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Call it accidental success. When smart leaders turn around bad circumstances, it’s a win-win situation.

Cliff Vallentgoed, owner
Company: Redbike
What they do: bicycle retailer and repair shop
Best mistake: being an absentee owner

In 1997 we opened Redbike in Edmonton. We were severely undercapitalized and depended on receiving stock on credit from suppliers. As risky as that can be, we finished our first fiscal year in the black, and stayed there. In 2000, we started looking at expanding and Red Deer looked like a good market. We checked the regional growth and local income figures and, most important, there was no competition. Everything looked absolutely positive, and that’s when the mistakes started piling up.

We hired a manager we knew and trusted who was from Edmonton. But he quickly grew tired of being away and started spending more time away, until he moved back here. We went through that twice, and couldn’t find someone to dedicate himself to running a successful business.

We looked at the numbers then and realized we had done nothing but lose money and had diluted our business as well. We closed our doors after 18 months. I realized no one will ever take care of your business the way you will, and I was able to put it in perspective. Now I can dedicate myself to our customers, and still concentrate on expanding the company. That’s a very integrated process.

In a furniture and housewares business ruled by economies of scale, selling one-of-a-kind items in competition with mass merchandisers may seem doomed to failure. But Alex Paterson, owner of Tu Gallery in Edmonton, appears to have found a way to do it. (more…)

A Snack that Warms You Up

He invested more than 15 years of research and his entire life savings, but Larry Wang was determined to create a snack bar that uses the body’s own fat reserves to increase body temperature in cold weather, help people lose weight and boost energy during strenuous exercise. (more…)

Call it accidental success. When smart leaders turn around bad circumstances, it’s a win-win situation. Alberta Venture invites entrepreneurs to share their inspiring tales by sending an e-mail to

Cliff Vallentgoed, owner
Company: Redbike
What they do: bicycle retailer and repair shop
Best mistake: being an absentee owner

In 1997 we opened Redbike in Edmonton. We were severely undercapitalized and depended on receiving stock on credit from suppliers. As risky as that can be, we finished our first fiscal year in the black, and stayed there. In 2000, we started looking at expanding and Red Deer looked like a good market. We checked the regional growth and local income figures and, most important, there was no competition. Everything looked absolutely positive, and that’s when the mistakes started piling up.

We hired a manager we knew and trusted who was from Edmonton. But he quickly grew tired of being away and started spending more time away, until he moved back here. We went through that twice, and couldn’t find someone to dedicate himself to running a successful business.

We looked at the numbers then and realized we had done nothing but lose money and had diluted our business as well. We closed our doors after 18 months. I realized no one will ever take care of your business the way you will, and I was able to put it in perspective. Now I can dedicate myself to our customers, and still concentrate on expanding the company. That’s a very integrated process.

Jon Bromling
Senior Product Manager, TTG Systems Incorporated

Jon Bromling is a rare creature in the software business: he translates computer jargon into understandable language, enabling clients to fully comprehend complex software technologies.
(more…)

Rob Mann
Regional Vice-President , Van Houtte/Red Carpet Coffee

A wise person once said a true teacher is one who never stops learning. Rob Mann, regional vice-president at Van Houtte, fits the bill, not only initiating and reassessing employee training programs for all western region branches, but attending each and every one of the sessions.
(more…)

Holly Pshyk
Sales Manager, Wholesale division, Rocky Mountain Soap Company Inc.

Don’t tell the folks at Rocky Mountain Soap that offering flexible working hours invites sloth. Their star sales manager, Holly Pshyk, has helped raise the Canmore-based natural soap and bath product maker’s revenues to $2.5 million from $86,000 in five years, working from home in Edmonton between her mom duties to two children.
(more…)

Once touted to take over the retail realm, selling over the Internet never lived up to the hype. But now it’s coming back, in ways we hadn’t expected. Meet the new breed of e-tailer (more…)

A St. Albert Liquor World outlet seems, in comparison to other Alberta liquor retailers, to have been matured in a different cask altogether. Walls of red ochre and pale birch trim, punctuated by soft cascades of silk ivy, give the shop an inviting warmth. Decanters of Slovakian crystal sparkle under spotlights.
(more…)

Alberta juice bar franchise banks on a boost in the United Arab Emirates.
(more…)