Gabriel Ross has opened its doors in the former Gap location at 1319 Government St., replacing its previous showroom in Rock Bay. The company carried out two years of renovations in the new site, where it has doubled its showroom area to 13,000 square feet on two floors.
Customers will find mid-century modern and contemporary designs from Canadian and European manufacturers. Along with furniture, accessories and lighting, there is a bookstore and accessible access. It is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Siavash Madani headed up the design of the renovation, working with Hillel Architecture and Brenric Construction. The new showroom features a 25-foot high custom-blown glass light fixture.
“We chose the most central location in all of downtown Victoria because we believe in this city — we strive to be part of the downtown revitalization and are excited about the potential to elevate our brand’s 30-year history,” said Alison Melis, partner and chief financial officer. Company founder Ross Taylor worked closely with partners Melis, Madani and Amber Leask on the project.
Award for City of Nanaimo financial reporting
The City of Nanaimo has received an award for outstanding achievement in annual financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the U.S. and Canada. It was presented for its popular annual financial report for the fiscal year ending Dec.r 31, 2021. Also called the annual report highlights document, the report provides a condensed version of a given year’s annual report.
To be eligible for the award, a government must publish a highlights document that is measured on creativity, presentation, understandability and reader appeal.
Nanaimo previously received the award in 2020.
Environment projects receive donations
Wells Gray Tours, which has an office in Victoria, has donated $50,000 to West Coast Environmental Law to support two projects in B.C.’s Interior. One project will assist the Kamloops Area Preservation Association with legal advice in dealing with effluent from a closed copper-gold mine entering a creek near Kamloops. The second project relates to implications of a proposal to expand a rail yard at Ashcroft. The Ashcroft Slough Society will be supported by West Coast Environmental Law and the Environmental Law Centre at UVic.
