Is. Salon
Developer Don Redden is turning the self-storage model on its ear. Usually, those endless rows of low-lying storage lockers are a blight on the landscape.
However, Redden is building an eye-catching, five-storey, 112,000-squarefoot self-storage facility in Kelowna that also features co-working spacing called EcoLock Kelowna.
Construction has already started at the corner of Bay Avenue and Ellis Street in the North End of town and completion is scheduled for the summer of 2019.
“Rather than self-storage being not very attractive and on the outskirts of town, this is a building that will bring vibrancy to this downtown neighbourhood,” said Redden.
The key to taking self-storage to the next level is combining it with an urban second use.
In this case, 50 co-working desks on the ground and second floors, along with space for the bikes people ride to work, a lounge and commuter rooms with showers.
The workers will bring daily life to the neighbourhood.
On the top three floors there will be storage lockers measuring from five feet by five feet to 10 feet by 20 feet.
Two big elevators will serve the self-storage floors to you can get your bike, spare bed or winter tires up there.
Prices for co-working desks and self-storage haven’t been determined yet.
“Having EcoLock Kelowna close to downtown means the co-working space will be in demand and people who live downtown in condos who need self-storage lockers have them close to home,” said Redden.
Redden has been building mostly highrises in Vancouver.
When downtown Vancouver land proved too expensive for an EcoLock, Redden looked to Kelowna as a growing, progressive city where land costs are less and the EcoLock concept will work.
Eventually, he’d like to also build EcoLocks in cities on Vancouver Island and throughout the U.S.
As its name indicates, EcoLock Kelowna will be a green, sustainable building.
Internal walls made of blocks of waste hemp fibre are strong, insulating and will sequester carbon.
Solar panels will supply all the power the building needs for electricity, plus produce an extra five per cent that can be sold into the power grid.
And rainwater will be collected in a 62,000-litre tank located under the building and used for landscaping irrigation.
Twelve years ago when it came time to put the sign up at Erin Moore’s first hair salon, she was shocked by the $600-a-word price tag.
So, she dreamed up the short-and-sweet name, Is.
That first salon is still on Hamilton Street in Vancouver’s trendy Yaletown.
Since then a second salon has opened, right next door, appropriately called an abbreviated In.
The third, new location in the chain, another Is., is at 1389 Ellis St. in the base of the 15-storey Madison condominium building.
It’s the same space previously occupied by Cream Salon, but hits been completely renovated to show off Is.’s aesthetic.
“We’re traditionally trained stylists who do modern hair,” said owner Erin Moore.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Kelowna and always wanted to open in Kelowna. Now, I’ll get to split my time between Vancouver and Kelowna.”
The Kelowna salon also has a braid bar to style your own hair or braid in synthetic weaves or dreadlocks
Resolutions passed
Chambers of commerce across the country agree with the Kelowna chamber: booze should be able to cross provincial borders without barriers and digital media should get tax credits.
The Kelowna chamber’s two such policy resolutions were passed at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting in Thunder Bay this week.
What that means is the national chamber will now officially lobby the federal government to re-commit to tearing down the internal trade barriers that make it difficult for the wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries to ship product across provincial lines.
The Canadian chamber will also petition Ottawa to adjust tax credits for the digital media industry so it can remain competitive on the global stage.
Tax credits help animators, video game and app developers and other information technology companies compete with financial arrangements that such companies have in the U.S., Singapore, China, France and India.
“Many of the policies tabled addressed cutting-edge technologies and current changes to legislation and regulations of new industries, such as cannabis and pharmaceuticals,” said Kelowna Chamber of Commerce president Carmen Sparg, who went to Thunder Bay for the conference.
Wash your hands
You are either the person who doesn’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom or the person who shakes hands with that person.
Bradley, a supplier of soap dispensers, hand dryers and bathroom accessories, has just released some disturbing statistics about workplace hygiene.
Its survey says 56 per cent of workers have seen colleagues leave the restroom without washing their hands.
When broken down by gender, the figures are more divergent.
Sixty-three per cent of men frequently, or occasionally, observe non-washing behaviour, while 49 per cent of women do.
Just imagine what the percentages are when no one is looking.
The end message here is wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds after using the washroom.
Otherwise, you’re spreading disgusting germs via every surface you touch and every hand you shake.
Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekends’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.