Heard On The Street

Pandemic-related travel restrictions have forced the closure of a long time Windsor travel agency, which operated as Goliger’s TravelPlus for more than three decades. It has been replaced by Elite Travel Windsor, an independently owned travel agency, operated by Sarah Hupalo who had worked for Goliger’s for 34 years. The new agency, which launched at the beginning of January, doesn’t have a storefront location, but agents can meet with clients by appointment at a small office in central Windsor. “COVID rules changed the way people did business and we largely couldn’t book travel anymore so we really had no choice but to close,” says Hupalo. “It was so defeating in many ways, but with no income we had to do something different.” Hupalo tells Biz X that most of the agency’s clients are totally fine with the new system and a great many established clients have followed her to Elite. “Given the current travel rules and how often they change, I believe it’s even more important now to have a travel agent you can trust to navigate through the system,” Hupalo expresses. “We’re starting to see a resurgence as people become anxious to travel again and it can be incredibly confusing even for experienced agents.” Hupalo is excited about the changes and is very grateful for the support Goliger’s had over the years. For more information, check: EliteTravelWindsor.ca.

Rumour has it that a new Windsor veterinary clinic is opening soon at 220 Tecumseh Road West, in a building previously occupied by Silicon Direct and the Data Recovery Guy (now located at 2571 Jefferson Blvd.). Listed on the Internet as Windsor Veterinary Hospital, at the time of writing the new business did not yet have a website or a phone number.

Serial entrepreneur Vern Myslichuk has reshuffled his deck of Windsor area properties by leasing Bacchus Ristorante (614 Erie Street East; BacchusRistorante.ca) to Ryan Mykal, his former chef, and redeveloping a building at 333 Ouellette Avenue, which used to house Vermouth. “I’m leasing it for now with an option to buy depending on how business goes,” explains Mykal who mentions the January lockdown has not helped. He adds there won’t be many changes and the existing staff will remain in place. Myslichuk plans on turning Vermouth into a jazz bar and renaming it to Ver-N-Mouth. He hopes to open it in a couple of months once all the permit issues have been resolved. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” says Myslichuk. “I don’t know how long I’ll keep it before I bring someone else in.” Myslichuk adds: “There are a lot of capable people out there and they don’t have the money to start something, so if I can get a few things going and then turn them over, that’s fine by me.” Myslichuk also owns the LowMartin Mansion (LowMartinMansion.com) in Walkerville; Verna-Q-Lar Cocktail Lounge, also at 614 Erie Street East, (VernaQlar.com); a building at 815 Erie Street East, which is occupied by the Shred Shop Wellness Complex; La Vern’s Market, a boutique-style grocery store at the corner of University Avenue West and Pelissier Street, (LaVernsMarket.ca); and BetterMade Cabinets (BetterMadeCabinets.com) The grocery store in the Security Building will eventually have 42 residential units on its upper floors.

Ten years after launching My Pet’s Butler, business partners Shawn Amerlinck and Michael Knoblauch have decided to sell. A proposed sale recently fell through and now Amerlinck and Knoblauch are looking for someone else to take over the business, which provides services for pet owners including walking, sitting, grooming and minor medical procedures as prescribed by a veterinarian. “We have four staff members in addition to Shawn and myself, including registered veterinary technicians who are qualified to handle some procedures such as injections,” Knoblauch indicates. The buyer will assume a 3,000-person client list, three vehicles, grooming supplies and a fully qualified staff. There is no brick-andmortar location since all appointment bookings are handled either by phone or online. For further details on the business visit: MyPetsButler.ca.

A new $2.7 million surgical centre focusing on cataract and vitreoretinal surgery is planned for 10700 Tecumseh Road East in Windsor in a space previously occupied by a car dealership and more recently, FL3X Fitness. Dr. Fouad Tayfour and Dr. Barry Emara, owners of Windsor Surgical Centre at 2224 Walker Road, have applied for a Community Improvement Plan grant to help defray the costs of the new centre. Tayfour’s Windsor Laser Eye Institute recently took on all of Windsor Regional Hospital’s 5,500 cataract and 550 vitreoretinal surgeries. It will expand the centre’s operating rooms from one at Walker Road to four at the new centre. Renovations will include upgrades to the parking area and surrounding property.

A new Giant Tiger store in Windsor’s west end is slated to open this fall at 1475 Huron Church Road, on a large piece of property previously occupied by Huron Lodge and Studio Four Tavern. The property is owned by Westdell Development Corporation. According to Aaron Wade, Director of Brand and Customer Communications with Giant Tiger, the store will open on October 15. Giant Tiger already operates stores in Windsor at 7780 Tecumseh Road East, 4501 Tecumseh Road East, and 3051 Legacy Park Drive, and at 215 Talbot Street East in Leamington.

Sadly a popular county restaurant, Kingsville BBQ, has closed its doors at 313 Main Street East. On the restaurant’s Facebook page in mid-January, the owners posted: “It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to close our kitchen. We had to do what is best for our family and business. We have enjoyed our time serving you and we hope to return some day with something new for you.”