Free on Wednesdays and Fridays and colour pictures, what to make of the new look Daily News?
Interesting strategy to give the paper away twice a week, wonder if that’s a long term plan or just an introductory gimmick for the new look.
I believe this means that the Extra has gone the way of last months fishwrap as the flyers are now included in the Friday edition. (not that anyone will miss that mailbox clogging swill)
Wonder though once you start to give away your product, are people going to want to pay for it the other three days of the week. Or, is the slow road to a free bi-weekly local?
The only thing I really liked about today’s newly improved Daily Snooze was the article about Dairy Queen coming back to town. The visual change is nice and all, but it’s a small town newspaper. My Dad saves them up for me and I tear through a weeks worth in about 2 minutes flat. Anything other than local news I’ve already seen on the internet, and most times the local news hits here first so I’ve seen that too.
hehe ya I liked that to the Dairy Queen coming back then I read alittle more and it says franchise opportunity, so some one has to come up with the 1 million and a building…yep when will that happen.
I don’t have the article here with me Mig, but basically it’s an interview with the some DQ Exec who’s saying they want to set up in Rupert. They want to open one of thier new DQ’s which focus’ on the restaurant side of things. I’m assuming that means a full restaurant rather than one of the smaller ones like our old one or Terraces. Apparently there are only 2 or 3 of that design in BC and like 17 in all of Canada.
He goes on to say they have wanted to come back for a while but were waiting for the right time. They are looking for a local franchisee to run it so it will have a strong link to the community. They are looking at 2 locations right now and want to find one in the Downtown core. He said if they found the franchisee quickly they could be open by June of 2007, although it sounded like Oct 2007 was more likely.
Thats all from memory of my quick scan of the paper mind you… so it may not be exact. I’m sure the Podunkian will shortly source the article for us.
Oh and just to add to the rumour mill… my dad heard today at his “coffee crowd” down at Timmies that the renovation to Safeway to add a small Starbucks is back on too.
i heard that star bucks was goin in last dec lol … and also they were thinking about putting a safeway gas station accross the street where that huskey or whatever was or is i cant remember if they ever did re open that place.
The Safeway Starbucks renos were put on hold for a year or 2… so it could be in the works again soon, but I don’t think there will be a Safeway gas bar going in anytime soon, as it would have to be on the same property, not across the street.
As for the new look of the Daily News… I like it… I thought it was rather Globe and Mailish… or similar to other big newspapers layout wise, but I hope the colour pictures end up getting clearer, they still seem to be quite blurry and the lines don’t matchup.
Before we give you the article though, check out the web site, they have a number of FAQ’s for those with some cash to invest and a desire to bring back the Blizzard!
DQ SET FOR RETURN TO TOWN AS SOON AS 2007
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Friday, September 15, 2006
Page One
Local Blizzard fans could be in for a treat as early as next summer.
Dairy Queen is looking to return to Prince Rupert, and their head office is openly seeking a franchise owner to get it started, said Chris Falle, Franchise Development Manger of IDQ.
“We’re excited about the potential of moving back to Rupert,â€
As a subscriber to home delivery I’m waiting to see if my monthly charge goes down (especially since it just went up a few months ago). If they think I’m going to pay the same for three days a week as I did for five days a week …
I also notice that yesterdays paper had a price of 71 cents … but was delivered to every household?? I hope they have a marketing plan because something isn’t making sense.
The Safeway reno’s will indeed take place. I was speaking to one of their long time employee’s (semi-related family) and it will be quite an overhaul as I understand it.
During last week’s problem at Safeway when it would take like 2 mins to do a credit card auth, I was talking to the cashier fellow while waiting and there will be a starbucks there, too bad I dont drink coffee any longer.
The floral dept will be gutted and moved, the ceilings in the produce section will be raised to full store height. From the sounds of it there will be crews in there 24/7.
I was in a Safeway in Chilliwack in August and it was very nice. Lots of pot lights and recessed lighting, which gave a nice glow, not the harsh lights of fluorescents. Small kiosk with starbucks, great deli space.
Supposed to start in the first couple of weeks of Oct.
I was in a brand new Safeway in Edmonton a year and a half ago and it was a really nice looking store, hopefully they all more-or-less follow the same layout and ours will be similar. There was a Starbucks with about 10 tables, a HUGE deli - with takeout sushi, fried chicken, pizza and sandwiches, the produce department was huge as well, with a lot of varied displays for everything, and their pharmacy was about twice the size as ours is now. There was also a small “rest area” in the middle of the store where you could chill if getting the groceries became too much of a chore.
[quote]Following is the estimated project cost for a standard, free standing, DQ Grill & Chill restaurant (excluding land).
Site Improvement: $140,000 - $450,000
Construction Cost: $460,000 - $650,000
Equipment Cost: $380,000 - $480,000
Working Capital: $100,000 [/quote]
That’s some serious coinage involved. I like the look of the new restaurants though. I wonder where they are looking to put one here though. Check out these site requirements and try and visualize where in the downtown area such a place would exist?
[quote]Site Criteria
Minimum Lot Size: | 34,000 Square Feet with 121’ Frontage
Building Sizes: | 2,600 or 3,600 Square Feet
Parking: | Minimum of 46 Parking Spaces
Traffic Count Minimum: | 20,000 Daily Average
Employees: | 5,000 (3 minute drive-time)
Median Household Income: | Minimum of $35,000
DQ Grill & Chill Image: | Logos and building design and materials allowed
Drive-Thru: | Site can acquire drive-thru zoning approval[/quote]
ya not to be a party pooper, but realy were is this going to happen? there is the property across the old Darry Queen, then there in land right beside the inlander hikes. Im sorry folks but i can only see it happening out along the highway, but realy its not going to happen not for a few years and not this one year crap, more like 5 years…
Well, knock down the bowling alley and you’ve got enough room right there for a Grill n Chill. As much as I’d hate to see that happen, it’s quite possible.
ya thats me mike…lol…i dont trust anything from people who say stuff that will get my hopes all up, I mean I rather eat locally, but for now I’ll keep going to terrace and spending my food money there, ya now what i mean
hikes. Im sorry folks but i can only see it happening out along the highway, but realy its not going to happen not for a few years and not this one year crap, more like 5 years…