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Ching Creek facility is the largest furniture outlet In British Columbia:

Expanding and growing
is an essential part of almost
every business, and tho. Le-
Rose family, who began with
a small butcher shop at the
tuyn of the century, are in-

tent on‘following that philo- |

sophy.
. The family business be-

‘gan in Trail in 1918 when

Bruno LeRose opened a
amall meat market on Ross-
land Avenue. From, there,

; the business has diversified

a
7
I
:
:

especially p

bean tare binos seoe. Today we're a :
Canadian-owned and '

wholly
operated company with 11,000

Canadian shareholders

Canada Blue. Its aname
we're proud to share.

and advanced to become oné _

2oMMy father -died when I
was,16, and I like to think of
him as the founder of our
business,” said Ernest, “He
came to‘Canada as an immi-.
grant from Italy to work with
the CPR in 1907, and at that

msyor. bsg ‘Trail in 1982, and I
am. told he was the first
Ttalian-born mayor in Can-

ada,” ‘LeRose ald proudly,

The business

ed by his father Sewided the the:
‘base’ for’ several «different:
ventures, which for the most
part have been situated ‘on’
(Rossland Avenue spanning a
‘period of over 50 years.

' Ernest and brother Geno_
became ‘involved to some
‘extent with furniture when

- of Trafl made the

. ‘HomeGoods

with son Robert ~,

“We sold the: property:
on Rossland avenue’ because
we needed. larger. facilities
and our three warehouses
located in‘ different sections

leased property on the form-
er site of Carefree travel
trailer,” factory . at China
Creek, because as Ernest put
it, “the building was large

which is filled with a variet;
of furniture, appliances and’
carpets, sald LeRose.

“The size here gives us
the opportunity to reduce our

awkward.” ‘
As a result, the LeRoses

and

The structure provides
85,000 square feet, all of,

“Pet Mart once
just a.dream

Opening a ‘pet shop was
always a dream for Bill and
Margo Troupe ‘of Prince
George. They ’ had. talked
about it for *almost. three
years, but couldn’t decide, on

8 suitable location,

In
tion to dealing with hard-
ware, the LeRoses also sold
appliances,

That interest led to the
‘establishment. of the first
homegoods furniture store in
1968. Originally the store had
only 1,000 square feet said
Ernest, by 1952 there. were
2,000 square feet, by 1964.
10,000 square feet. A ware-'
house addition in 1974’ bro-
ught the floor. space up to’
17,000 square feet which now.
has reached 35,000._square
feet with the opening. inst fall.
ofthe new furniture outlet at.
China Creek.

‘After over 20 years of
serving people from. the
HomeGoods location on Ross-
land Avenue, LeéRoge:gaid he
‘felt it was time for'achange.,

Having spent ‘many ‘vac-

“ations in this area, they felt

there was a need for a pet
shop here. A friend of theirs,
Mike. Le. Maitre,- became
interested in the idea’ ‘as well
and, with” a little “encour
agement: ‘from him the
Troupes moved from Prince
George to Castlegar to start
their’ enterprise. :

KG, ‘Pet Mart. Ltd.” has
been serving the West Koot- “
“enays since July 1981, when

it first opened its door to the
people of Castlegar and sea

At the present time, the
owners handle small house-
hold pets and supplies, al-
though many have inquired
about supplies for farm ani-
mals. As the business grows,
it hopes to add these to the
store, x

‘The pet mart does not. sell
cats or dogs but its operators
try to help anyone who is
looking for them. They also
have a bulletin board, where
anyone can put up an ad to
buy, sell, or give away ani-
mals,

- K.C.-Pet, Mart also sup-
ports’ the local 8.P.C.A.

Professional grooming ser:
vices ‘are provided’ in the
basement of the store by
Bonnie Glasgow, who is the
for the

under the
‘the. Troupes, Le Maitre pies
Debbie Marrello. . °

+ The services provided are:
pet foods, pet supplies, fresh’

pet mart. °_

K.C. Pet Mart Ltd. appre-
ciates the patronage of the
‘people_in the West Koot-

_water aquarium fish,  pet’-enays and hopes to'serve you

grooming and live pets. “““"for a long time.

and in-
crease our display space,

which we are still develop-

ng.”
Although born and
raised in Trail, LeRose said
he had no qualms about
moving his business to its
new location.
“I always felt close to
other communities, Slocan,
Rossland, Kaslo, Fruitvale

«+. T related to the area asan »:

individual and as a business-
man, and I have always
thought in a wider concept of
service to the area.”

“I also have friends in

various communities, _and~

thinking in those terms has
helped me as a businessman
in communicating with these
areas through the media.”
LeRose revealed that he
has delivered goods to people
in Revelstoke, Kelowna, Pen-
ticton, Creston, Cranbrook

and Fernie since moving to.

the China Creek location.

“All of these deliveries ,

were provided at no extra
charge to the customer, and
in addition: we provide full
set-up service of the furni-
ture in the homes.”

The business started
with a staff of three, present-
ly operates with nine and
plans are to increase staff
shortly to eleven. The Le-
Rose business is expanding
and growing, and according

sto’ Ernest,-sales are“ better ©

than ever.

Plus An Extensive
~ “Pet Library’
For Easy Reference

Proféssional Pet Grooming Services &
An Informed & Courteous Staff

KC PET MART |

1458 Columbia Ave., Castlegar B.C.

365-2633

sos saarsecnesenasnescnessi

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SRS

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,

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Nelson, B.C.

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"> @ Furniture

© Carpeting. © Electronic Organs,

© Sleep Units

To Trait
24km, (149 Milend

HOMEGOODS

at China Creek :

Open Tues. to Sat. 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily