Turner VW earns prestigious Wolfsburg award
Naturally, the Wolfsburg Crest Club trophy features imagery of a wolf posed atop a castle.
The Wolfsburg, named after the town and castle in Germany where Volkswagen has factories, is the highest accolade a VW dealership in Canada can earn. And Turner VW in Kelowna has nabbed one of only 12 awarded across the country this year.
There are 140 VW dealerships in Canada, so being one of the 12 Wolfsburg winners puts Turner in the top eight per cent.
“To earn the Wolfsburg a dealership has to excel in fixed operations, parts and service, new and pre-owned sales targets and customer satisfaction,” said Turner VW general manager Aaron Fanslau. “Bottom line, we had to score 96 per cent or more in customer satisfaction to even be considered.”
Being family-owned-and-operated, Turner prides itself on one-on-one relationships with customers, knowing every customer by name and exceptional customer service whether a person is buying a new or used car or having it maintained or repaired.
“We celebrate our successes,” said Fanslau. “But when there is a mistake or a problem, we fix it right away.”
All vehicles are returned to customers after maintenance and repairs washed inside and out.
“It’s something we've always done that a lot of other dealerships don’t do anymore because they’re in a rush,” said Fanslau.
This spring, Turner’s sales are strong right across the VW model line up from the iconic Beetle and Beetle convertible and the No. 1selling Jetta to the Golf, which comes in twoand-four-door and sportwagen formats, and the compact Touareg SUV.
Fanslau is also excited about VW’s upcoming new offerings — the launch of the sevenpassenger full-size 2018 Atlas SUV on June 7, the Golf sportwagen in all-wheel drive and the Touareg with a seven-passenger option.
TEDx Kelowna
Club Penguin co-founder Lane Merrifield and Olympic-skiing sisters Justine, Chloe and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe headline the TEDx Talks event in West Kelowna next Saturday.
TEDx is the locally-organized edition of the popular international TED Talks, which brings speakers and audiences together for a day of idea-sharing and motivation.
The event will be held 1 to 5 p.m. at Quails’ Gate Winery and features a reception afterward to sample appetizers prepared by winery chef Roger Sleiman and vintages by Quails’ Gate. Tickets are $99 at TEDxKelowna.com. Merrifield has moved onto new tech innovation with education platform Fresh Grade.
The Dufour-Lapointe sisters from Montreal made history as the first set of three Canadian siblings to compete in the same individual event at the same Olympics: freestyle skiing at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Justine won gold, Chloe silver and Maxime placed 12th.
Other speakers include Kelowna Women’s Shelter executive director Karen Mason, neuroscientist Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, UBC biology professor Dr. John Klironomos, radio
talk show host Tasha Kheiriddin, Thato Kgatlhanye of Repurpose Schoolbags in Africa and Digital Nova Scotia CEO Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia.
RV storage
Have a recreational vehicle and no where to park it?
Space Centre Storage in Kelowna can help with its expansion, including 157 stalls to fit all sizes of standard and luxury RVs.
“We have seen a real increase in demand for RV storage that’s secure and paved,” said Space Centre manager Yvonne Rogers.
“These days, a lot of people live in strata units where there is no RV parking on site or the bylaws simply don’t allow RV parking on the street. Neighbours don’t always like seeing a big rig parked on their block, so this is an excellent opportunity for empty nesters.”
The RV storage features wider, angled stalls and fresh water and sani-dump hookups.
Customers also have the option of parking their passenger car in the space when they take their RV on the road.
Space Centre, located at 3150 Sexsmith Rd. just off Highway 97, has additional outdoor boat and RV storage, indoor self storage, MIBOX portable storage containers, moving supplies, mailboxes and mini-warehouse leased commercial space with load docks and forklift access.
Vinyl records
The Sunrise Records store at Kelowna’s Orchard Park mall is now open.
Ontario-based Sunrise took over the leases of 70 of the 100 HMV stores that closed across the country earlier this year under receivership.
Sunrise plans to succeed where HMV failed by playing up the niche of vinyl records, CDs and DVDs, which have almost been obliterated by music, TV and movie streaming.
Sunrise stores will also sell music, TV and movie apparel, themed merchandise, toys and board games.
Quality birthday
The Quality Greens Farm Markets in Kelowna, West Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton are celebrating the company’s 22nd birthday with tastings, nutritional tips and a bike giveaway.
Local producers will be offering samples of produce and cheese and nutritionist Lisa Aschenbrenner will be on hand at the new store in Kelowna's Lower Mission. You can also enter to win a $500 Diadora Traccia bike.
Orange Door
Until July 2, customers at The Home Depot in Kelowna can donate $2 at the store's checkout and received an orange paper door leaflet reflecting the company's corporate colour.
The leaflet explains the money will go to the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs to combat youth homelessness. Last year, Home Depot Kelowna raised $14,108 for the club.
All Home Depot stores in Canada take part in the fundraiser and donate to 121 youth shelters, drop-in centres and aid organizations. Since the Orange Door Project started in 2007, a total of $6.6 million has been raised.
On any given night, 6,000 youth in Canada either sleep outside or in an emergency shelter. There’s also the so-called hidden youth homeless population that couch surfs.
Steve MacNaull is a business reporter and columnist with The Okanagan Weekend. You can contact him by email at: steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.