Magazine Story: Our Client Brenda Bot, President Of Salad Creations Canada was Named Woman of The Week by Women’s Post Magazine
Woman of the Week, December 7, 2009: Brenda Bot
by Aleksandra Hernandez
“She’s been training for this job since she was four,” says the proud mother of Brenda Bot, while watching her daughter and crew work. Bot is the Master Developer and President of Salad Creations Canada and she was busy getting the new location ready for it’s VIP opening event.
Bot walked up the red carpet with her hair in a fabulous up-do, dressed in a chain detailed halter top and billowy pants– a complete contrast to the bright new Salad Creations location. Decorated using vibrant greens and yellows – with a tomato wearing sunglasses motif, Salad Creations offered up a fun and sophisticated environment for guests looking for healthier food alternatives.
A recent convert to a healthier lifestyle, Bot has adapted a whole new way of thinking. “I had been overweight for years and one day I decided enough was enough,” says Bot. She turned to a healthier lifestyle and this meant more salad and greens in her diet.
The idea to open Salad Creations in Canada was born during a trip to Florida, where Bot’s 24-year-old daughter, Jenna, first saw the restaurant in action. Jenna enthusiastically described the concept to her mother.
“When dining out, everywhere I went had limited healthy options to choose from. How refreshing it was that at Salad Creations, I could make up my own salad and still stay on my plan of losing weight,” says Bot. “I lost about 140 pounds and haven’t looked back since.”
Bot saw a business opportunity and revamped the US concept to cater to what she believes is a more health conscious demographic in Canada.
“It’s sweeter in the US. Americans like fountain drinks. Canadians prefer juice, Perrier, water, but we also carry some pop,” says Bot. “Food costs are also higher in Canada, especially our cheese and poultry. The smaller portions of cheese reflect a more health conscious Canadian demographic.”
I took a moment to look around, to get a good feel for the restaurant, and it quickly became apparent that the fresh, fast, high-energy concept offers a perfect alternative to the standard fast food restaurants available in Canada.
“I would love to bring Salad Creations to Sudbury, my home town. And when I do, they’ll be some changes. I want the restaurant to be more of a sit-down place, better suited to the slower pace of a small town,” admits Bot.
“A lot of children are obese. I want them to come in here and teach them about healthier eating choices. I want to educate kids on healthy eating habits,” says a determined Ms. Bot, as she handed me a cookie lollipop of a happy tomato wearing sunglasses.
In fact, everything about Salad Creations spells healthy and fun, including last years’ Reindeer salads named after all the reindeer and Santa Claus. “Children don’t know they are eating a salad!” remarks Bot who by this point had warmed up plenty of giggles.
The focus since then has been to offer a Salad Creations experience to guests. “Music, free Internet, daily newspapers, daily magazines,” says Bot. “I want to offer our guests a place where they can have some quiet time – some time to themselves,”
Bot may not be on the heavy side anymore, but her 547-pound Suzuki C50T motorcycle sure is. “That’s how I do stress. I like to do simple things like ride up North, to the woods. I have a pink helmet and pink jacket – I’m definitely not one of those tough biker chicks.”
Newspaper Story: Our client Salad Creations Canada discussed the opening of it’s latest franchised store in the Erin Mills Towne Centre.
SALAD CREATIONS OPENS
Tossing it in. Salad Creations opens for business Tuesday at Erin Mills Town Centre.
Salad Creations is being tossed into the mix of vendors at the Erin Mills Town Centre food court.
The chain, which opens a franchise Tuesday (Dec. 1) at the Mississauga mall, its third Canadian location, offers a fresh alternative to fast food, says Salad Creations president Brenda Bot.
She believes that, when given the choice, people will opt for a healthier alternative.
“There is nothing else like this that (offers) people a healthier alternative to pizza or your typical burger and fries,” said Bot, who last year purchased the Canadian rights to the chain, which was founded six years ago in Florida and today numbers more than 50 shops across the U.S., eight in Brazil, two in Toronto and one each in Ireland and Kuwait.
“We provide food fast, but not fast food,” added Bot, who’s planning a 50-store rollout across Canada. “Diners today realize that eating right doesn’t have to be a chore. At Salad Creations, we offer something that many people didn’t know existed — healthy food that looks good, tastes great and is made for you, just the way you like it.”
Customers can create their own salad using four types of lettuce, more than 40 ingredients and some 20 salad dressings. A chef then prepares the dish.
A dozen featured salads and 10 different wraps are also on the menu. The shop also serves paninis, chef-prepared soups, organic coffee and biscottis.
And, says Bot, they’ve switched to more environmentally friendly cardboard takeout containers.
Judy Peters, owner of the Erin Mills franchise, believes the timing is right for Salad Creations.
“This is a concept that has long been needed as an alternative in a food court environment and I know it will be welcomed by the residents of Mississauga who are fast becoming more health conscious while still looking for great-tasting food,” she said.
Salad Creations will open at Bramalea City Centre by the new year. More locations are planned elsewhere in Ontario as well as in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. jle@mississauga.net
Our client Jack Lee, Founder of 4Refuel Canada (www.4refuel.com) created ASK THE FUEL EXPERT to write about many different fuel issues of importance throughout North America. Ask the Fuel Expert is a monthly column of practical advice to business for lowering fuel costs and managing fuel intelligently.The series is carried in numerous magazines and on websites in the United States and Canada.
Our client Jack Lee, Founder of 4Refuel Canada (www.4refuel.com) created ASK THE FUEL EXPERT to write about many different fuel issues of importance throughout North America. Ask the Fuel Expert is a monthly column of practical advice to business for lowering fuel costs and managing fuel intelligently.The series is carried in numerous magazines and on websites in the United States and Canada.
Our client Jack Lee, Founder of 4Refuel Canada (www.4refuel.com) created ASK THE FUEL EXPERT to write about many different fuel issues of importance throughout North America. Ask the Fuel Expert is a monthly column of practical advice to business for lowering fuel costs and managing fuel intelligently.The series is carried in numerous magazines and on websites in the United States and Canada.
By Suzanne Wintrob, National Post Saturday October 3rd, 2009
Going once, going twice … sold to the lady in the pink hat!”
Just two years ago, it was fairly easy to sell a house across North America and bidding wars were all the rage. But when the economy tanked, lonely For Sale signs simply gathered moss. The United States responded with immediate foreclosures and many houses were put on the auction block to generate quick sales.
Sure, the U.S. experience was not entirely pleasant, given the sheer number of people who had their welcome mats pulled out from under them. But the ensuing frenzy put the age-old practice of auctions back in the spotlight and drew the curiosity of Canadian homeowners and developers looking to unload properties in record time.
“With an auction, we’re forcing you to be decisive,” says Chris Longly, deputy executive director of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) in Overland Park, Kan. “We’re going to force you to get out of that car and you’re going to have to make a decision. You can’t wait anymore for us to drop the price. You’re going to have to compete. Who knows what the person on your left and your right are going to pay? It comes down to, ‘How bad do you want it?’ “
The process of a real estate auction is fairly straightforward. The agent/auctioneer and seller decide on an auction date and the type of auction to be conducted, typically unreserved or reserved. In an unreserved situation, the seller is obligated to sell the property regardless of the price result. Reserve auctions include “published minimum bid” where the lowest price the seller is prepared to accept is published, or “subject to seller confirmation” allowing the seller to retain the right to accept or reject the highest bid. There is also “subject to reasonable reserve” that is not published and only the auctioneer and the seller know. Commissions are paid either by the seller, the buyer, or a combination of both, or in some cases could be a flat fee.
“Rather than trying to anticipate the value of your property, the price discovery process is left to the hands of the marketplaces,” says Manson Slik, a partner at Gordon’s Estate Service in Kingston. “So you’re never in a position of underpricing your property and selling it in a day, or overpricing your property and sitting in the market for potentially multiple months.”
Gordon’s Estate Services has been complementing its traditional listing service with real estate auctions since 1985 and has found its niche: The majority of Gordon’s clients are senior citizens and estate executors who want to sell quickly.
Usually, Mr. Slik explains, the owner has lived in the house for a long time and is looking to downsize, or the owner has died and the executor wants to get the home out of the family’s hands. Rather than knock in a lawn sign and sell the property to the first person that comes along, says Mr. Slik, “the price discovery process is left to the hands of the marketplace, versus the real estate and the agent trying to anticipate what the value of that kind of vacant, and often depreciating asset has on the marketplace.” Gordon’s not only runs the auction but assists with cleaning, packing and unpacking, moving and property management.
While 40% of Gordon’s clients choose auction over a traditional listing, Mr. Slik says the Ontario real estate auction market is “a completely disorganized and unregulated business” because there is no licensing process for auctioneers. Only a few companies in Canada hold Accredited Auctioneer Real Estate (AARE) designation from the NAA, and so he cautions both buyers and sellers to choose carefully when considering someone to auction their property.
Interestingly, the momentum south of the border has some American companies now working the Canadian auction scene or planning their Canadian debut. For example, Kennedy Wilson Auction Group of Beverly Hills, Calif., will be holding an “inventory closeout auction” on today in Calgary to sell off 40 new luxury condominiums at Lake Windermere Pointe in Invermere, B.C. Bidding starts at $85,000 for units that were previously priced at up to $589,900. The sale – the company’s first in Canada – is in conjunction with Calgary broker Buss Marketing.
“If you have a great product, which this is, and you’re offering it where the public would be interested under the terms, which I think we have, and you have some demand for this particular product, which we’ll see as we’ve just started the marketing program, and you have financing, then I’d say the auction will go very well,” says Rhett Winchell, president of Kennedy Wilson.
Boston-based Velocity Marketing Services, which conducts auctions for condominium developers selling off blocks of unsold units, has aligned with PMA Brethour Realty Group of Toronto to consider bringing its talents across the border. President Andrew Brethour says Calgary and Vancouver look promising because their housing markets have declined severely over the past two years. In Toronto, RealNet estimates tens of thousands of condo units will close this year and next. Many will be rented, says Mr. Brethour, and that may depress the market and make auctions a necessity.
“The application of an auction philosophy doesn’t have to be liquidation and doesn’t have to be deep discount,” says Mr. Brethour, whose company works with more than 30 real estate developers in Canada to market the sale of their new housing projects. “But the ability to move a great number of suites or units in a very short period of time – like in one day – is very attractive to developers and lenders.”
