Its Cycling Season!

With the summer on its way, great weather coming back and myself heading to the island this weekend for a little bike trip of my own, I thought why not repost one of my favourite interviews. As a local business ourselves, and a love for pedalling around the city, when we heard about City Cycle Tours I thought it was a genius idea! So with the bike season full underway, we thought would repost our chat with Josh Bloomfield (The founder/owner of City Cycle Tours). Here is what h said, which we think everone needs to know...or at least find very interesting.

The City Cycle Tour Gang (photo taken from their website http://cyclevancouver.com )

Do you find City Cycle Tours gets more tourists or locals participating?

We primarily have catered to visitors in the past due to the nature of our tours, but I’ve found that locals are getting more and more into learning about their city. In early June we will be launching the “Art Wheelers” tour program, which is a series of tours exploring Vancouver’s public art installations by bike! I’m expecting this will attract a lot of locals.

Which of the 5 tours City Cycle offers is your favourite? 

I have to say my favourite tour is the Food Tour. I can’t think of a better way to explore Vancouver then by biking around and sampling delicious local cuisine bevies on a beautiful summer day?  The best part is meeting the personalities behind the making the food as we tour around.

After reading your and your other guides bios I noticed you all share a passion for both biking and meeting new people, what is it about biking that you think can bring people together?

There is definitely a spirit of curiosity and friendliness that exists with all of our staff.  We have all traveled by bike and know how much it means to get help from strangers and make new friends while traveling.  I think it’s something we all keep in mind while we’re guiding in Vancouver.

Vancouver is known for its rain, has this affected your business at all?

Our tours operate from May through early October and rain is inevitable.  While we provide ponchos and recommend that our guests come prepared with appropriate rain gear, we keep our tours moving so that guests don’t get cold and pop in for a warm drink if necessary.  I think the Temperate Rainforest in Stanley Park is even more beautiful in the rain anyways! 

Do you have any tips for us to prepare to ride through the rainy season (which can be all year long)?

The most important tip is to keep a positive attitude and embrace the rain. Having some good quality rain gear (jacket, rain pants, shoe covers) tucked into your backpack or pannier is definitely the way to go.  Fenders help keep a lot of the road water off of your legs and face too!

Vancouver is a relatively young city, but it does have an interesting past. What is your favourite Vancouver fact that maybe not everyone knows? 

Kingsway was once a horse cart path from the Hastings Mill (where Gastown is now) and New Westminster, which was the former capital.  That’s why its runs diagonally across the entire grid system of Vancouver’s roadways. There is tons of interesting history, but you’ll have to come on a bike ride so I can show you in person!

With the extensive biking you have done you must know a thing or two about fixing them but for those of us who are not mechanically blessed where would you suggest we go in the lower mainland?

When I started touring while living in Japan, I really didn’t know anything about taking care of my bike... not even how to properly lubricate my chain.  I learnt as I went.  Learning the basics of how to maintain your bike is really quite easy if you have a good teacher. I recommend the skills courses offered by HUB (https://bikehub.ca/), for those living in the Vancouver region, but there are also lots of online tutorials on YouTube. You’ll feel empowered to go anywhere once you know the basics.

What do you think Vancouver should do next to continue to improve cycling in the city?

The more infrastructures we have, the more people will feel that cycling is a safe and convenient way to get around the city.  More bike lanes, routes, parking, and workplace facilities for bikes the better. 

As someone who did not grow up in Vancouver, what was/is it that made/makes you stay?

I love getting up in the morning and seeing the mountains and ocean being so close.  Vancouver is a big city with a small town feel.  There is so much to do year-round, both outdoors activity and indoors with its diverse culture and arts scenes.

You and your other guides have gone on some pretty epic cycling trips, do you see anything like that in the future for City Cycle Tours?

We’d like to expand into multi-day tours, perhaps taking guests to nearby Gulf Islands, but right now we are focusing on getting more people touring the city on bikes. 

What should we expect next from City Cycle Tours?

Like I said, new for this summer is our Art Wheelers Tour.  Our mission really is to get more people enjoying bike rides and learning about Vancouver, so we are going to continue to find new, interesting itineraries and topics to draw out more riders.  Most of all, we are going to keep going with this project, because we love riding bikes, telling stories, and having fun with our guests.

For more information on City Cycle Tours, or to book a tour, check out their website!

http://cyclevancouver.com 

The Importance of Visual Merchandising

One of the things that Fair JAKE loves is making our set at markets and our studio really reflect our aesthetic, customer and design. We have so much to learn in regards to merchandising, but we know that it is an important part of business and sales. Especially now, with everyone moving faster and basing their impressions and recall off of images, visual merchandising is becoming an increasingly important tool to stand out among the masses. We figured we’d ask someone who is extremely well versed in this topic – our friend Leigha Robinson.

Where did you go to school?

I’m a recent graduate of Blanche Macdonald’s Fashion Merchandising program.  I feel like it’s worth noting that I’m also a student of life, having done lots of globetrotting and exploring global culture.  That has taught me so much about people and fashion.

What do you think is the most overlooked and underestimated element of visual merchandising? 

There are two things, budget and execution time.  Usually businesses spend the least amount of money on window displays and creative objects/layout in a store.  Conversely, the atmosphere and inspiration that the visual merchandising evokes has a huge effect on a buyer’s experience and motivation to purchase. 

A successful store layout and window display is a labour of love, and requires hours of work to accomplish to look flawless.  Business owners and customers alike always see the finished look.  Effective visual merchandising requires both a logical understanding of a plan of action, and creative skill to make it aesthetically pleasing.

Do you think visual merchandising can make or break a business?

Absolutely I do.  Visual merchandising is any method used to support the sale of product, which now includes e-commerce and social media, as well as the more traditional floor plans and window displays.  People react first with their eyes.  Today, especially in a city like Vancouver, there is more than enough of a selection of clothing for people to choose from.  The initial impression that a store or website makes on a customer can heavily influence whether or not they will choose to invest in a particular retailer.

What do you draw your inspiration from when it comes to your next display?

Understanding the identity of the brand and the customer are key for inspiration.  Initially when I began this career, I felt like I had to pull out all the stops and do everything to appease the business and its clients.  Now I can see that there is a story or life that the company lives individually.  When coming up with a window campaign, it’s as easy as knowing what the customer will relate to, and does it provide a good image for the business. 

People visually play the game of identity when viewing the world, what is most familiar to us is what we are drawn to.  I like to incorporate nostalgic and recognizable elements when coming up with my next inspiration.  Whatever I come up with will be original because it is very hard to copy anything exactly, and we all have our own interpretations of what we see.  I like to play on these ideas all the time.

What companies do you admire for their merchandising campaigns?

In terms of a company that continually makes investments into merchandising campaigns, I have been a huge fan of the American brand Anthropologie for years.  They often use up-cycled and reclaimed objects and hardware for their window and in store displays.  There is always a nature element tied into the design concept, with a contemporary edge that seems to make a great balance of a “modern urban” look.

Can you give us two simple visual merchandising tips that could help a small start-up company get their message across to their customer base?

Think both about what inspires you and what your customer would like to see.  You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to have memorable impact on people. 

Be free to experiment and get hands on.  The best projects are ones that have a personal story behind them.

What are you working on next?

I am thrilled to be creating a window at Nicole Bridger for the Breakfast Club of Canada, supporting the Strathcona Community Centre in Vancouver’s East Side.  The program gives children a better start at school by offering a healthy, homemade meal for a $1 donation.   Nicole herself will be raising funds for the entire month of August, for her first triatholon in September.  Anything cause to do with children inspires us all, and I am honoured to be a part of it.

Thanks so much Leigha, for all your fantastic insight and advice! And for everyone else and all the other small business owners out there, hope this provides some inspiration for you!

Modern Office Work Places

What kind of office do you work in? We all work in different settings but when I hear about work places like Google and HootSuite all I can think of is DAMN I need to get a job there! Their methods to create an atmosphere that is not only positive but innovative and creative is a work setting I think anyone would be happy with. So why doesn't everyone create work atmospheres like this?

Those modern offices are expensive to create and not always practical but I wish they were. Many companies, although maybe not to the same extreme as Google, have been adding incentive programs to their company. For example, Arc'teryx has a bouldering gym and has frequent summer BBQ's for their employees.

I am currently working for the government and although we don't have a cafeteria with several food options using fresh organic foods like Google we do get the choice between a 30 minute lunch, 60 minute lunch, or 90 minute lunch. I chose the 90 minute option so I can go to the gym at lunch, giving me more energy and also making it more likely that I will go.

Many of these offices strive to come up with innovative ways to excel in their profession.which is probably why they are looking outside the box and finding ways to promote positivity and healthy lifestyles.

We all work differently, and think differently so when a company is open to new ideas and ways of learning it is advantageous for the employers and the employees!