FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7th, 2008
MAPLE RIDGE NEWS
Wine, food, wins college award
By Phil Melnychuk - Maple Ridge News
Published: November 06, 2008 6:00 PM
Updated: November 07, 2008 7:49 AM
Douglas College grad named Entrepreneur of the Year
As Darlene Neilson confides, if you stop into a store to buy a bottle of wine or prepare a homemade batch, it’s not like having your car fixed.
People usually are in a pleasant state of mind when they’re buying wine or gourmet food.
Such an enjoyable experience is translating into business success for Maple Ridge’s Once Upon a Vine, located in Westgate Centre at 203rd Street.
Since opening in 2002, Once Upon a Vine has already expanded once by 1,000 sq. ft. to include a kitchen where customers can take cooking classes and buy kitchen products, while a second store opens in Meadowvale Mall in Pitt Meadows in the new year.
The growth of the business is all part of the plan – the business plan devised by Once Upon a Vine owner Darlene Neilson and then presented before scrutinizing instructors at Douglas College’s self-employment program.
Taking the three-month course was a critical part to Once Upon A Vine’s success, recently recognized by Douglas College.
In its annual awards given to grads of the self-employment program, Neilson was named Entrepreneur of the Year. To get that award, Once Upon A Vine finished first in one of eight sub categories, before going on to win the overall award.
The store was the clear choice, said Mary Lou Shoulak, with Douglas College.
The store’s customer service, growth in sales and expansion made it a top candidate. Sales went from six figures in 2004 to more than double that this year, most of which have been plowed back into the business.
“So really, we felt that she topped them all,” Shoulak explained.
“She’s just so customer-service driven.” Anyone who goes into the store gets such a warm reception that they usually go back, she said. “She has a passion for business.”
Neilson began thinking of the shop two years before she opened its doors. She’d just moved down from Williams Lake and was working for a temp service while her husband Daniel had injured his back, limiting his employment.
Then she combined an observation: the only wine-making shops in Maple Ridge were of the industrial variety, U-brews operating out of warehouses. She decided to combine her passion for gourmet foods, such as olive oils, spices and balsamic vinegars, with selling quality wine-making kits.
“We used to go to wine-making stores ourselves. We would ask how to pronounce the name of a wine and they weren’t very helpful,” Neilson said in a Douglas College release. Her new business then would focus on educating customers about wine in a clean, upscale environment. “We actually wanted a real life-style store, people who enjoy the lifestyle of having good food and entertaining.”
According to Shoulak, the three-month self-employment program offers practical advice to beginners, as well as business mentors networking and basic financial advice for expense and revenue projects.
Neilson said her business plan has seen her through her expansion phase, although she notes, it should be referred to often to stay on track. One minor deviation was an earlier-than-expected expansion when space became available. “We’re following the plan. We have not had any unexpected changes.”
With a recession taking hold, Neilson isn’t overly worried. If dollars get tight wine lovers may decide to make their own. Wine lovers, often drink both store-bought wine and wine made from kits. Her store specializes in the wine kits that have a larger share of juice and take longer to ferment than other brands.
Neilson mentions, she likes the term … wine lovers. “Not wine snobs. “We drink what we enjoy. Everybody has such different tastes.”
AS SEEN IN THE DOUGLAS COLLEGE NEWS
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