Baby Bump Store & Family Centre officially threw open their doors today in the Thomas Mall (728-18th Street). This locally owned business is an expansion of Baby Bump Prenatal, which Adrienne McNish and Stacy Nevill started two years ago. They began by offering a variety of prenatal classes for expectant parents in the privacy of their homes, but after a tremendous response from their clients they saw a need to expand their business. “We will continue to offer our private prenatal classes at our clients’ homes, but classes can now also be held in our Family Centre for those who would prefer and for out-of-town clients. Our focus remains the same - to educate and inspire expecting and new parents. We will now be Brandon's only baby and family one-stop-shop, where families are supported right from conception through to the toddler years,” said Stacy. In addition, the duo plans to introduce a variety of new prenatal and postnatal classes at the Family Centre this fall, plus their newly renovated space can be rented for events such as baby showers and birthday parties. Parents-to-be will also be pleased to hear that the business also includes a retail section. Baby Bump has a variety of quality products, including all the necessities for pregnancy, parents and babies, including beautiful gift ideas. Some of the products they have in store include: strollers, carseats, breast pumps, nursing bras, diaper bags, crib sheets, blankets, teethers, books, booties, wraps and slings, and so much more. “We strive to provide a place where people can feel comfortable learning, asking questions and exploring products that are right for them and their growing families,” said Adrienne. Stop by the store or visit: http://www.babybumpprenatal.com. You can also find them on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter.

Courtesy Morguard Morguard is excited to provide the following update on our current development activities. Sobeys extra Brandon South — is on track for a mid-July opening. The 62,500 sf store will offer many extra amenities that are not currently in the market place. GoodLife Fitness - is gearing for a July 7 opening. Over 700 memberships have been sold to date. Dollarama started construction in early May and generally completes their construction within a 7 week period bringing their opening to early July. On-going Environmental remediation continues in Unit 48 (former Liquor Store) and is anticipated to be ready for a future Tenant in the fall. Restaurant Pad Site construction will commence in June with a turn over date of August to the Tenants for their work.  Restaurants include: Harvey's/Swiss Chalet combo, Fionn McCool's Irish Pub, East Side Marios Phase 2 development which consists of the Mall expanding into 40,000 sf of the former Target space next to Sobeys extra will commence in August and will be completed in the fall of 2018.

A new bakery is scheduled to open downtown later this year as Chez Angela Bakery and Cafe have announced, via their Facebook page, that they will have a new permanent home located at 29-10th Street in Brandon. The new shop plans to offer “fresh-baked goods made by hand with locally-sourced ingredients, artisan breads, cheesecakes, delicious treats, cookies, cakes and more”. Those looking to pickup, or treat themselves to some fresh-baked, from scratch croissants can do so by visiting the Global Market each weekend in Brandon, where they will have a booth for the summer.

Last month the team at Fired Pizzaria decided that they would like to seek out an opportunity to "Fire It Forward" as they say at their restaurant. After only a few moments, it was decided that they would reach out to the Helping Hands Soup Kitchen, and see if there was any interest in catering a meal for a day. What a silly question! Of course their was! All of the Fired staff who came in at 6 am that morning to start working on preparing the meal - volunteered their time. Their food supplier - Gordon Food Service - graciously donated (without so much as barely being asked) flour, cheese and romaine lettuce. The team at Fired Pizzaria provided pizza and salad for 150 people that day, and owner/operator Jamie Munro says that without the help of his team, and and his food vendor, the project might never have taken place. “I can assure you without the gracious donation of time from our staff and food from Gordon Food Service - Fired Pizzaria would not have been able to do this once; let alone again.” During this good deed, Jamie himself took something away from the experience, outside of just providing a meal to those in need. “We met some of the most wonderful and grateful people. The smiles on their faces told us we'd done something of value. The integrity and dedication of the staff and volunteers of the Helping Hands Soup Kitchen was heart warming.” Now, Jamie and his team, are inviting other local pizza restaurants in Brandon to come together to commit to providing pizza one day a month, for six months, to the Helping Hands Soup Kitchen. By Jamie's estimation each pizza place would likely have to donate between 5-8 pizzas once a month, and provide delivery to the facility. The Helping Hands staff would then look after distributing the food. Pizza places, and/or restaurants, wishing to join in the creation of this coalition can email Jamie @ firedpizzaria@gmail.com.

Brandon University News Release A business proposal put together by a pair of Brandon University (BU) students had a nice ring to it. By combining wedding planning and technology, Linaya Davis and Catherine Dubois found a match at the Manitoba New Venture Championships this month at the University of Manitoba. Davis and Dubois were awarded third place in the category of Best Business Plan Presentation for their pitch for Before I Do, an online and app-based business that would provide wedding planning services to the general public. The New Venture Championships featured 12 entries from post-secondary institutions from across Manitoba. Their business plans, presentations and logos were judged by a panel of Winnipeg business professionals. This is the second straight year that a team from BU has finished in the prizes. Last year Michael Gall and Tanner Price won the award for Best Written Business Plan for their proposal for Precision Vehicle Transport.