Post by YZFNick on Nov 1, 2006 14:24:54 GMT -8
Ferry Corp Policy Grinding Out Coffee Cart
Campbell River Mirror, November 1
By Grant Warkentin
www.campbellrivermirror.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=6&cat=23&id=762102&more=
After 11 years of serving coffee at the Quathiaski Cove ferry terminal, Lenny Wolfe fears he is being forced out of business.
But Dockers Espresso isn’t in danger of closing because of Wolfe’s skill as an entrepreneur. It’s in danger of closing because of BC Ferries’ corporate policies for vendors at ferry terminals.
Dockers Espresso is a small coffee and snack shop, a self-contained coffee service Wolfe built himself on a horse trailer frame, and has been doing a brisk business since he opened it on July 1, 1995. Wolfe enjoyed a good working relationship with BC Ferries until early this year, when BC Ferries issued a request for proposals for businesses to operate next to its building at Quadra Island’s Quathiaski Cove terminal.
“We issued an expression of interest for interested parties to provide food and beverage and retail kiosks at any one or more of our 15 North Island and North Coast terminals,” said Deborah Marshall, spokesperson for BC Ferries.
Having operated Dockers Espresso on that spot for 11 years, Wolfe was given first dibs at meeting the requirements of BC Ferries’ request. However, that would have meant an increase in rental rates he couldn’t afford.
Wolfe said BC Ferries’ new rules for terminal vendors would have meant an increase in his winter rent rate by 750 per cent and his summer rent rate by 900 per cent.
He pleaded with BC Ferries to give him a lower rate, or at least hold off on making changes until September so he could build up his finances during the busy summer season to meet the new requirements.
“They just didn’t care. No matter how much I talked to them and tried to explain it to them they wouldn’t listen,” Wolfe said. “To BC Ferries it’s just money and greed.”
Marshall said the rate increase was part of changes to BC Ferries’ terminals on the North Island and North Coast.
“It’s an opportunity to provide better service for our customers as well as a revenue-generating opportunity for BC Ferries,” she said.
Unable to pay the new rates, Wolfe was forced to move his trailer off the spot he had occupied for 11 years. However, he told BC Ferries he was going to stay in the area and he was able to negotiate a deal with the Quadra Island harbour authority, which owns land around the BC Ferries terminal. The harbour authority had a spot available only a few feet away from Wolfe’s former location and he set up shop, relieved at being able to stay in business.
Until the neighbours moved in.
One month after Wolfe vacated his spot on BC Ferries’ property, a new coffee service cart moved in to his old spot to do the same kind of business. Insulted and upset, Wolfe couldn’t understand why BC Ferries would allow another coffee cart within a few feet of his business, forcing the two owners into competition on an island where running any kind of business is a delicate endeavor.
“That’s just island life – the population isn’t here to support it,” Wolfe said. “This isn’t Horseshoe Bay or Tsawwassen – it’s Quadra Island. Why didn’t they put them on the Campbell River side?”
That’s not BC Ferries’ problem, said Marshall, explaining that while Dockers Espresso could not meet the requirements of the ferry corporation’s request for proposals, another business did.
“We’re concerned about our own property, this is something we’ve set up on our own property. If he’s made arrangements with the harbour authority then that’s certainly up to them,” she said.
Marshall said there’s only one spot for a vendor on BC Ferries’ Quathiaski Cove property because there’s not enough traffic to support more.
“Really, with the volume of customers going through there would only be enough to support one business,” she said.
Because the new coffee service is in a better spot – his old spot – and also undercuts Wolfe’s prices, it didn’t take long for him to see a drop in customers.
“They probably took 40 per cent of my business this summer,” he said.
Wolfe is insulted because when he opened up his business he did it because he saw a niche he could fill without competing with anyone else. And it was something he could do full-time, a rare opportunity considering Wolfe’s bad knees and back limit his options when it comes to work.
“Sitting in the ferry lineup one day, I thought, hey, a cup of coffee would be really good and there’s no one doing it,” he recalled.
One month later after a frenzy of work to pull a new business together, Dockers Espresso opened. Wolfe said before he opened, however, he went to all the existing businesses at the terminal to make sure he wouldn’t be directly competing with them. And for 11 years the different businesses at the terminal were able to co-exist.
That’s why it was a rude shock to see another coffee business just a few feet away from his own.
“Why a coffee cart? Why not a hamburger stand?” he said.
Wolfe is doing his best to keep his business afloat but with the drop in customers he’s not optimistic. However he said he’ll try to keep smiling while he serves coffee.
“I’m hanging in there as long as I can,” he said. “This is my life.”
Campbell River Mirror, November 1
By Grant Warkentin
www.campbellrivermirror.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=6&cat=23&id=762102&more=
After 11 years of serving coffee at the Quathiaski Cove ferry terminal, Lenny Wolfe fears he is being forced out of business.
But Dockers Espresso isn’t in danger of closing because of Wolfe’s skill as an entrepreneur. It’s in danger of closing because of BC Ferries’ corporate policies for vendors at ferry terminals.
Dockers Espresso is a small coffee and snack shop, a self-contained coffee service Wolfe built himself on a horse trailer frame, and has been doing a brisk business since he opened it on July 1, 1995. Wolfe enjoyed a good working relationship with BC Ferries until early this year, when BC Ferries issued a request for proposals for businesses to operate next to its building at Quadra Island’s Quathiaski Cove terminal.
“We issued an expression of interest for interested parties to provide food and beverage and retail kiosks at any one or more of our 15 North Island and North Coast terminals,” said Deborah Marshall, spokesperson for BC Ferries.
Having operated Dockers Espresso on that spot for 11 years, Wolfe was given first dibs at meeting the requirements of BC Ferries’ request. However, that would have meant an increase in rental rates he couldn’t afford.
Wolfe said BC Ferries’ new rules for terminal vendors would have meant an increase in his winter rent rate by 750 per cent and his summer rent rate by 900 per cent.
He pleaded with BC Ferries to give him a lower rate, or at least hold off on making changes until September so he could build up his finances during the busy summer season to meet the new requirements.
“They just didn’t care. No matter how much I talked to them and tried to explain it to them they wouldn’t listen,” Wolfe said. “To BC Ferries it’s just money and greed.”
Marshall said the rate increase was part of changes to BC Ferries’ terminals on the North Island and North Coast.
“It’s an opportunity to provide better service for our customers as well as a revenue-generating opportunity for BC Ferries,” she said.
Unable to pay the new rates, Wolfe was forced to move his trailer off the spot he had occupied for 11 years. However, he told BC Ferries he was going to stay in the area and he was able to negotiate a deal with the Quadra Island harbour authority, which owns land around the BC Ferries terminal. The harbour authority had a spot available only a few feet away from Wolfe’s former location and he set up shop, relieved at being able to stay in business.
Until the neighbours moved in.
One month after Wolfe vacated his spot on BC Ferries’ property, a new coffee service cart moved in to his old spot to do the same kind of business. Insulted and upset, Wolfe couldn’t understand why BC Ferries would allow another coffee cart within a few feet of his business, forcing the two owners into competition on an island where running any kind of business is a delicate endeavor.
“That’s just island life – the population isn’t here to support it,” Wolfe said. “This isn’t Horseshoe Bay or Tsawwassen – it’s Quadra Island. Why didn’t they put them on the Campbell River side?”
That’s not BC Ferries’ problem, said Marshall, explaining that while Dockers Espresso could not meet the requirements of the ferry corporation’s request for proposals, another business did.
“We’re concerned about our own property, this is something we’ve set up on our own property. If he’s made arrangements with the harbour authority then that’s certainly up to them,” she said.
Marshall said there’s only one spot for a vendor on BC Ferries’ Quathiaski Cove property because there’s not enough traffic to support more.
“Really, with the volume of customers going through there would only be enough to support one business,” she said.
Because the new coffee service is in a better spot – his old spot – and also undercuts Wolfe’s prices, it didn’t take long for him to see a drop in customers.
“They probably took 40 per cent of my business this summer,” he said.
Wolfe is insulted because when he opened up his business he did it because he saw a niche he could fill without competing with anyone else. And it was something he could do full-time, a rare opportunity considering Wolfe’s bad knees and back limit his options when it comes to work.
“Sitting in the ferry lineup one day, I thought, hey, a cup of coffee would be really good and there’s no one doing it,” he recalled.
One month later after a frenzy of work to pull a new business together, Dockers Espresso opened. Wolfe said before he opened, however, he went to all the existing businesses at the terminal to make sure he wouldn’t be directly competing with them. And for 11 years the different businesses at the terminal were able to co-exist.
That’s why it was a rude shock to see another coffee business just a few feet away from his own.
“Why a coffee cart? Why not a hamburger stand?” he said.
Wolfe is doing his best to keep his business afloat but with the drop in customers he’s not optimistic. However he said he’ll try to keep smiling while he serves coffee.
“I’m hanging in there as long as I can,” he said. “This is my life.”
