Henry’s back!

It’s open! Even the Citizen covered the “fanfare-light” surprise opening that captured national attention.

The first reviews for the new “Zellers” (or the Hudson Bay Outlet store, as it’s called in Toronto) are in:


It’s mostly leftover clothes from the Bay, discounted up to 80% depending on the colour of the dot on the item.


There’s also other stuff like furniture and appliances.

The old Zellers restaurant has been boxed in.

Go Habs go! Go Ukrainians go?

Rick schmoozed with some of the top brass.


Can retailers along the Bells Corners strip survive in the long term? Bells Corners residents favour “local feel-good shopping” but online competition will take its toll.
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Like everywhere else in Bells Corners, the FreshCo plaza has lots of empty space, so it’s encouraging to see a cool store like this opening.

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Many are happy that Henry is back in his old location in the Pizza Hut plaza. I met a former neighbour of mine there today – he had come back to Bells Corners to have his hair cut by the same guy who used to do it at the K-Mart.
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Signs of spring – Dinardo’s near the crazy intersection now has bikes on display.

I have two Dinardo’s bikes.

Sometimes it’s worth it to spend a bit more for quality, and his bike mechanics (Dan, Adam et al) know their stuff.

Another sign of spring – damage to grass from snow removal operations becomes visible.

The new sod on the strip is badly chewed-up in places.

Binh-Go’s is open with a new flag. Can Star Fries and T&T’s chip wagon be far behind?
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Rick Chiarelli and Allan Hubley, two of Ottawa’s worst developer-funded professional politicians, got a real tongue-lashing from Sue in the Ottawa Sun for hypocritically posing as frugal spenders while spending giant gobs of money promoting and congratulating themselves.

Mayor Jim Watson’s annual “office budget” (slush fund) was $796,000, while each councillor had $241,508 to spend.

“There’s still no detailed accounting of how external services or consultants are paid. Does a councillor favour certain consulting companies, is anyone hiring their buddies, or a company their sibling has a connection with? All good questions,” says Sue.

Not surprisingly, both Jim and Rick see nothing wrong with things the way they are, using tax dollars to reward friends and spend freely on self-promotion.

Turns out that the “Free” Vote for Rockin’ Rick New Year’s Eve Booze-free Fest was anything but free for the taxpayer – in 2013 Rick blew through a couple of hundred grand on “office expenses” like free meals for himself and his leggy interns, self-promotional literature, free franks and all sorts of goodies for friends.