My grandmother, Diane, nails the entrepreneurial life on the head. There is so much more to running a business than spreadsheets and payroll. You arrive at work every day to face a new set of challenges that will test your dedication, give you new resolve, and show you just how amazing people can be. These are the feelings that inspire you, and your business, to go to new heights.

This is my family’s story:

“Today I would not recommend starting a business the way we did”

Ken and Diane came to Prince George as newly weds in 1966. They came from Woodfibre, which is a small town near Whistler, British Columbia to give you an idea. Diane’s dad ran the bowling alley there in his spare time. He oversaw getting the awards for their events, which he got from a company in Vancouver. He knew that as Ken and Diane moved north there would be a need for an awards company in a town that was just getting started. This sparked the creation of Van Horlick’s in Prince George. Diane’s parents moved to Prince George as well to get ready for retirement. While here they helped in the business.

In 1969 Van Horlick’s was incorporated.

Our dream started in the basement of a duplex in the Spruceland area of Prince George. My grandparents finished the basement to provide a showroom, production and engraving space. Now this sounds like a great idea, right? Home based business is all the rage today, but not back then! We opened our doors March 29th to only have them closed March 30th.

What a disappointment...

There was still hope though! Ken and Diane had done some good ground work before opening. They had an advanced showing at the Inn of the North that had been well attended, so they knew there was potential.

They persevered and found a place below Pats News, which if you are a Prince George local, was located just down the street from Books and Company on Third Avenue. Back then you could pick up in store, or we would deliver.

What an adventure. It was a bumpy start, but we got there! Our doors were open, and we were ready to show the world what we were made of.

 

The Story of Us Part 2 - Picture This...

The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.

-Vince Lombardi

Picture this: Ken is working 12 hour shifts at the mill, oh did I forget to tell you?

 

My grandparents originally came to Prince George following my grandpa’s mill career. He came to help start up PG Pulp and was working 12 hour shifts with few days off. The days that he did have off were spent doing Van Horlick’s book work or building trophies. Diane had a new baby, my mom Lisa, and was busy taking care of her while doing the engraving by hand or with a pantograph engraver, which is essentially the same as doing the engraving by had. You have a needle that is attached to an arm that is attached to what looks like a pen with a big handle. Then you lay out all the letters in a tray that has lines to hold them. You set it up exactly as you would like to see your engraving on the product. The next step is to follow the letters with the pen which then moves the arm that has the needle and engraves on the product. This is a manual job that is very time consuming. Can you imagine doing 500 awards and realizing at the end you made a mistake!?

(The coolest part of this peice of history is that I remember this piece of equipment from my childhood! Diane used it for 30 years!)

While in this location Diane did the engraving, Ken built the trophies, George, Diane’s dad, took appointments in the showroom, and Doris, Diane’s mom managed to keep them all fed.

They were very lucky to have some amazing customers, a few of whom we still work with regularly today! Big shout out to the Barracudas Swim Club and the Silver Tip Archers for supporting us from the very beginning.

 

The Story of Us Part 3 - A Big Move

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston S. Churchill

In 1970 Van Horlick’s moved to 7th and Brunswick Street.

 

Here they finally were able to establish regular store hours. Tuesday to Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. This allowed them to continue to build their business without too much help.
 
Then in 1971 Ken and Diane were blessed with another baby girl, my aunt Paula. As luck would have it, Paula came home from the hospital the same day Lisa, now two and a half, got her cast removed from a broken leg. What a happy day for everyone!
 
The move and the new baby added more stress to my Grandparent’s lives and they decided to hire more help. They also needed to find a way to make small plates and repetitive jobs less time consuming, so they purchased a new piece of equipment.
 
The technology for engraving equipment was advancing quickly, but with some research the choice was easy. They chose a rotary wheel stamper that they called “John Henry.” Compared to the technology we have today, which I won’t be getting into now but look out for stories in the future, it was nothing special. However, back in 1971 it obviously made a huge difference! Tirelessly stamping plate after repetitive plate, just as John Henry (folk hero) tirelessly helped build the railway. The addition of new staff and new equipment was just the beginning of our growth into what Van Horlick’s is today.
 
 

The Story of Us Part 4 -Go On… Take a Risk

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success"
- Edward Everett Hale

We continued to grow! Our awards business was expanding, and my grandparents could not keep up.

 

The addition of new staff and new equipment was just the beginning of our growth into what Van Horlick’s is today.

We continued to grow! Our awards business was expanding, and my grandparents could not keep up. In 1973 Grandpa Ken left the mill to gain sales experience on the road. He represented a giftware company and our trophy manufacturer. His knowledge and experience continued to grow in leaps and bounds when he went Chicago for trainer and became the Western Canadian repair technician for the stamp engraver.

The continued success led my grandparents down the road of risk taking. As we now know, they were not afraid of making bold moves, but this next one was BIG.

It is now the 1980s and interest rates are through the roof at 23%, but this did not scare my grandparents. They moved to the Redwood square and opened a store that was twice the size of their previous location and continued to push Van Horlick’s to new heights by purchasing a computerized engraving system.

They had bet it all. I cannot imagine the stress, fear, and excitement they were feeling at this time. Now that they had the technology, the trophy business could expand to meet the increased demand. This new technology put John Henry out of business (if you do not know who John Henry is, take a look back at my last email).

Computerized engraving not only made production of trophies faster, but it allowed for the addition of giftware lines into the services we could provide our customers with. This addition opened new markets for us in the recognition business. Now we could engrave steins for sporting events, baby cups and spoons for new babies, clocks for corporate recognition, and so much more.

All these lines were connected and related to the desire to commemorate special people and events. We now had the whole package.

 

The Story of Us Part 5 - The Perfect Fit

"All progress takes place outside of the comfort zone"

- Michael Bobak

Now that we had the perfect fit, awards and gifts, all engraved, we started looking for a location that was the perfect fit. 

The recent civic election had promised the development of Parkwood place, which was just across 15th from our current location. We waited and waited, but there was no activity. The Spruceland shopping centre at 5th and Central was doing well, so my grandparents decided to make another big move!

In 1988, they made the move to a very large, high profile location in the Spruceland shopping mall. They took on the space that now holds Shoppers Drug Mart (which is HUGE). These years were full of fun and excitement, being in a high-profile location gave my grandparents a new confidence.

 

The Story of Us Part 6 - New Adventures
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
-Winston Churchill
 
Now that we had the very first laser engraving system in British Columbia, we could continue to expand our product lines and customer base. A laser engraver is a computerized system that allowed us to easily recreate logos, graphics, and special text onto a whole new array of materials including wood, plastic and glass.

For the next five years we worked hard to develop our skills and expand our customer base. In 1995, Ken and Diane decided that they were confident that they could make one more Big Move. They had been in a high-profile location in a mall for 8 years, but they were ready for a change.

Ken and Diane decided to become a destination business and made the decision to build their own building in downtown Prince George on 8th Ave. This is very building that I am writing our story for you from today. Where we have celebrated both our 50th & 55th Years in Business!