From Kazakhstan to West Kelowna
Luba Ovomasheva started her career as a civil engineer in Kazakhstan and is finishing it as the owner of Liquidation European Stock in West Kelowna.
“I retired as a civil engineer and moved to Calgary to be close to my son, but couldn’t retire and ended up running three home-decor stores for five years,” said Ovomasheva with a chuckle.
“Then I retired to West Kelowna and thought I might as well use my connections in Europe to open Liquidation European Stock and sell last year’s designer clothes for great discounts.”
The store in Plaza 97, the same strip as Papa John’s Pizza and the Mad Hatter Bookstore, sells mens, womens and teens fashions for $5 to $35.
Ovomasheca travels to Amsterdam, the hub of European clothing liquidation, to pick out leftover designer duds from the previous year from Milan, Paris, London and Luxemburg.
She has them shipped back to Canada in a container and then sells them at her clearance outlet.
As a civil engineer, Ovomasheva worked on the main transcontinental highway through Kazakhstan and many consulate buildings.
Korean and Italian
It’s not fusion, but the dishes at Gather will feature Korean and Italian influences.
Gather will be the restaurant in the base of the six-storey Okanagan Centre for Innovation that will open next month at the corner of Ellis Street and Doyle Avenue.
While the building will house mostly high-tech companies of all sizes, the two restaurants that will have 460 Doyle Ave. addresses are garnering a lot of attention.
Luigi Coccaro, who, as you might gather, is of Italian descent, is behind Gather.
His family also owns and operates the Italian fine-dining room, La Bussola, nearby on Ellis Street, as well as the more casual wood-fire pizza place, Curious Cafe, also on Ellis Street.
Gather will mix it up with some Korean favourites added to the menu, have a grab-and-go counter and, in keeping with its high-tech location, will allow people to order using an app on their smartphones.
The other restaurant at the innovation centre will be a rooftop cafe called Perch with indoor and outdoor seating and liquor licence.
The space generated a lot of attention, and controversy, last year when it looked like Perch might be a bar and cause noise late into the night.
Tom’s back
Under special circumstances, Tom Dyas of TD Benefits is back for a second one-year term as president of the 1,350-member Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.
Usually the volunteer president’s post is only occupied by the person for a single year.
However, with the chamber currently looking for a full-time executive director, the organization felt it should have some consistency at the top.
So, Dyas will stay on as president for 2017.
The chamber is looking to hire a new executive director after previous CEO Caroline Grover retired at the end of 2016 after being on medical leave for much of the year.
Former chamber president and retired banker and realtor Ken Bessaon is the interim executive director until someone is hired, likely in a month or two.
The chamber’s move-up-topresident system means this year’s executive vice-president, Carmen Sparg of Associated Property Management, will become president in 2018.
The rest of the 2017 board is made up of:
– Ron Cannan, Interior Saving Credit Union
– Domenic Rampone, West Manufacturing
– Ken Carmichael, BDO Canada
– Jeff Robinson, Rush Ihas Hardwick Lawyers
– Martine Hickman, Business Development Bank
– Shelagh Turner, Canadian Mental Health Association – Nikki Csek, Csek Creative – Una Gabie, Touchstone Law – Stuart Grant, Norelco Cabinets
– Al Hildebrandt, Luv N Hope Foundation
– Angela Nagy, GreenStep Solutions
Women’s Day
Be bold, have courage. That’s the advice First West Credit Union CEO Launi Skinner had for females from all walks of life as International Women’s Day was celebrated this week.
First West is the parent company of Penticton-based Valley First Credit Union, which benefits from Skinner’s gender-balanced executive and senior management team approach and advancement-forwomen Tom Dyas of TD Benefits is back for a second one-year term as president of the 1,350-member Kelowna Chanber of Commerce. mantra.
“When I lead with courage, when other women lead with boldness, we change not only our immediate circumstances, but we collectively begin to change the world around us,” she said.
“Today, more than ever, our world needs leaders of courage, integrity and compassion to set a course that lifts others up and helps everyone thrive.”
Before joining First West seven years ago, Skinner was the president of Starbucks USA.
Since joining First West, she’s helped it grow from a financial institution with $4.7 billion in assets to $9.4 billion today.
She was named one of four women to watch in Fortune Magazine’s 50 most powerful women feature, is in the Women’s Executive Network Hall of Fame and received the Stevie Award for best Canadian executive in 2011.
Steve MacNaull is a business reporter and columnist with The Okanagan Saturday. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.