downtown market

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 The Daily News, Kamloops S1

Wednesday, July 24 - Saturday, July 27

Shopping, entertainment, games & four days of family fun!

BC's BIGGESTSidewalk Sale

Downtown

2013

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Market brings downtown to lifeFind amazing food, great deals, lots of local produce and so much more at this year’s Downtown Merchants Market

The annual Downtown Merchants Market is al-most upon us, the four-

day sales extravaganza is by far the most anticipated event of the year with peo-ple calling for months and weeks before asking when their favourite component is scheduled for the year.

Everyone has a favourite; finding summer specials at a fraction of the original cost, sampling delectable eats from all the best down-town restaurants, trying their luck at dunking local celebrities in the Communi-ty Carnival dunk tank, eat-ing lunch on a patio while listening to live local talent, getting a weeks worth of veggies at the extended Farmer’s Market. It is four days of sales, fun, enter-tainment and activity!

Merchants are the key to this event, it is them that plan their special sales and slash their prices truly mak-ing this B.C.’s biggest side-walk sale. It is this partici-pation that the Market is all about. After all, it is a mar-ket and ultimately it is the massive sales, markdowns and food samples which at-tract the hoards of people who come.

Daily news file photosTravelling street performer, Paul Perreault, above, showed off his skills on the Cyr Wheel during the 2012 Downtown Merchants Market. Right, Fusion belly dancer Claire Lindros performed as part of the 2012 Buskers Showdown which takes place on Saturday afternoon.

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FASHION & ACCESSORIES

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on location with clearance on all summer footwear

S2 The Daily News, Kamloops WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Downtown

Schedule some family funWhether it’s the live entertainment or the Community Carnival, there’s something for everyone this week

Wednesday - The Country Fair

The 400 Block Victoria Street will be a pedestrian only promenade today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the popular expanded Farmer’s Market. Lots of great local pro-duce, meats, baking and more, the Coun-try Fair is like a Saturday Market on Wednesday! Look for the CAP Team Cus-tomer Information kiosk selling Taste of Downtown Passports on the 300 block of Victoria Street

Live Entertainment10 a.m. to noon n Keenan Wilcox – 200 Block Victoria

Streetn Guy Plecash – 300 Block Victoria

Streetn Neil Burnett – 400 Block Victoria

Street 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.n Sancho the Clown 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.n Elizabeth Brown – 200 Block Victoria

Streetn Sabrina Weeks – 300 Block Victoria

Streetn Mr. M – 400 Block Victoria Street 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.n Lollipop the Clown 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.n DW Meyers – 200 Block Victoria Streetn Rita Harpe – 300 Block Victoria Street Thursday - The Taste of the Town

There are two different serving times: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Restau-rant passports are only $10 with proceeds going to the local Foodbank and Live at Lunch Music Program. You will not be dis-appointed and you will not go away hun-gry. Props to anyone who can successfully visit and eat at each restaurant.

Live Entertainment

10 a.m. to noonn Max Hayes – 200 Block Victoria Streetn Ben Bermiller – 300 Block Victoria

Street11 a.m. to 1 p.m. n Sancho the Clown11:30 to 1:30n Crystal Star – 400 Block Victoria

Street 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.n Mr. M. – 200 Block Victoria Streetn Claire Carlson-Mitton – 300 Block Vic-

toria Street 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.n Lollipop the Clown 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.n Garry Gagne – 200 Block Victoria

Streetn Mickael Maddison – 300 Block Victo-

ria Street

Friday - The United Way Community Carnival

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the 300 block of Victoria St. is open to pedestrians only. Lo-cal non-profit groups will be setting up a variety of fun Carnival games and activi-ties for everyone in the family to enjoy. There will also be a variety of top-quality street performances from local and inter-national talent.

Live Entertainment

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.n Margit Bull – 200 Block Victoria Streetn Madison Olds – 300 Block Victoria

Streetn Matt Stanley – 400 Block Victoria

Street 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.n Lollipop the Clown 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.n Michele Botel – 200 Block Victoria

Streetn Keenan Wilcox – 300 Block Victoria

Streetn Jelly Switch – 400 Block Victoria

Street1 p.m. n Uncle Chris the Clown Performance –

300 Block2 p.m.

n Checkerboard Guy2 p.m. to 4 p.m.n Jodi Doidge – 200 Block Victoria

Streetn Shea Duncan – 300 Block Victoria

Street

Saturday — Super Sidewalk Sale Spectacular & Busker’s Showdown

For a third year in a row we are devoting the whole 200 block of Victoria St. into our Super Sidewalk Sale! Coupled with our Buskers Showdown and Street Performer Zone, makes Saturday our biggest day of Merchants’ Market and attracts the most people of the four-day event.

Any downtown business is also welcome to join the sidewalk sale, blow out excess inventory, and get great exposure for your business.

There will also be a Community Stage hosting a variety of entertainers and musi-

cians as well as a giant Busker’s Show-down which will see musicians and street performers competing for prizes and brag-ging rights.

Buskers ShowdownAlthough there is live music all four days

and street performers on Friday during the Merchant Market, it all comes together on Saturday at the Busker’s Showdown. Street performers, live musicians, magicians, clowns, and various other genres of per-formers will be putting on their best shows on Saturday in order to impress the judges and be crowned ultimate busker.

Bragging rights, cash prizes and ribbons are up for grabs. The real winners however are the crowds that gather to watch the amazing shows. You can’t get better enter-tainment anywhere else in the city. Come down and make sure to bring the family; soak up the sun, have a cold beverage and relax!

Daily news file photoStreet Performer James Johnson performed at the 2012 Kamloops Community Carnival, this year scheduled for Friday, July 26.


241 Victoria St. • 250-372-3551www.bigbootinn.com

RENOVATION SALE

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Downtown

Get a taste of the downtownThere are no end of options to tempt the taste buds at the ever-popular Taste of Downtown

Back by overwhelming popular de-mand, a tasting tour of our local res-taurants happens on Thursday, July

26. Each participating restaurant goes above and beyond to bring you a dining experience like you have never had before.

Also don’t forget to vote for your favou-rite restaurant to win the fourth annual Golden Fork Award. Awarded yearly to the restaurant with the most votes, the Golden Fork was awarded last year to Indian Aro-ma. Who will get the title this year?

There are two different serving times: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.. Restau-rant passports are only $10 with proceeds going to the local Foodbank and Live at Lunch Music Program. You will not be dis-appointed and you will not go away hun-gry. Props to anyone who can successfully visit and eat at each restaurant.

Participating Restaurants

n Hoja Mongolian Grill256 Victoria Streetn Subway316 Victoria Streetn Mountain High Pizza314 Victoria Streetn Fudge Yeah442 Victoria Streetn Indian Aroma340 Victoria Streetn The Ploughmans Lunch and Coffee152 Victoria Streetn Mauyras Fine Indian Cuisine165 Victoria Streetn The Art we Are246 Victoria Streetn Scoopz Icecream280 Lansdownen Oops Café274 3rd Aven McDonalds301 Victoria Streetn A&WLansdownen Denny’s South KamloopsColumbia

n Kips Kettle Cornn The Smorgasbord715 Victoria Streetn Senor Froggy RestaurantNo. 235 450 Lansdownen Passeks Classics120 3rd Ave

n Boston Pizza340 Victoria Streetn Caffé Motivo229 Victoria Streetn Ric’s Mediterranean Grill227 Victoria Streetn Cornerstone Sushi

561 Seymour Streetn Papa Tee’s705 Victoria Streetn Blue540 Victoria Streetn Zack’s Coffee & Teas377 Victoria Street

Daily news file photoGina Lloyd, left, and daughter Shawn-Elisa Lloyd sampled food from Indian Aroma during the 2012 Taste of Downtown. Indian Aroma won last year, who will win this year? Proceeds from the tasting event are donated to the Kamloops Food Bank.

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257 Victoria Street, Downtown Kamloops

Making Room Sale

Women's Shorts, Hoodies, Shoes, Tops ALL 25% TO 50%offAll Men's Hoodies 25% off

All Vans, DVS, Converse, Lakai Shoes 25% offAll Goggles Half Price

Snowboard Helmets starting @ $40All Sunglasses from VZ, Electric, Dragon, Sabre 25% Off

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Downtown

Downtown keeps getting betterWalkability, coupled with vibrant, unique and independently owned businesses make Kamloops’ core ideal

By LARKIN SCHMIEDL Special to the Daily News

Downtown Kamloops has become a complete neighbourhood unto itself — full of stable businesses, residen-

tial areas, funky shops and even free food.And downtown is the most important

part of any city, says Gay Pooler, general manager of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association. “If you travel to another city as a visitor, you always want to go to the downtown.... That’s what your downtown should be all about, is being that vibrant heart of the city... that space where people want to be there and there are things to do, and it’s just a happening little place.”

Besides big events like the Merchants Market, Spring Festival and Art in the Park, there are of course musicians playing daily live on Victoria Street as well as Mu-sic in the Park running for two months straight.

“Our downtown has a lot of things that make it a great downtown,” says Pooler. These include the walkability of Victoria Street, as well as, in her opinion, develop-ing parts of the downtown like 3rd Avenue.

“We’ve got businesses there that are small, independent, interesting little busi-nesses that are really wanting to be in-volved in beautification and events and things,” said Pooler. “They’ve all adopted planters this year...and they do window art, so it’s kind of this cool, artsy little funky 3rd Avenue, that is quite exciting.”

Edible planters have been growing downtown, so to speak, over the past cou-ple of years, and this year is no exception. In a partnership between the public pro-duce group and various businesses, places like Urban Systems Ltd. at St. Paul Street and 3rd Avenue have created planters of-fering free fruits and veggies to passersby.

Pooler said in general, downtown busi-nesses are active and satisfied with sales, and that the business base is stable.

One thing that is going to be changing downtown is parking. With a targeted

completion date of autumn, downtown’s new parking kiosks are planned to be in-stalled, making it easier for customers to park, said Pooler.

Switching from meters to kiosks will “provide better payment options,” includ-ing paying by credit card or phone. “It also gives businesses the option of validating your parking,” she said, “so if you’re shop-

ping downtown it might not cost you any-thing for your parking.”

Of course more parking spaces are also on slate for downtown, with decisions yet to be made.

“We promote downtown as our neigh-bourhood,” says Pooler, “because it is.”

Now that Kamloops has residential spac-es downtown as well as schools and busi-

nesses, the restaurants can be supported, and there is entertainment and constant activity.

“It can be your dining room, it can be your living room, it can be your office; your backyard. And it’s all right there in the centre of the city.

“It has all the elements of the perfect downtown.”

Daily news file photoKamloops artist Kelly Wright created an acrylic nature-themed painting during the 2012 Downtown Merchants Market for the Kamloops Central Business Association Downtown Kamloops Paint the Town mini mural. The painting was displayed and then auctioned off for the Spring Arts Festival hosted by the KCBIA and the Kamloops Arts Council.


Wednesday, July 24 - Saturday, July 27

Shopping, entertainment, games & four days of family fun!

BC's BIGGESTSidewalk Sale

Downtown

2013

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24

COUNTRY FAIRFARMER'S MARKETPEDESTRIANS ONLY • 400 Block Victoria St.

Fun, fresh, food and produce!

Expanded Farmer’s Market 9am - 3pm

SATURDAY, JULY 27

BUSKER’SSHOWDOWN

Victoria Street • 10am - 4pm

Street Performers and Musicians Competition

SATURDAY, JULY 27

COMMUNITYSTAGE

PEDESTRIANS ONLY • 200 Block Victoria

10:30am - 4:00pm

Platinum Sponsor:

POSTER DESIGN & PRINTING BY YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

NEWSPAPER, THE DOWNTOWN ECHO

406 Boutique

Advantage Travelwise

BeautyCode Boutique

art we are tea joint &

local gallery

Big Boot Inn

Boston Pizza

Caffe Motivo

Castles & Cottages

Home & Garden

CIBCCommodore Grand Café & Lounge

D’Agostino Italian

Essentials & Beyond

Eyes International

Fratelli Foods

Full Boar Bike Shop

Genesis Fashion &

Beauty Complex

Golden Buddha

Healthylife Nutrition

hello toast

HOJA Mongolian Grill

Instinct Adornment

Jardines-Domaine

Jonathan Buchner Gems

& Jewellery

Kelly O’Bryans

Kennell’s Shoes

KPA Printers

Main Street Clothing

McAllister & Howard

Clothiers McDonald’s Restaurant

Oronge Board Shop

Plaza Hotel

Ric’s Mediterranean Grill

Subway

Total Ten Studios

SPONSORING MERCHANTS:

FREE PARKING IN DOWNTOWN PARKADES ON SATURDAY!

FOR MORE INFO CALL 372-3242

OR GO TO KCBIA.COM

FRIDAY, JULY 26

COMMUNITYCARNIVAL

PEDESTRIANS ONLY • 300 Block Victoria St.

Fun and games for

the whole family

11:00am - 4:00 pm

AMAZING STREET PERFORMERS

SATURDAY, JULY 27

SUPER

SIDEWALK SALESPECTACULAR

PEDESTRIANS ONLY • 200 Block Victoria

10:00am - 4:00pm

THURSDAY, JULY 25

TASTE OF THE DOWNTOWN

The sidewalks are the way to travel as the

Downtown turns into a culinary

expanse sure to delight the senses!

PASSPORTS $10 AT SELECT LOCATIONS.

Presenting Sponsor:

DowntownSchedule of Events

Torino Clothing

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Downtown

CAP Team outdoes itselfCustomer Care and Patrol team has expanded its mandate and is patrolling an even bigger section of downtown


The people in the red shirts are upping their game this summer. This year’s CAP Team has already outdone the

previous, with a total of 1,407 kilometres walked and 929 cycled.

The folks downtown donning red are around to guide tourists as well as help keep downtown safe.

Timothy Crowe leads the safety team. It’s his first year on CAP, and he’ll be starting a master’s degree in molecular biology in the fall. He says this year’s team is doing more communication with the RCMP and bylaw.

“We are trying to do (meetings) more frequently... and making sure that we do patrol areas more regularly.”

“We’re like the eyes and ears for RCMP and bylaw. We’re there when they can’t be, and we just try to, if we see something sus-picious... take note of it for later,” said Crowe’s teammate, Jackie Rechenmacher.

Rechenmacher leads the tourist side of the CAP Team. She’s also helping co-ordi-nate the Merchants Market downtown.

“I’m pretty excited for the (Merchant’s Market) to go off,” she said.

“The CAP Team is going to be a mix of pa-trolling the areas that are going to be blocked off, like road closures, as well as just helping out with all the event logistics.”

As a tourism management student at TRU, the job comes naturally to her.

Other parts of CAP’s agenda are expand-ing this summer as well. The team will be delivering a survey to people downtown, designed to gather information about shopper’s habits, that can be used to im-prove the neighbourhood in the future.

And there are two tours being offered this summer instead of one.

“Basically every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and every Thursday at 6:45 p.m. we meet in front of the library,” said Crowe. “We take (tourists) on about an hour-long tour.” The walk is free and open to anyone.

He said the experience of working with CAP has opened his eyes. “It’s a great ex-

perience to be outside and interacting with people downtown,” he said. “The street people there are so kind and so nice, and a lot of people I think kind of miss that. There are always a few bad apples that

spoil the bunch so to speak, but the people downtown are great.”

As part of a team that deals with graffiti and adds lighting to the alleys, Crowe has also gotten to know the alley murals well.

“I didn’t even realize it before I was hired, how beautiful some of them are,” he said.

The CAP team is a KCBIA initiative and will be patrolling downtown until Aug. 24 this summer.

Jackie Rechenmacher, left, and Timothy Crowe on patrol in Kamloops’ downtown.

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DOWNTOWN ~ 227 VICTORIA STREET ~ 250-372-7771

Ric’s Mediterranean Grill and Ric’s Grill is a classy and refi ned choice. We provide the best pasta, steak, chicken, ribs and fresh fi sh

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We do catering for small or large parties

Downtown

4Cats educates and entertainsLocal art studio for children opened a year ago, and has already proved to be a resounding success


Mike and Jennifer O’Brien’s first year in Kamloops has been a good one. Opening 4Cats Arts Studio just over a year ago, the

couple has seen great success in a business they’re both passionate about.

“Kids have been a big focus for a lot of my life,” said Mike. “My partner has been a longtime child enthusiast as well, and also working with a lot of young kids in her field.”

The couple have a 10-year-old of their own, which is part of the reason for them settling down after years travelling with Mike working as an animator.

With Jennifer as a self-trained artist and Mike also trained as a teacher, the pair were well-prepared to lead an art studio.

“With this franchise, (it’s) all about fo-cusing on kids, working with the arts, and in a really fun and involved way,” said O’Brien.

4Cats started in Victoria, B.C., and now boasts stores across North America and soon in Australia.

At the Kamloops location, the O’Briens primarily offer classes. Some are artist-fo-cused, and look at a different famous artist every month. In these kids learn not only about the artist, but how to use some of the same techniques they did.

“If we’re studying Vincent van Gogh we’re recreating some of his famous works of art, learning how to paint with dots, dashes and swirls, and some modelling paste; and if Andy Warhol, we’re doing silkscreening and watercolour. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.

The studio also offers classes on clay, sculpture, stop-motion animation, draw-ing and mixed media.

“Jenny is a trained sculptor, so she really works well on the painting and sculpting side,” he said. O’Brien teaches a lot of the drawing and animation classes.

And it’s not just for kids. The couple of-fers workshops at night for adults, teens and families too.

And they don’t shy away from communi-ty involvement. 4Cats has already partici-pated in Art in the Park, the Children’s Art

Festival, Royal Inland Hospital’s fundrais-er, and the kidney and diabetes walks.

“We’re very big on community; we really really love it.... That was the one big thing that drew us to Kamloops specifically, was the strong arts community here.”

The studio is located at 6-275 Seymour St.. For more information on classes, work-shops, camps and parties, visit http://www.4cats.com/kamloops. You can also visit the 4Cats Arts Studio Kamloops Face-book page for photos.

submitteD photo4Cats Arts Studio got its start in Victoria, B.C. and now boasts several studios across North America. The Kamloops studio opened downtown a year ago, and has had a great start so far. Right, 4Cats was a huge hit at this year’s Art in the Park at Riverside Park on Canada Day.

Great sales going on throughout merchants marketn Jardines Domaine, massive summer clearancen Tala Clothing and African Store, summer salen Outrageous Impact Fashion, up to 50 per cent off selected itemsn Genesis, inventory clearance salen Big Boot Inn, reno sale! Come see the changes and get the deals!n Essentials and Beyond, sidewalk salen 406 Sportswear, 20-50 per cent off sale on all summer stockn Lavender Lingerie, 40 per cent off sleep-wear and 20 per cent off store widen Oronge Boardshop, flash salen The Ruby Room, no tax from July 24- July 27, select items $5 to $20 eachn Mainstreet Clothing/406 Boutique, sum-mer sale 20 per cent to 60 per cent offn Castles & Cottages, Ciao Bella Boutique, 25 per cent off all summers shoes, 25 per cent hue tights and jeggings, 25 per cent off summer hats and 50-75 per cent off selected jewelryn The Book Place, 10 per cent off salen Beauty Code Boutique, summer super sale! Products on clearance.

n Fashion 5, 20-30-40 per cent off excluding jewelry, selected items 60 per cent offn The Look Boutique, storewide sale n Golden Buddha, everything no-tax. Cloth-ing 20 per cent off. Sale clothing extra 10 per cent off. Costumes 70 per cent off. Psychic Fair all four daysn Total Ten Studios, 20 per cent off salon productsn Viva Bridal Boutique, 50-75 per cent off select styles of shoes and dressesn McAllister & Howard, 20-70 per cent off storewiden Karateristics, Jewelry sale, select items n Healthylife Nutrition, Green Sisters skin care demo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., July 24n Sakred Skin & Studio, men’s tees: $27.50 or two for $50. Men’s Tanks $25. Mens shorts $50. Select ladies tops 25-40 per cent off. Dresses $50n High Octane, discount table Saturdayn Torino Clothing Co., sidewalk sale up to 70 per cent offn Arwen’s Apparel (inside Instinct Adorn-ment), B.C. made bamboo clothing, sun tops $29.95. Giving free Bamboo sunglasses/cell phone cloths

n Eyes International, sale on all in stock sun-glasses! Plus other salesn Country Garden Greenhousen Thrift Seller, half price winter jackets, $5 bag sale on long pants. $5 bag sale on kids clothing

n Electrictree Yarns, in-store salen Bikini Bills, 25th anniversary sale. Tops from $10 and bottoms from $2n Psychic Georgia, psychic readingsn SEACRET Direct, a “WoW” party, facials and hand scrubs

Violin player, Braden Gates, during the 2012 Merchants Market.


217 VICTORIA ST.

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• SANDWICH • SPANNER • ERIC ALEXANDER • INWEAR • PART-TWO

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Summer Sale

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Downtown

Fireside Steakhouse aims to pleaseRecently renovated restaurant in the Plaza Heritage Hotel has a focus on supporting local beef producers


Most Kamloops residents are aware of the Plaza Hotel and Fireside Steakhouse’s relatively recent reno-

vations. What people might not know is that the restaurant is blazing trails in B.C. amongst hotels with its local beef focus.

“We get the animals straight from the ranch,” said hotel general manager Shatha Al-Reihani. “We don’t really go through any of the food suppliers. We have part-nered with the Haughton ranch and they give us the beef, and we purchase the whole animal.”

The restaurant ages the animal for 21 to 28 days, then takes it to the butcher.

The idea began two years ago when the chefs did a survey by going out downtown and asking people on the street what they thought Kamloops needed. The options on the table were a steakhouse, a seafood res-taurant or a pasta place.

And Fireside Steakhouse and Bar is the response. The Haughton beef that is used is wine-finished, and contains no added anti-biotics or hormones.

And other hotels are following suit.“In fact now we are considered the pio-

neers of this,” said Al-Reihani. “Quite a few hotels in Vancouver now are doing the ex-act same thing we’re doing.”

That trend is partly the work of the cattle association in Alberta along with the abat-toirs association of B.C., which met at the Plaza and discussed how to make hotels using local beef a reality.

The restaurant serves about half beef and half seafood, according to Al-Reihani.

Business has been going “really great” since the hotel reopened last summer. “ We have tripled our revenue from last year of course. We have a better reputation now.”

She says increased awareness of the ho-tel is what’s leading to more business, among other factors.

With its 67 renovated and retrofitted rooms, new decor, free breakfast, and en-vironmentally-friendly bathroom ameni-ties, the Plaza caters to business travellers and the high-end leisure market. Meeting rooms and other business services, as well as wedding catering and receptions are al-so available.

Al-Reihani says, “We’re very excited. We’ve very busy now and we are on the right track.”

submitteD photosThe Fireside Steakhouse at the Plaza Heritage Hotel is giving customers exactly what they asked for at the recently renovated restaurant.

Downtown heats up with Hot Nite in the CityShow ‘n shine set for Aug. 9-10 and promises to bring thousands into the heart of the city

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Downtown

Eyes International a downtown fixtureStaff embrace the Merchants Market as a way to get out and interact with customers

If the downtown of a city is its shining centrepiece, Kamloops’s is so bright you need shades.Which is where Eyes International

comes in. If you don’t already have a pair to get you through the Downtown Mer-chants Market this month, staff at the opti-cal store can help you find the perfect pair at the annual sidewalk sale July 24-27.

Eyes International has been a part of the Downtown Merchants Market for more than a decade, dating back to its inception. In that time the downtown core has changed drastically, but what hasn’t changed is Eyes International’s place at its centre — in the heart of the city.

“We see ourselves as a key merchant in the downtown core,” said Rino Piroddi, owner and manager of Eyes International. “This is a huge event for the downtown, it lets merchants get out and interact with their customers.”

Piroddi and the staff at Eyes International have always embraced the Downtown Mer-chants Market’s sidewalk sale. He and his staff come to work in their best summer wear and enjoy the opportunity to work with customers in a more relaxed setting. Not only does the sidewalk sale allow Eyes International to bring great deals to cus-tomers, it helps to showcase its continued commitment to consumers in Kamloops, Chase, Clearwater, Barrier and Merritt.

The Downtown Merchant’s Market has always been the place to find great sum-

mer deals and that trend will continue with this year’s sidewalk sale. Eyes Inter-national will have its usual selection of prescription glasses available, but will also have amazing deals on Oakley, Ray-Ban, Spy, D&G, Versace, Hugo Boss, Coach and Guess prescription sunglasses. It will also bring in select non-prescription sunglasses available specifically for the sidewalk sale.

“Primarily, we’ll be focused on sunglass-es and prescription sunglass sales,” Piroddi said. “Most years we generally sell out of the glasses that we bring in for the event, which are regular $20-$30. We put them on for $6.99 each or three pairs for $16.

“We also have our once-a-year-only sale on prescription sunglasses, $99.99 for a pair.”

Piroddi has enjoyed seeing the down-town grow and develop from his place at 331 Victoria St.; he says Kamloops and its businesses have changed drastically over the years and hopes they will continue to grow and prosper.

In the last decade, Piroddi has seen resi-

dential housing become a bigger part of the city centre and he said it’s had a posi-tive impact on sales downtown.

“If we track where our customers come from, most people like to shop where they

work,” Piroddi said, when asked how the changing market impacted his sales. “It’s similar to Vancouver, with Gas Town.

“Hopefully that’s a trend that continues,” he added. “It’s good for business.”

Eyes International has great sales and promotions going on during the annual Merchants Market, and carries a variety of name brand sunglasses, including Oakley, Ray-Ban, Spy, D&G, Versace, Coach and more.

“this is a huge event for the down-town, it lets merchants get out and interact with their customers.

rino piroddi, eyes international

CMYK

PMS

GRAYSCALE

B/W

downtown market

Documents

days of sales

extended farmers market

n sancho

n lollipop

local talent

local produce

massive sales

special sales