
‘flash sales’, Beyond the
Rack is a private shopping
club for women and men that offers designer brand apparel
and accessories at prices up to 80% off retail. Sales are
always limited-time events and each starts at a specific time
and typically lasts only 48 hours. When an event ends, the
merchandise is no longer available. Members are notified by
email in advance of each upcoming event according to their
preferences. Membership is controlled to ensure members
have adequate access to the merchandise. Typically you
must be invited to join but you can submit a request for
membership directly.
11 • FALL 2012
alliedreit.com • 12
Photos: UPPERCASE Publishing
CALGARY
[PUBLISHING]
CONCEPTQUEEN
Nine books and 15 magazine issues in, UPPERCASE publisher
Janine Vangool is a creative force to be reckoned with.
Vangool’s space at Art Central in
downtown Calgary started as a
graphic design studio/retail space/
gallery but is now the home of
UPPERCASE – a magazine for the
creatively curious.
ART CENTRAL, CALGARY / - In a way, it started with
Shatner. Inspired by a 2006 cross-Canada road trip during
which she and her husband repeatedly listened to William
Shatner’s spoken word album Has Been, Janine Vangool
decided to curate an exhibition of Shatner illustrations.
The Calgary graphic designer put a call out to the
international illustrator community and opened a show in
her 580-square-foot gallery at Art Central in the summer
of 2007 featuring 76 original images of the ubiquitous
showman, one for every year of his life. Then, she published
her first book: The Shatner Show.
Vangool admits it was an odd choice given she’s not a
Star Trek superfan, but she was intrigued by the possibilities
and potential interest it might bear. And indeed there was.
Besides an endorsement from the actor himself (see sidebar
on next page), several newspapers picked up the story.
“That was a turning point. It really put us on the map,”
says Vangool, whose space in downtown Calgary started out
as a graphic design studio/retail space/ gallery but is now
best known as the home of UPPERCASE magazine, a
quarterly craft, illustration, and design journal.
In 2005, Vangool moved into the bright space on the third
floor of the building, tenanted by art galleries, small retailers
and studios, to open a graphic design firm serving Calgary’s
art and culture industry.
She started the UPPERCASE brand as a side project but
quickly became engrossed in the task of creating her own
notecards, handmade notebooks, hand-sewn paper pouches,
assembled packs of wood type and other type treasures.
“I enjoyed the challenge of conceptualizing, designing,
packaging and selling my own things,” she recalls. “When I
had the retail environment, I could gauge the success of a
product by seeing a customer’s reaction. Now that interaction
and engagement typically happens online through our blog
and social media.”
The 2007 Shatner Show and subsequent book changed
things: it helped Vangool realize that conceptualizing content
and bringing it all together was what she really wanted to do.
In 2008, a magazine she had been working on stopped
publishing and she took what she’d learned there, combined it
with her love of creativity, and in January of 2009, launched
UPPERCASE – a magazine for the creatively curious.
(continued on page 14)
13 • FALL 2012
(continued from page 13)
“Every artist has their muse. Leonardo
was inspired by the ceiling in the great
chapel. Michaelangelo found his art in
the Italian marble. Who am I to stand
in the way of all these fine artists and
artisans who want to use my lumpy,
aging face for inspiration?”
– William Shatner on being
informed Calgary art
gallery UPPERCASE had
curated a show featuring
76 illustrations of
the actor.
Subscribers are typically creative in some way and many are designers and
illustrators.
“But being creative in a professional way is not a prerequisite for enjoying
the magazine,” she says, adding that many work on crafts and art in their spare
time and are simply looking for inspiration. Currently counting some 2,300
subscribers, UPPERCASE’s fan base is chiefly in the U.S., with 50% of the
magazine shipping there, 25% throughout Canada and 25% to other countries
– mostly the U.K. and Australia.
Now into its 15th issue, UPPERCASE explores a broad range of subjects
but always with an eye to the creative. Its inaugural edition featured articles
about the history of the screw, Heini Koskinen’s fashion style, Blanca Gomez’s
illustrations, and Toronto crafting business The Workroom.
This latest explores the creative side of science, with a look at the art of retro
science books and field guides to an article on the rat’s keen awareness of
changes in its environment. Other pieces include profiles of furniture designers
and a small stationery firm as well as a collection of illustrations united by
their ability to glorify the bitmap (the tiny squares that make up digital print).
Besides managing the demands of a young family and running a quarterly
magazine, Vangool still finds time to develop book projects. UPPERCASE has
published nine so far, and each bears witness to the powerful creative force
Vangool channels into every project. ■
uppercasemagazine.com
UPPERCASE Publishing’s nine titles are a celebration of printed matter by attending to every detail in making these
objects of beauty. Each is characterized by a playful exploration of creativity, an affinity for vintage ephemera, and a
love of typography.
A Collection a Day by Lisa Congdon
Housed in a collectible tin, 365 eclectic collections amassed
by San Francisco-based illustrator Lisa Congdon are
presented here. The foreword was penned by Fritz Karch,
the collections editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine.
Work/Life 2: The UPPERCASE directory
of illustration
This second edition of
Work/Life features
100 illustrators from
around the world with
peeks into their studios,
sketchbooks and
insight into what fuels
a creative life.
alliedreit.com • 14
The Suitcase Series Volume 2: Dottie Angel
An exploration of the peachy,
crafty life of a British woman
living in the suburbs of
Seattle. Features how-to craft
tutorials, personal anecdotes
and lots of inspiring images
of vintage-inspired decor
and craft.
TORONTO
[TOTUM TIPS]
START IN NEUTRAL
Maintaining good form while exercising all comes down to
knowing how to find your neutral spine position.
In a Pilates class or working with a trainer, you’ve probably heard the term neutral spine used to
describe the start position of an exercise. While most of us just pull our shoulders back, stand up tall
and hope for the best, finding neutral spine involves a bit more than that. And it’s important.
“Neutral spine is about keeping the natural curve of your spine. Not too much flexion or extension,”
explains Rianna Alvarez, the personal training director at Totum Life Science on King Street West. In this
position, she says, you decrease the likelihood of injury and, used every day, you can reduce long term
back problems.
Alvarez
You should practice getting into neutral spine when sitting, standing and when exercising prone.
Finding neutral spine by lying down is the easiest of the three. Here’s how:
PRONE
1
1. Lying on the floor, tilt your pelvis up
so that your back is flat on the mat
(think: pushing your navel though
your body and out the back).
2
2. Now exaggerate this motion the other
way and pretend that your navel is
being pulled up to create a curve in
your back (enough for someone to
put their hand through).
3
3. Now, relax your core, keeping the
pelvis slightly tilted and abs slightly
engaged.
STANDING
1. Stand normally in front of a mirror with
knees slightly bent, tuck your pelvis
backwards pushing your butt out and
accentuating the curve in your spine.
2. Now tilt your pelvis forward keeping
your shoulders back.
3. Next, relax enough to bring your core
1
2
3
between the tuck and tilt positions,
tighten the muscles around your
stomach and buttocks so your lower
back becomes very flat. Keeping your
pelvis in this neutral position, stand tall
with your ears and shoulders lined up
over your hips and your shoulders.
totum.ca
15 • AUTOMNE 2012
[SERVICE]
A National Childcare Strategy
With 44 locations (and counting) across Canada, Kids & Company’s corporate
clients are discovering the strength of child care as a creative benefit. By Micayla Jacobs
SAINT CATHERINE STREET, MONTREAL / - For
working parents, finding quality child care is both a challenge
and a financial drain. But increasingly, companies seeking
to attract and keep excellent employees are offering more
creative benefits like flexible full and part-time child care,
and emergency back-up child care and even elder care.
Enter Kids & Company.
Ten years ago it was a Toronto-based child care centre
with quality care givers and a solid educational program.
Now, it counts 44 centres across Canada, and continues
to grow (and it just recently won an Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year® Award).
Kids & Company offers a list of proprietary programs –
from a physical activity program designed to teach balance
and coordination, to sign language, early literacy, arts
based program, and second language skills. Its attention to
quality, flexible offerings and no late pick-up fees has made
it attractive to working parents. And that makes it attractive
to employers.
“Most of our centres are corporate focused,” explains
Linda Starr, director, sales and marketing at Kids & Company,
discussing one of the latest facilities to open in Montreal.
alliedreit.com • 16
This one on St. Catherine Street is
the third in the city’s core and offers
guaranteed full-time, part-time and
emergency back-up child care for the
employees of several blue chip clients.
Managing child care is one of the top
stress inducers of contemporary life, says
Starr. Studies consistently show that this
inability to balance work, family and
community has been linked to reduced
work performance, increased stress, higher
employee turnover and poor morale.
It’s one of the reasons organizations in
the banking, accounting, law, government, services and many other industries
buy memberships at Kids & Company
as they can offer a variety of custom child
care benefits to their staff.
Some corporations will pay for the
basic membership and help subsidize
the cost to their employees. A basic
membership gives employees guaranteed
access to care, shortening the wait time
for a spot from 18 months to six.
Many companies will do this as well as provide employees
with a fixed number of emergency back-up child care days
each year as support when existing care arrangements breakdown or to help when school-aged children have a PD day,
or other school related holidays and closures.
“The emergency back-up package is very inexpensive and
a number of our clients’ employees use it to manage those
situations where they just can’t miss work,” says Starr.
Kids & Company goes beyond the standard in child care
offering a number of proprietary programs that are consistent
across the country. These programs include Alpha-Mania, an
early literacy program, and Mini Masters, an art program
teaching kids about famous artists from around the world.
They also offer basic French (English in Quebec centres)
and beyond the mandated two hours of physical activity, have
a program called Munchkinetics, teaching kids gross motor
skills like catching a ball and hopping on one foot.
Beyond child care, Kids &Company partners with other
organizations to offer elder care services, nanny placement
and after-hours babysitting service. ■
kidsandcompany.ca
Une stratégie nationale de soins
aux enfants
RUE SAINTE-CATHERINE, MONTRÉAL / - Pour des parents qui travaillent,
trouver une garderie de qualité représente à la fois tout un défi et un gouffre
financier. Toutefois, les entreprises qui désirent attirer et conserver
d’excellents employés offrent de plus en plus d’avantages sociaux créatifs
et adaptés à leurs besoins tels que des services de garde à temps plein
ou à temps partiel, des soins de dépannage et même des soins aux aînés.
Et voici justement l’arrivée de Kids & Company.
Il y a dix ans, c’était un centre de garde d’enfants de Toronto où
travaillaient des éducateurs de qualité, avec un programme éducatif solide.
Aujourd’hui, l’entreprise compte 44 centres à travers le Canada et elle
continue de croître. De plus, elle vient de recevoir tout récemment un prix
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® Award.
UNE GAMME DE PROGRAMMES EXCLUSIFS Kids & Company offre
une gamme de programmes exclusifs – à partir d’un programme d’activités
physiques conçu pour enseigner l’équilibre et la coordination jusqu’au
langage des signes, en passant par l’apprentissage précoce de la lecture et
de l’écriture, un programme axé sur les arts et des compétences en langue
seconde. L’attention portée aux services souples et de qualité offerts et
l’absence de frais de retards rendent l’offre attrayante pour les parents
sur le marché de travail et par le fait même, pour les employeurs.
« La plupart de nos centres sont centrés sur les entreprises », explique
Linda Starr, directrice des ventes et du marketing de Kids & Company, à propos
d’un des plus récents centres qui ouvrira à Montréal. Ce dernier, situé sur la
rue Sainte-Catherine, est le troisième à voir le jour au cœur de la ville et offre
des soins garantis à temps plein, à temps partiel et en cas d’urgence aux
enfants des employés d’un grand nombre de clients de premier ordre.
GRANDS FACTEURS DE STRESS « La gestion des soins aux enfants
constitue l’un des plus grands facteurs de stress de la vie contemporaine »,
déclare Mme Starr. Les études révèlent année après année que cette
incapacité à équilibrer le travail, la vie familiale et la vie communautaire
est liée à une baisse de rendement au travail, à un stress accru, à un
plus haut taux de roulement des employés et à un moral à la baisse.
C’est l’une des raisons pour lesquelles les organisations des secteurs
bancaire, financier, juridique, gouvernemental, des services et de bien
d’autres industries s’abonnent à Kids & Company car elles peuvent ainsi
offrir à leur personnel une variété d’avantages personnalisés en matière
de soins aux enfants.
Certaines entreprises paieront les frais d’adhésion de base et contribueront à financer le coût pour leurs employés. Un abonnement de
base permet à l’employé d’avoir un accès garanti aux soins, réduisant
ainsi la période d’attente pour obtenir une place de 18 mois à six.
Bon nombre d’entreprises procéderont ainsi et accorderont en plus à
leurs employés un nombre fixe de jours de services de garde de dépannage
chaque année pour les dépanner en cas de problème avec les dispositions
de garde existantes ou lorsque les enfants d’âge scolaire ont une journée
pédagogique ou tout autre congé scolaire ou fermeture d’école.
« Le service de garde de dépannage est très peu dispendieux et bon
nombre d’employés de nos clients l’utilisent pour gérer les situations où ils ne
peuvent tout simplement pas s’absenter du travail », affirme Mme Starr. ■
17 • AUTOMNE 2012
MONTRÉAL
Facilities, like the one on St. Catherine Street in
Montreal (TOP), have been opening across Canada
with regularity. Kids & Company offers a list of
proprietary programs from a physical activity
designed to teach balance and coordination, to
sign language, early literacy, arts-based
programming, and second language skills.
Photo: Yvan Marston
Cologix Canada president Sean Maskell in one of the company’s suites at 151 Front Street West.
The last decade has seen IT move from office server
closets to colocation in secure centres with perpetually
cooled spaces, miles of cabling, back-up power, and
multiple connections. Now, the demand for cloud
computing is driving growth in this sector even further.
alliedreit.com • 18
TORONTO
[TELECOMMUNICATIONS]
RELIABLY REDUNDANT
By Yvan Marston
FRONT STREET WEST, TORONTO / - It’s a bit stark.
CONNECTING CLOUD “Clients are now asking for access to
The long rows of matte-black mesh cabinets, raised white-tiled
multiple geographies, each with redundant infrastructure,
floor and über-bright overhead LED lighting look like a high
and access to multiple network carriers in order to connect
school locker room as imagined by a James Bond villain. And
their cloud infrastructure as well as facilitate services to their
while it may appear plain and simple, it’s anything but that
customers,” he says.
for Sean Maskell, a telecommunications entrepreneur who
In response to these trends, Cologix recently completed two
went from supplying racks and server equipment to becoming
new suites in 151 Front Street West that use industry-leading
President of Cologix, one of Canada’s
technologies to increase reliability and
premier colocation providers.
efficiencies, explains Maskell.
Colocation is the business of
Part of the new technology platform
outsourced infrastructure management,
Clients are now asking for
includes a shift to more efficient racks
providing secure space, reliable power
access to multiple geographies, for holding servers and a highly effective
and cooling to support customer servers
cooling system focused on containing
each with redundant
and switches. This now represents a
the heat output of the equipment. This
multi-billion dollar industry, set on a path
technology enables Cologix to develop
infrastructure, and access to
of growth – in part by business’ near
efficient layouts, which in turn, allows
multiple network carriers
pathological need for 100% reliability
them to distinguish themselves by
and broad connectivity. Technology
in order to connect their
offering scalable solutions for cloud
researcher Gartner estimates the global
providers, content providers and
cloud infrastructure...”
distributed control systems market
financial firms with growing needs.
generated $150 billion globally as of
EXPANSION SUITES In addition,
2011, and is projected to grow to
Cologix has made significant investments to bring more
$200 billion in 2012.
network-neutral capacity in Toronto’s downtown, where
OUT OF THE SERVER CLOSET Maskell witnessed an initial
networks are most present. The company is near completion
stage of growth in the industry in the wake of the 2003
of its new Tier 3, state-of-the-art data center at 905 King Street
Northeast Blackout as companies moved away from using
West, which is also owned and managed by Allied Properties.
their office server closets to instead backing things up off-site
Both the expansion suites and 905 King Street West, feature
in early 2004. “IT departments started to say: We need to
the industry’s highest standards for space, power, cooling and
move our systems out of the office because our business
security. The 905 King Street West data centre offers a diverse,
requires a higher standard of system reliability,” he says.
but natural extension to 151 Front Street West by leveraging
To take advantage of guaranteed performance and the
the dedicated, low latency fiber ring connecting the two
added benefit of reduced costs, enterprise clients have been
facilities.
increasingly moving mission critical IT infrastructure to thirdUpon completion of 905 King Street West (early Q1 2013),
party colocation datacentres, a trend Maskell estimates has
Cologix will operate 50,000 square feet of data center space
been developing over the last eight years.
in downtown Toronto where it hosts more than 140 carriers,
Now, he is seeing is a push from clients already operating in
networks, and ISPs available for interconnection, says
colocation datacentres for additional space, often to replicate
Maskell, attributing Cologix’s success in Toronto to leading
a system at another site to provide redundancy in the event
infrastructure, high touch local service and access to a larger
the first centre goes down.
platform that also includes Montreal, Vancouver, Dallas
Reliability requirements to support services like cloud
and Minneapolis. ■
computing are moving beyond individual sites and appears
cologix.com
to be driving much of this demand, says Maskell.
19 • FALL 2012
Custom prints create a modern
[FINE ART]
niche for Love’s Olde Towne Gallery
YATES ST., VICTORIA / - After 33 years of selling fine art
and posters, Love’s Olde Towne Gallery on Yates St. in Victoria
finds it is catering to a new crowd – today’s mobile phone
photographers. A mix of everything is available on its walls –
original work by local artists, posters and prints. But the
printing and framing of self-produced pictures is now a bigger
part of business for gallery owners, brothers Adam and Chad
Love. It’s just the latest trend in an ever-changing landscape.
“About 12 or 13 years ago, the biggest part of our business
was posters and poster framing,” Adam explains. “Then
the trend was to mount posters on canvas. Following that,
it was reproducing images from posters directly on a canvas
[a technique that allows the character of the canvas to be
appreciated behind the image.]”
While all of these products and techniques are still good for
their bottom line, customized printing and framing are now at
the heart of what Olde Towne does.
“People are taking pictures with their digital cameras and
iPhones,” says Adam. “And they want to see those images blown
up to huge proportions. They want to see something of their
own hanging on the wall.”
FROM ORIGINALS TO REPRODUCTIONS To accommodate this
demand, the gallery offers high-quality prints as wide as 44
inches, and pretty much as long as a customer could want. The
company’s printer is an Epson 9800 wide format printer. It uses
eight very high quality archival inks. “We chose this because it
was user friendly and can be used with any computer,” says
Adam.
alliedreit.com • 20
“Much of the time, people bring in their own images to use
on these huge canvases, but sometimes they just want an image
that will fill a condo wall. Of course, we have plenty to suggest,”
Adam continues.
Old posters and classic works of art are available for reproduction, but the gallery also features a selection of original pieces.
‘PROMOTING ARTISTS WE LIKE’ “It’s fairly easy for artists
to manage their own reproductions of their works, so there
are a number of cool, younger artists that we carry,” says Adam.
“Again, it makes us a little more diverse, and at the same time
we can promote artists we really like.”
One artist in particular is a favourite of Adam’s – his wife
Leslie Wiegand (wiggylove.com). “We keep it in the family a
bit,” he jokes. Much of Wiegand’s work is acrylic on wood –
portraits and special commissions are her specialty.
Adam and Chad bought the business from its original owner
13 years ago, and in November 2010 relocated to their current
address. It was a strategic move as much as it was an aesthetic
choice.
“I had been aware of this spot for some time, so when it
became available, I jumped at the chance to move in,” says
Adam. “This is the direction that our business is going – a
smaller, more custom shop.”
PURSUING A ‘LOCAL VIBE’ At the old location, the gallery
was primarily serving the tourist trade, selling lots of posters.
For that, they required a lot more square footage. In the newer
space, there is still two storeys worth of wall space, but it’s
a more intimate setting – off the main strip, close to many
restaurants and places where locals hang out.
“We have local people coming in now who had no idea
about us when we were around the corner,” says Adam. “It’s a
very different clientele.”
Adam notes that with U.S. tourism being so affected by
the high Canadian dollar, it was important for them to pursue
more of what he calls “a local vibe”.
The shop has taken on a very family-focused management
style as well. When neither Adam nor Chad can be on site,
their mom, Gail, takes over the running of the gallery.
“We couldn’t keep this business going without our mom,”
says Adam. “Both Chad and I have outside pursuits that
fascinate us – I’m fascinated by archaeology, and Chad is
building a cabin during the summers up in Cariboo. Our
mom encourages us to follow these interests when we can.” ■
oldetownegallery.com
VICTORIA
While it carries a number of works
from original artists, Love’s Old Towne
Gallery also prints client photos,
offering high-quality prints as
wide as 44 inches. Original works
seen here include: Model Car 1,
Leslie Wiegand; Logger, Bus Griffiths,
and; Crow, Rudi Hurzlmeier.
21 • FALL 2012
Photo: Yvan Marston
[ENTERTAINMENT]
Brand New Game
Bringing innovative play to international markets is one thing, but as
Montreal’s Wooky Entertainment builds its brands, it is setting its sights
beyond the filling of toy department shelves.
CITE DU MULTIMEDIA, MONTREAL / - Between developing
play patterns, designing collectability and building the DNA of
several brands, running a toy company can be serious business.
Worldwide toy sales topped $83.3 billion in 2010*, and most of
that money was made in the last quarter of the year as holiday
gifting drives parents to search for the season’s hottest toys.
But almost 18 months before any December sees lineups
for Beyblade action figures and Lego minis, Kevin Richer and
his team are hashing out ideas – not just for actual toys, but
for brands.
“Toys are just one element of a much larger business: the
entertainment business,” says the 34-year-old president of
Wooky Entertainment. “The toys getting coveted places on
the shelves of the big retailers all have strong brands rooted
in entertainment.”
The Montreal-based toy company started in 2007 and went
from a few small games to developing and distributing 200
products in some 45 countries.
“We don’t want more than 300 products at the most,” says
the stocky Richer, dressed casually in jeans and an un-tucked
shirt, and sporting a three-day beard. “Really it’s about
increasing the production run of each product. But you don’t
want to grow too quickly because it puts a lot of pressure on
your distributors.”
There’s no shortage of ideas in the company’s third-floor
offices at Cite du Multimedia, explains Richer, but the goal
*Global Toy Market Estimates: 2011 Edition, The NPD Group.
alliedreit.com • 22
is find concepts that can be developed and manufactured with
a minimum of fuss.
Development takes anywhere from three to 18 months,
explains marketing VP Christina Sklavenitis. It depends on
the product, she says, adding that a paper product can generally
be developed faster than something requiring molds and
special materials.
“And for something more complicated, we have to come up
with the brand’s DNA – so not only what will it look like but
what is the play pattern, how will it be adapted,” she explains.
The Style Me Up jewelry kits are by far the company’s fastest
growing product line. Other brands such as its innovative
stackable Block Crayons for toddlers, its click together Mixy
jewelry for the 4 to 7 crowd and Mathable, a math-focused
board game with a style of play similar to Scrabble, are also
driving growth in the company that is continually looking
for designers to help develop its brands.
All the brands have their own web sites and in some cases,
even more.
The Artzooka line of art products was developed in
conjunction with a production company and is also a half-hour
CBC kids series blending live action and animation to show
kids that art is everywhere. And Mathable, a Scrabble-meetsmath board game that has been popular since the 1980s has
been reinvented in five variations as an iPad paid app. ■
wookyentertainment.com
Mathable, a Scrabble-meets-math board game popular
since the 1980s, has been reinvented in five variations
as an iPad paid app.
What’s the hot toy trend for 2012?
“Collectability,” says Kevin Richer, president
of Wooky Entertainment, Toy’s R Us’ largest
supplier of creative products for girls 5 to 12.
“If you look at all the huge successes of the last
few years, they are lines based on collectable
concepts.” Wooky’s own line up consists of a
number of creative tween products – from
build-your-own jewelry kits to fashion sketchpads, tattoos, messenger bags and iron-on
transfers. This year, Mixy, its click-together
jewelry sets for younger girls, features
collectible plastic beads in a variety of colours
and shapes – some even with prints and
sparkling gems.
CITÉ DU MULTIMÉDIA, MONTRÉAL / - Mis à part le
développement de concepts de jeux, la conception de
produits de collection et la création de l’ADN d’un grand
nombre de marques, la direction d’une entreprise de jeux
peut parfois être une affaire sérieuse. Les ventes de jouets
à travers le monde ont atteint quelque 83,3 milliards de
dollars en 2010* et la majeure partie de cette somme avait
été amassée au dernier trimestre de l’année, alors que la
tradition des cadeaux de Noël pousse les parents à vouloir
dénicher les cadeaux dernier cri pour les enfants.
Mais près de 18 mois avant les files d’attente de
décembre pour se procurer les figurines Beyblade et
les mini Lego, Kevin Richer et son équipe sortent des
idées – non seulement pour des jouets mais aussi pour
des marques.
« Les jouets ne constituent qu’un élément d’une industrie beaucoup plus vaste : l’industrie du divertissement »
déclare le président de Wooky Entertainment, âgé de
34 ans. « Les jouets qui se méritent des places convoitées
sur les tablettes des grands détaillants portent tous des
grandes marques reliées à l’industrie du divertissement. »
L’entreprise montréalaise a vu le jour en 2007 et elle
est passée de quelques petits jeux à la mise au point et la
distribution de 200 produits dans quelque 45 pays.
Les trousses de bijoux Style Me Up sont de loin la
gamme de produits de l’entreprise qui a connu la plus forte
croissance. D’autres marques telles que ses crayons blocs
empilables (Block Crayons) innovateurs pour tout-petits,
ses bijoux Mixy dont les pièces s’imbriquent les unes
dans les autres, destinés aux 4 à 7 ans et Mathable, un
jeu de société axé sur les mathématiques qui s’apparente
au Scrabble, connaissent également une croissance au
sein de l’entreprise qui est constamment à la recherche de
concepteurs, pour l’aider à mettre au point ses marques.
Toutes les marques ont leurs propres sites Web et
même plus dans certains cas.
La gamme de produits d’artisanat Artzooka a été
mise au point en collaboration avec une compagnie de
production et elle fait également l’objet d’une série
d’émissions pour enfants d’une demi-heure à CBC,
mélangeant action en direct et animation pour
montrer à ces derniers que l’art est partout et
que chacun possède en soi un côté artistique.
Puis, il y a le fameux Mathable, tel que
mentionné, un jeu de société qui est en
fait un croisement entre le Scrabble et les
mathématiques; il est populaire depuis les
années 1980 et a été réinventé en cinq déclinaisons
comme application payante sur iPad. ■
23 • AUTOMNE 2012
MONTRÉAL
Artzooka line of
art products ties
into a half-hour
CBC kids series.
Wooky Entertainment vise plus
que de remplir les étagères des
départements de jouets
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