The South Bayview Bulldog

The new Volvo is coming and it’s focused seriously on the world’s largest auto market — China. The company hopes to make it a major luxury seller over the next few years. Curiously, Geely, the new Chinese owners of Volvo, has expressed itself in disagreement with the Swedish executives who are in charge of making and selling the new car. Li Shufu, the Geely chairman, thinks the Volvo should be even plushier than it is. But he’s agreed to back off for the time being. For his part, Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby says the concept car shown above, the Tiandi or Universe, “has nothing to do with Geely” and was not influenced in any way by the Chinese company. “I don’t report to Li Shufu,” Mr Jacoby said. Launching the car at the start of the Shanghai show, Volvo Cars officials made only scant mention of Volvo’s traditional brand values of safety and environmental friendliness, focusing instead on its “voluptuous curves” and “coupe-style roof line”. Asked whether safety was no longer important to Volvo Cars, Mr Jacoby said: “We have to look for other brand values next to safety. Safety will remain a core competence, but we will maybe not directly market this as a safe car.”

Workmen were in the early stages of putting up the sign at the new Sports Swap location at 1541B South Bayview Tuesday. Sources say it will be a lighted blue marker that should look pretty good.

Analysts say the lively coffee shop competition has taken its toll on Second Cup, a constant haunt for so many of us. But Stacey Mowbray (above), the company’s CEO, is vowing to change that. “We are very much back in growth mode,” she says. The company plans to add up to 30 locations this year, and is looking to open 130 more over the next few years in order to reverse a long decline. In 2000, Second Cup boasted 390 locations across the country, but that number has been winnowed to 340. Starbucks, meanwhile, ballooned from 238 to more than 1,000 stores over the same period. Locally, as we know, the amiable Hong Ngo has re-invigorated business in the South Bayview shop. Friendly service is a vital ingredient for success. Customers like to be addressed by name. Second Cup also has to identify new franchisees who are able to carry it off. That’s not always easy. And, Second Cup needs to look to variety and ingredients of muffins. Many coffee shop patrons will tell you that the coffee is pretty much good whereever you go. Muffins frequently give a shop an edge. SBB with information from Canadian Business Online.

If you haven’t been south of St Clair recently, here’s an update from Yonge Street just south of Roxborough. That’s the Four Seasons Hotel looming up from the corner of Bay St. and Yorkville Ave. Picture courtesy Yonge and Roxborough

It did finally clear up a little but these gusty visits were hard to take. Nonetheless, we were not the only ones getting a late taste of winter. The street saw many shoppers after the early-afternoon snow stopped. And tomorrow, the Weather Channel is predicting variable cloudiness with a high of 7C.

The British government is set to change the succession laws to allow Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first born child whether it be a boy or girl to take the throne. It seems like the modern thing to do, according to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. It’s a fact however that there’s been only one brother and sister act in four generations and the girl was the junior. That was the current Queen’s children. Charles was born before Anne. Princess Diana (left) had sons only as did Queen Mary (right). The late Queen Mother Elizabeth, second from the right, had only daughters.

They were testing the newly-installed lights in the cosmetic department of the new Shoppers Drug Mart on South Bayview Saturday morning. It was rainy and gray outside but in the warmly-lit space inset it was summer. Well, a lot nicer than outside anyway. And it won’t be long before women will be walking among shelves full of everything from the most delicate make-up to the fiercest war-paint. Hurry up you guys!