A Kelowna entrepreneur continues to be active in the community, this time by bringing in a sweet and fun store.
Jules Galloway is the CEO of Evolve Design, an interior design company that has done design work for various organizations and offices, including the Child Advocacy Centre of Kelowna and Foundry Penticton among others.
Now, she’s bringing Limey, The British Shop to Kelowna’s Landmark District, opening on Thursday, Oct. 8. The store is set to offer authentic British merchandise not typically sold in Canada, including chocolate, various candies, and savoury products like meat pies.
“As an immigrant from the UK some 11 years ago, I thought it would be a lighthearted and fun opportunity to open a British store in Kelowna,” she said.
“My fiancé Lee and I felt it was something that people could enjoy right now, amongst all this doom and gloom.”
Galloway said she always spent a lot of time and money trying to go to British stores in the Lower Mainland and having one in Kelowna solves that problem for her, as well as others who want British fare.
She also said social media response to the store has been positive so far, with residents sending in order requests through the store’s website and social media profiles.
“Apparently, everyone loves British food. I am so excited to have been able to bring this to our community and so energized by the amount of enjoyment it has brought,” Galloway said.
She’s grateful for the community’s support, but she did say it was a pleasant surprise.
“You’d assume it would just be the British immigrants that would be interested, but when you really start digging down, you realize that actually, it’s the people who are second-generation immigrants,” she said.
“Or maybe they’ve visited Europe and they loved England and they loved the food there.”
As an owner of two other businesses within the Landmark District, Galloway has seen firsthand the effects and challenges of COVID-19 but despite the downturn, she’s not nervous about starting a new venture.
“We knew we were taking a risk right out of the gate, but we weighed out the options but we decided to do it because COVID isn’t going to be around forever.”
“But with the social media response, we realized it’s starting to become a movement already and people want something like this. I’m not nervous about it at all,” she said.
From an idea to a brick-and-mortar store, Galloway and her team took just six weeks to paint the store’s walls bright lime green and put imported British products on the shelves.
The store’s opening and ribbon cutting will be attended by the city’s mayor Colin Basran.
The store’s ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 1882 Dayton Avenue.
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