Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 14, 1988, Winnipeg, Manitoba 16 Winnipeg free August Bob Reid when people discover the product in their its like finding a Little religion meaning up on water by Paul Samyn none with any Busi Ness sense would have Bob Reid was wet behind the ears when he opened the doors of his shop in after How else would you de scribe someone whose product in a Market that boasted on its licence plates of having lakes and where pollution was something that happened elsewhere of All things water i know people thought it was a crazy Reid fully admitting it goes against the Grain for those in the great White North to buy in like to think of myself As the Guy who Sells refrigerators to the says who also Sells Home water distilling but instead of being Frozen out of the Public has warmed to the world of water and Reid is the one enjoying the last one of the first to tap into what is now said to be the fastest growing of the beverage has seen his business grow in 20 per cent spurts each he has franchised the original store plus the rights to another in business spirit Al making things happen for an entrepreneur looking for a product that cheap and can be sold for a they need look no further than Canada is blessed by an Abun dance of the liquid of and this week the entrepreneurs looks at two businessman taking what flows from their taps and turning it into one was on the cutting Edge of a business that will continue to while the other is holding the line on a Industry that has seen better but both Are making Money like and at the main operation on Archibald business is Gallons of distilled water a and armed with a new York based Survey projecting sales of billion for the bottled water Indus try by Reid safely predicts the water distillers he has been Selling All these years will some Day be As common in kitchens As the 52yearold a diabetic for 30 says he first got hooked on water purification 20 years ago after Reading How water Quality can affect your i thought if id clean out my Michael free press 1 to White business from top to body with Good id help my Reading about is one going out and investing 000 to Start a business in it is some thing entirely but that what Reid opening a Small shop on Ness Avenue which he operated along with his family run exterior coating contracting which has since fallen to the we were the first full service water store in North he in those Early when the store was run on a shoe Reid had anything but a smooth baptism in the water Busi he recalls a Trade show at the Winnipeg convention Centre where consumer reaction to his product on display was less than spar Only one in 50 would Stop at our and of one in 10 would Tell us we were crazy because win Nipges water was but in As people became More health conscious and reports questioning the cites water Quality converts were in Reid has customers who regularly drive up to 25 Miles each week to buy their bottled in his Archibald Street surrounded by stainless steel distilling machines and coolers for commercial and office Reid finds he still has to spread the Good word about clean in his ongoing criticism of the cites a Battle he likens to attacking Reid uses free samples of his product plus about the Best testimonial he Brownish sludge in his is a cons i table with a num Ber of Small Glass each Jar is filled with remnants of a variety of distilled water one neatly labelled As the remains from 10 Gallons of City contains a Brownish sludge that looks like something you would get if you dredged the Bot Tom of the red when people discover the product in their its like finding a Little and clean water is More of a crusade than a business for hell drink to his but dont try offering him a Glass of the cites tap water a beverage he Calls a chemical Reid has deemed the cites water As Only worthy for sprinkling lawns and fighting for any other whether it be for bathing or Reid makes sure the water is he Speaks passionately about his product and his temperature begins to Rise when mention is made of the City conforming to All acceptable water his boils when us Iuliu to some of the other water Busin Calls them Johnny comelate Lys who Are making a Quick Buck by Selling water which still has impurities but is marketed As Clear and clean As Mountain Spring you need to be a Label Reader he says with a Large dosage of showing a Sample of bottled water which fools consume you have to question their eth for Quality water is his he sometimes wonders Why it took so Long for people to share his thirst for in surprised at How Long it has i thought there was More common sense out but he still derives a great Deal of satisfaction from pioneering the business in we saw a need and our business just grew up with the for Robert co owner of Arctic ice services it was impossible to grow up with the the ice business heyday was during a time when Frozen blocks were Cut from the red River and delivered to customers by horse drawn eager to make jump but when Nagy was approached three years ago to buy the storied company established in it didst take him Long to warm up to the Nagy started with the company 18 years ago As a student on Par time summer charged with moving 300pound blocks of ice around the plants warehouse having become intimate with All areas of the he and his Horace were eager to make the jump to the front both of us know the business from top to he in doing they carried on the company tradition of keeping the business renewed from and because of this the risk was minimized As the previous owners guaranteed them financial assistance to take Over the Busi Arctic ice does a Cool filtering the cites water and manufacturing 80 tonnes of ice a bags of crushed ice and blocks for commercial use Are All pack aged and delivered throughout Southern Nagy also deals in dry ice and enough of the Cool stuff for restau rants whose chefs use it for ice takes Pride in continuing the company commitment to excellence and maintaining its Market easy task when the Competition is every hotel ice maker and ice cube tray in the our main goal is to get individual Consumers at Home to Stop production of ice in their and like nagys belief in his product leads him to believe he can achieve that ice is really something that once people try our product and taste the difference with their they stay with for working toward that goal often Means business comes before his personal but for the former warehouse employee who has added a production facility in Vancouver to the one already in satisfaction is enough re Ward for his Long weve modernized and expanded the that the tradition to Ket tiny credit Union grows into giant by Michael Bernard Vancouver up Martha Mackie remembers the Day when one of Vanc itys first members walked in off the Street 42 years ago and plunked Down to invest in the tiny credit i had never even seen a Bill let alone three of said now happily retired at Mackie said she and the 13 others who started vanity never dreamed it would grow to its present now it is one of the giants in Canadas credit Union second in size Only to Quebec Gargantuan Crisses Populaire Desjar which has about six million members and billion in membership in whose original motto was not for not for Charity but for has grown to More than while assets have reached Short for Vancouver City savings credit has 23 branches and ranks third among financial behind the Belzberg family first City financial and the Hon Kong Bank of which bought up the troubled Bank of British Colum Bia two years dislike of Banks while Many credit unions were formed to serve employees at one workplace or members of one a the Only common thread running through Vanc itys member ship appears to be a common dislike of a lot of people dont care for Banks and the idea of a Community based institution appeals to says Bob Vanc itys chair West coasters had plenty of Rea sons to dislike Canadas Eastern based Banks Back in Vanc itys formative up until the late people on Vancouver Blue Collar East More than half the cites get Bank mortgages to buy Homes because they were considered too great a said Best known in British Columbia As a member of the provincial legislature and former nip Cabinet if vanity started the the Banks and Trust companies have been running to catch up Ever says Wayne Vanc itys senior president of marketing and member it was the first major institution in Canada to offer open mortgages in daily interest savings account in Canada in the first Nofee resp in the first Multi ranch banking system in 1977 and the first term deposits for Mackay says Low charges at a time when canadians Are angry about Bank service vanity ranks second lowest among the country eight largest Banks and Trust for children under the age of 19 can Bank for free at the credit Union also offers a popular service package for a includes free cheques and no charge for paying Bills or buying travellers cheques among its in addition to traditional vanity also offers a Telephone banking a Trust division to handle real estate insurance services and income tax in 1986 it added 23 new including its Well touted ethical growth a socially aware Mutual fund which uses Ethi Cal standards As a criterion for in the despite restrictions which say investments must be in Canadian with Progress Ive labor racial Equality and no ongoing military has an average eight per cent annual putting it among the top five funds in but its most surprising move was its audacious bid to take Over the flagging Bank of British Columbia in while some say it was too ambitious a Williams was disappointed vanity lost out to the Hon Kong and Shanghai vanity has continued to innovate and last May become the first financial institution in Canada to offer a registered education Sav Ings the pioneered by nonprofit allows savings for pos secondary education to accumulate tax free until the whose taxable income is still Low As a uses the Money for cares about staff chosen by the financial Post As one of the top 100 firms in Canada to work vanity whose Advertis ing slogan is you belong with us commands surprising loyalty among its 700 i think the management really cares about says Judy a 38yearold Mother of White has worked for almost All the chartered but says vanity offers the Best benefits even though she has worked there part time since being hired five years we have departmental meetings where we discuss she i never remember meetings like that at the except to Tell staff about the latest sales promo but dedication to serving Mem Bers has come at a whose commitment to social causes once prompted a social credit opponent to Call him the architect of would like to see the credit Union get More involved in helping those with modest by using its financial clout to finance Small Job creating projects or apartment blocks in which tenants become for he sees improving Van cites Bottom line As top priority after a disappointing showing last in vanity has net earnings of Down 57 per cent from the year before partly due to a More conservative accounting a our return has to be says weve probably focused too much on innovation and social says financial analyst Alix Grainger of the Vancouver based Pemberton could mean higher services charges As Union such As vanity move to Bol Ster their residential mortgage rates Assiniboine credit 1 Bank of Bank of Nova 1 Bison mortgage 1 Calisse popular 1 cambrian credit 1 Canada Trust can West Trust 1 carpathia credit Central Trust 1 1 Cibic mortgage cooperative Trust 1 Coronet 1 a Chrls mortgage insurance 1 financial 1 firs line mortgage guaranty Trust 1 1 Hansa credit holy spirit credit Hylyne credit investors 1 London life insurance 1 Montreal Trust 1 mortgage 1 mortgage Mutual life of 1 1 National Bank of 1 National 1 North West 1 Progress Vera credit Union Royal Bank of 1 1 Royal 1 Toronto Dominion Bank total mortgages 1 ;