Pictures

Here are some random pictures as I can only post so many in each blog post and everyone loves pictures right?


Marie-Eve (from Moncton), Brenda (SM from Square One), Jenny (AM at Robson) and Nicole (SM from LA)

Brenda, Howie Mandell, Elizabeth (SM at Robson) and Michael Budman

I had shoes done up by a graffiti artist at the store next door. This is one is some Native Art (its a beaver)

The other one is the skyline of Vancouver. The pictures don't really do them justice. After people in the house saw the shoes they went and got some as well.

Last Week in Vancouver

Sorry to everyone for slacking the last few days. I have had no time to update this blog.

So it's Tuesday... One week from today I head home. I have mixed feelings about it. I can't wait to sleep in my bed and see John, etc. However I really like Vancouver! It is different from Toronto and I love it!!

On Sunday I had a day off along with Chris and Steve. We are the Robson stock team so we all work the same shifts. I woke them up and we headed off to Stanley Park. The weather was warm and sunny - awesome! To get there you have to take a bus through Chinatown which was pretty cool. Usually I really dislike taking buses but this time I was wide-eyed looking at everything. What a great way to see some of the city. Also taking the SkyTrain is pretty cool. The track is high in the air so you can see everything. It goes right over the Olympic Village.

Once at Stanley Park we headed to the Aquarium. It was a blast! It wasn't busy at all. We saw the Dolphins, Belugas and of course my favorite; Sea Otters. Also they have a 4D movie we watched. 4D means you 'feel' everything. Example the Dolphin jumps in and out of the water you get misted with water. Or you are on a boat speeding, you feel the wind on your face.

After the Aquarium we headed over to Granville and Nelson. We went down 2 1/2 hours before the Canada vs. USA hockey game. We wanted to watch the game a bar downtown and Granville and Nelson is the bar/pub/club district of Vancouver. The streets are all closed for the Olympics but normally they close the streets every weekend at 7pm to car traffic. The streets were packed!! Everyone was dressed in red and white and I mean EVERYONE! The only exception was Steve. He was wearing a Roots USA International Collection T-Shirt. He was hiding it under a hoodie. Showing up 2 1/2 hours didn't help us get in anywhere. Every place had a massive lineup. I really doubt people waiting in line even got in. Once people are in the bar and have a table - they are not giving that up. We walked forever. We ended up in the 'Alternative Lifestyle" section of town (sorry I am trying to be as politically correct as possible). Even the bars there were lined up. We gave up and headed away from Downtown. We finally ended up at Boston Pizza with a great table. We all know the outcome of the game so no need to talk about it. I can tell you people Downtown were not happy. I would not dare walk anywhere in Vancouver with a USA hockey jersey on. I am serious people were pissed!! Losing to the USA is just as bad as losing the final.

Monday and Tuesday the weather has been overcast and drizzle/rain on and off. I am back to a 7am start time. I have to get up at 5am but at least I don't have to have a cold shower as no one else is up. At last count we had 25 people in the house. It is a little crowded since the last 6 arrived over the weekend. Grocery shopping for that many people is such a chore. We go through everything so fast. For example we bought two HUGE orange juice jugs last night and this morning we had half of one left. Not even 24 hours and its gone! I guess I am not used to shopping for that many people...

The store has still been super busy. Traffic was a bit slower the last two days because of the weather but sales are still crazy.

Shipments have been insane. They are really putting my stock skills to the test. Yesterday was 160 boxes and today was 224. You have to get rid of every box on the same day you receive it as there is nowhere to store it. Liz Doggett and Melinda McDonald were both here and they saw. Ask them how small the receiving area is. It is a hallway. I will have to take some pictures otherwise no one will believe me.

I almost forgot Cuba Gooding JR. was in the store last night. He came in after I had already left for the day but some staff did get pictures with him. I will post as soon as I get them. They all said he was super nice and was taking pictures with everyone. He walked out with some Roots gear which his bodyguard carried for him...

Jarar, Rachel (AM at Robson), Jenny (AM at Robson) and Brenda Preston (SM from Square One)

Greg (AM from Central), that guy from Sex in the City and Jenny (AM at Robson)

The statue outside the Vancouver Aquarium

Steve and Chris watching the Canada vs USA game. Can you see Steve's USA t-shirt?

Granville and Nelson street 2 1/2 hours before the Canada vs. USA game

Sleep is Good

I got some sleep today which was great. We left Robson around 8am or so. I slept on and off till about 5pm. I feel a lot better.

Afterwards Steve, Chris and I went out to eat. Steve and I headed down to check out the Olympic Torch as it is only a few blocks from Downtown. The torch is awesome! The crowds are huge and everyone is constantly singing 'O Canada'. It is enough to give you goosebumps.

After the torch Steve and I stopped by the store for a quick sec. Turns out at 8:30pm we had already beaten our sales from the day before. This means everyday we are setting a new record high for daily store sales. When you walk down Robson street the only store that is busy is the Roots store. All the other stores have people in them but nothing like Roots.

Tomorrow we will be going to Stanley Park in the morning and then heading to a bar to grab a table to watch the Canada vs. US Men's hockey game tomorrow. The bar/club district in Vancouver is at Granville and Nelson. I have yet to go there. The game starts at 4:30pm so we will need to be in a bar by at least 2pm-2:30pm to get a table. Everywhere you go is packed and lined up. It is still a lot of fun. If you can't get in anywhere there is always a party on the street you can join.

The picture below of Elizabeth and Jamie Sale was taken Friday morning just before I went home after working the overnight. Also we now have a Right to Play Electric car. Josh drives that around and has to charge it all the time. It is pretty crazy that the driver is on the righthand side.

Elizabeth Store Manager of Robson with Jamie Sale

The Right to Play Electric car parked outside Roots Grandview Outlet

Josh charging the Electric Car - it takes 14 hours to complete a full charge

The Olympic Torch

The Olympic Torch

The Days are Starting to Blend into One

The last few days have been crazy of course. The days are starting to blend into one never ending day.

I just got home from working an overnight (Thursday night to Friday morning). I have to work another one tonight - good times!! However I finish at 9am Saturday morning and I don't have to be at work again till Monday. It will be my first day off. I am very excited. Steve and Chris also have the same schedule as we all work stock together so we are making plans to do some exploring. Stanley Park, Granville Island, the Aquarium, Grouse Mountain, visiting the different provinces/countries Olympic houses and checking out the Olympic Flame. We will be cramming a lot into the weekend.

The store is still super busy. We set a new sales record for the company on Wednesday. We did it again yesterday. It doesn't seem like it will be slowing down for awhile. People are still extremely nice even when we don't have exactly what they are looking for. Everyone is very understanding of how busy the store is. A few customers were telling me the Bay received it's last shipment to Vancouver on Tuesday night and must of it has sold out. I can't remember if I mentioned this but the Bay has over an hour line to get in the store regardless of what time of day it is. People have been lining everyday even before the Olympics started. It is nice to see that the people who are buying the Bay stuff and still buying Roots as well. Many tourist who are not from Canada prefer the Roots stuff as they reconize it being a symbol for Canada. Most of them have not heard of the Bay before.

We have had some visitors from Head Office over the last few days. That was pretty cool. Liz, Melinda, Shyrose, Jordan and Daniel are all in town. I think they really like the vibe Robson has.

The pictures below are from Wednesday. Lanny McDonald stopped by the store and we took a few pictures with him. He is such a nice guy! Lanny used to play Hockey for Toronto and Calgary. Just 'Google' him.

Six more people are on their way to Vancouver to come join us in our house and help out at Robson. We can never have enough staff at Robson. It is another 6 girls which should be interesting as we still only have 2 showers for the over 10 girls already living here. Keeping food in the house also seems to be another challenge. Josh is a regular at the Superstore down the street now.

I am super sick. Most people in the house are. When one person gets sick in the house other people will too. Especially when you live and work with them. I have stocked up on coconut oil, vitamin D and C and other natural goodies. Nothing works better then sleep and water though. Good thing I can at least get water out here in Vancouver!

Thanks Jenny for the care package! I will take a picture of the man made snow and post it!

Robson store during the day on 02/17/10

Again the Robson store on 02/17/10

If you look down Thurlow street this is the view. Taken from the corner of Thurlow and Robson

Chris and Lanny McDonald

Random Tuesday

Sorry to disappoint but nothing crazy exciting happened today. I worked the early shift at Robson. Robson is still crazy nuts. I am meeting a lot of cool customers. The big thing is to trade Olympic pins with everyone.

I am starting to get sick so I am doing everything possible to fight it off.

Below are some random pictures taken over the last few days...

Chris making sure Josh keeps working on the bed...

This guy in Whistler was holding an oversized cheque for $10,000!! WTF?

Outside Grandview Outlet

At Robson Thurlow with Tammy and Trevor

Steve's dream ride

Back in Vancouver

On Monday we headed back to Vancouver. We had to load up both cars and drive straight to Robson to drop off the product we had keyed out.

The drive back from Whistler was awesome. With the daylight we could actually see the amazing views. The drive back was only about an hour and a half.

We headed straight back to Robson and dropped off all the merchandise from Whistler. Then we headed to Grandview and loaded up the van with supplies and headed back to Robson.

Afterwards a bunch of us headed out for dinner. We went to a Sushi/Korean Bar-B-Que restaurant. It was a very cool looking restaurant with good food. It was packed. Every restaurant now has long wait times but this place was worth the wait.

Loading up one of the cars with product before leaving Whistler

The drive back from Whistler

Out for dinner

At the restaurant

Finishing up our meal

Whistler Bound

Stockroom at Whistler with Steve, Susie and Corey

Before going to work at the Whistler Kim took us out for dinner

Susie showing us around the condo/chalet at 4am

The Roots Whistler store

View from my bedroom in Whistler

It is late and I work early tomorrow so this will be a short boring blog - sorry!

Sunday was supposed to be a day off but that was changed at the last minute... We had to pack the van (Howard Pollack's) with supplies and make two runs to Robson. After that we had to head to Whistler. The drive to Whistler was quicker then I thought. I expected to run into traffic but we didn't. It was a little scary driving up the mountain in pitch black in what we nicknamed "deathtrap". However I was driving with Steve and he lives in Park City so he drives through mountains everyday back home. Chris and Ellie scored and were driving up Lyn Frankel's BMW SUV.

We arrived just after 8pm. It is such a hassle to get into Whistler. All the roads are blocked and you need one pass to drive in and another to prove you have a parking spot. There are security checkpoints everywhere.

However we made it in and went to check out the condo. Where the Whistler people are staying is insane!! They have an amazing condo. After the tour Kim Anderson took the four of out to dinner and showed us around the village. It was packed and everyone was in a party mood as the Gold medal was won a few hours earlier. The village is nothing like Banff. It reminds me more of Blue Mountain but way cooler of course.

After dinner we headed back to the condo and took a quick nap then we headed to the store. We worked keying merchandise out to a few different stores. We finished around 3:30am.

The next day when I woke up the view from my bedroom was amazing! I had a view of the mountains. Before we left we had a quick stroll around the village. Seeing everyone carrying skis and snowboards makes you want to get out on the mountains so bad.

Surprise!

Today was another rainy day in Vancouver. If you watched the Opening Ceremonies you saw 'snow' (fake) falling at one point. It would be cool if it was a little snowy here but I'm good with the nice warm temperature's. The rain doesn't seem to dampen anyone's spirit.

Today I started at 11am. A few hours into my shift I received a huge surprise... Three other employees and myself were going to the Canadian Women's hockey game that started at 5pm. I couldn't believe it. It is the first day of the Games and already I was going to an Olympic event!

Needless to say after that I couldn't stop looking at my watch. When 4:30pm rolled around we were ready to go.

The stadium was only two stops away on the SkyTrain. It took us about 20 minutes to get through security. We didn't even know where we were sitting. None of thought to look at the tickets. Turns out we were sitting in a suite. That was pretty crazy.

The hockey game was great. Everyone at the stadium was wearing red and cheering like crazy. Canada won 18-0. This was the first year that the Women's team from Slovakia qualified for the Games. My favorite part was at the end of the game team Slovakia went to centre ice and waved to the crowd. Everyone went crazy and cheered louder for them then when Team Canada went to centre ice. Don't get me wrong we cheered loud for Team Canada but it was awesome that after that game, with that score, the women from team Slovakia went to centre ice with smiles and waved to the crowd. They deserved the standing O they received.

After the game we had to head back to Robson for a quick meeting. That's when I found out I will be going to Whistler tomorrow afternoon and will be staying overnight coming back Monday afternoon. Steve, Chris and myself are going. We are all so pumped. Howard's van (yes Howard Pollack) arrived today and Steve will be driving us up there.

After that we hung out downtown for a bit then headed home. We have 4 more people flying in tomorrow morning from stores in Calgary that will be staying with us. We needed to get another few beds set up for them. It is very much like Big Brother here. They are adding 4 more people to the group to 'shake things up'. I know that's not the intent but its what we all joke about.

Quick side note: I believe you are now able to leave comments. Some people said they were unable to but I think I have fixed it...

A picture outside the stadium when we found out we were in a suite. Look at the top left corner

The Women's hockey game first period

This is a picture of a goal scored in the second period. Couldn't tell you which goal I lost track

Hanging out in the suite

This is at the end of the game over by the Team Canada bench

The Olympics are Here

When I got in last night I was way too tired to update my blog - sorry. So yesterday was the Opening Ceremonies. I can't explain how insane the atmosphere was. Everyone was wearing something that said Canada on it and/or something red. People were chanting "Go Canada Go" everywhere you went. Robson street was shutdown and packed!

Again the three of us started at 7am - woo hoo. Steve made us French toast with fresh fruit. What a great way to start the day!

The Robson store opened at 8am today as the torch run was passing right by the store. A few of us stood outside the store to watch. I saw the torch run in Toronto which was very cool. Seeing it again in Vancouver was something completely different.

After the torch run the store got rocked! From about 9am till 6pm it was pure chaos. Again I can't say numbers but the store set a new record for sales. Everyone in the store was loving the Roots stuff. People kept saying that either they don't like the Bay stuff or they don't want to wait in line (The Bay's Olympic Superstore had a one hour line to get in). Also a lot of the customers are wearing the Bay Canada pieces while buying Roots stuff.

Afterwards a few of us went out to watch the Opening Ceremonies at a bar. We asked the staff in the store where to go and we were told Kingstons. It was a very cool bar. Big screen TVs everywhere and it was packed. Afterwards we wandered the streets with the crowd.



Steve (from Park City) made us a great French toast breakfast with fresh fruit - It rocked!

Torch run on Robson street

Time for a cardboard run...

Monika dropping off product from other stores

At Kingstons watching the Opening Ceremonies

Rain + Early Start+ Hills = One tired Janice

Today was an early start. Steve, Chris and myself all started at 7am today. This meant having to get up at 5am. It is so hard to get up and get ready in the dark without making a sound! No one stirred so I was good.

Steve made us early risers French toast - that was a bit of a reward for waking up so early.

I took some pictures of the store this morning while we were still closed. The store looks so amazing. Elizabeth and the rest of the managers really hold their employees to high store standards but it pays off.

We receive over 100 boxes today. At first Purolator came and dropped off 17. I was like this is nothing. The store has a backroom door where they receive shipment. The doorbell rang about 40 minutes later. It was a different Purolator guy with 86 boxes - amazing!

It was a lot of fun getting through the boxes. I would open and receive while Chris would stock the floor and Steve would backstock. We also had Vinnie and Tyler who work at Robson helping us out and they are super fast. It totally felt like being back in Central during Christmas time.

While Purolator was dropping off boxes a whole wack of RCMP and Vancouver Police shutdown Robson. Everyone on the street stopped to see what was happening. We were watching out the receiving door. Turns out it was PM Stephen Harper. He was in the car waving out to everyone on the street. I didn't see anyone wave back - lol.

A little bit later same thing happened but this time it was Princess Ann - I have no idea who that is.

Everyone in the city is either wearing something that says Canada on it or Vancouver 2010. People are in a great mood and the streets are so busy. The Robson store was insane today. I can't tell you what we finished with but when they told me what we were at for the week (total sales since Sunday) I didn't believe them. People are just buying everything.

Today some Russian athletes came into the store to buy some Roots Russia International items. They were all at the Olympics in 2002 and remember the Roots brand. Next time I see Russian athletes I have to take a picture. They all wear the most insane red and white track suits. You can't miss them.

Starting early means leaving early (sort of). We left around 4pm. The three of us wanted to get something to eat. We went to a pub called 'The Winking Judge'. It is one block away from the Courthouse. There I enjoyed my first beer since I have been in BC. Afterwards I was exhausted and ready for bed! There hasn't too much time to get out and see stuff. When you are done work you just want to go home and relax and get ready for your next shift.

Tomorrow I am off early again but I will be staying downtown. Tomorrow night is the Opening Ceremonies and downtown is the place to be. The Ceremonies are taking place at BC Place which is a few blocks from the Robson store. It is going to be crazy there tomorrow. They have started shutting down the streets.

I plan on going over to Richmond with some others from 'the loft' where they have the 'Ozone'. It is a bunch of tents on the street that are makeshift bars. They have the Heineken house located there. It is supposed to be huge!

I am looking forward to having Sunday off. I want to go to Olympic Village and Stanley Park. Hopefully the weather is nice. It rained all day today. It's okay because even with the rain it is still warm and there is no need for a jacket.

Oh yah I mentioned the hills in the title of my post. We all hate the hills. To walk to the SkyTrain is about 10 - 15 minutes. In the morning no problem. There are about 3 hills you go up and down. When you are walking home after giving 150% at work that day the hills are awful!! We are all dragging ourselves home walking up these hills.

That's it for now.

Women's International section at the Robson store

Men's International - Robson


Check out the crazy leather section! It looks so amazing when you see it in person

The Moosehead to the left is the first and only beer I have enjoyed since being in BC

Robson store streetview

Rainy Day in Van City

Today it was a rainy day in Vancouver. I did stock again at Robson and we got so much done! The store was busy again the rain didn't keep anyone away. Again everyone I helped out today was super nice. I am meeting people from all around the world.

We had some athletes in the store today. The only person I recognized was Jamie Sale. We had CBS in our store this evening filming. I have meet all the CTV news personalities here in BC. Their office/studio is across the street from the Robson store.

Afterwards Steve and I meet Josh at Walmart to pick up some more food. Everyone is packing a lunch so we are going through food faster.

I am waiting for my laundry to finish so I can go to bed. I have to be at Robson for 7am tomorrow which means I have to get up at 5am. It is 10pm now and I am beat. Oh well Steve is making us French toast tomorrow for breakfast as he starts the same time as me.

Josh making hotdogs for myself and him for dinner - "mad propz" to Josh!Chris, Monika, myself and Elizabeth in the stockroom at Robson

This pic was taken last night before I crashed


Josh and Monica hanging out in Monika's office on Tuesday night

Jenny and Susan from Robson - both of them are managers