Luxury service for new luxury car
Recognizing 42 years of continually doing it right, City Furniture has won the Canadian Home Furnishings Alliance 2018 retailer of the year award for Western Canada. “This is as big as it gets,” said Das Kandola, who owns and operates City Furniture in West Kelowna with his uncle, Ray Kandola.
“This is a national award that you have to qualify for. It’s not just about selling a lot of furniture, but giving top-notch service, carrying top-brand names, buying and selling Canadian product and giving back to the community.”
City Furniture, which has 22 stores throughout B.C. and Alberta, won B.C. Home Furnishings Alliance awards in 1997 and 2013.
However, this is the first time it has been victorious on the national stage.
It was back in 1976 that business partners Ray Kandola, Ted Sandhu and Ruby Sharma founded City Furniture in Prince George.
Ray’s branch of the family, in some cases three generations, has 14 City Furniture locations in B.C., including not just West Kelowna and Prince George, but Osoyoos, Merritt, Kamloops, Salmon Arm and Revelstoke.
City Furniture doesn’t just sell furniture, but appliances, electronics, mattresses, lighting, area rugs and even art.
City Furniture prides itself on the fact that what it sells helps people turn their houses into homes.
City Furniture also attributes its success to the trifecta of friendship, family and community.
Strong relationships and friendships with suppliers and staff has been critical to City Furniture’s growth and winning ways.
It’s a family business with family values that appeals to customers and sees City Furniture having both three generations of operators and three generations of shoppers.
In every community where City Furniture has a location it has an annual fundraising golf tournament to benefit a local non-profit, be it the food bank, hospital, boys and girls club or sports team.
The arrival of Genesis in Kelowna is touted as a disruptor in the luxury car buying and driving experience.
“Absolutely,” said Genesis Kelowna experience manager Jayson Gazloff.
“It starts with us being a mobile dealership where we bring everything to you, delivery of your new car in a see-through plexi-glass box atop a trailer and worry-free ownership. We are changing luxury car buying in Canada.”
Genesis is the luxury spinoff of Hyundai, just as Infiniti is to Nissan and Lexus is to Toyota.
Genesis introduced itself last night with a party at Summerhill Pyramid Winery.
While enjoying appetizers and wine, partygoers admired the all-new 2019 G70, the entry-level model in the Genesis lineup, priced at $42,000 to $55,000.
“This car is comparable to entry-level BMWs, Audi and Mercedes,” said Gazloff. “Yet it’s prices $10,000 to $15,000 less than those cars.” Genesis doesn’t have a traditional dealership location in Kelowna.
It all starts with the online sales platform at Genesis.ca.
You can go through the entire sales process online if you want, configuring the car of your dreams, trading in your existing vehicle and making the purchase.
Or, you can mobilize your Genesis experience manager who will drive over in a G70, G80 or G90 for you to test drive.
The manager can help you as little, or as much, as you want through the rest of the process too.
Once ordered, your Genesis shows up 10 days later in the impressive, aforementioned see-through plexi-glass container, which is sure to cause a stir in your neighbourhood.
Genesis’ five years of stress-free ownership sees all scheduled maintenance covered complimentary, with an experience manager showing up at your door with a courtesy vehicle while your car is whisked off to be serviced.
The full-size G80 sedan was introduced with a 2018 model and retails for $52,000 to $57,000.
The highest-end G90 sedan is priced $57,000 to $70,000 and is comparable to a 7 series BMW priced at $130,000.
Gazloff admits Genesis doesn’t yet have the name-recognition and cachet of BMW, Audi and Mercedes, but it soon will.
Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekend’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.