Vancouver Island Business Openings and Expansions to Watch This Fall
Photo: Robert Barron/News Bulletin.
Published: August 31, 2026
Last updated: August 31, 2026
By Magnus Reaper
Vancouver Island business activity is showing up in more than one form this fall.
Some developments are new storefronts opening their doors. Others involve established operators moving into larger spaces, organizations expanding their capacity, or national brands announcing their first Island locations. Several projects are also planned or scheduled rather than open, which makes timing worth watching.
Here are seven Vancouver Island business openings, expansions and community developments that have been recently reported or announced.
Heal Wellness opens in Saanich with five-location commitment
Status: Opened
Heal Wellness opened its first Vancouver Island location on August 29 at Unit D1-4, 3956 Shelbourne Street, in the University Heights development in Saanich.
The quick-service wellness brand offers smoothies, bowls and related food and beverage products. The new store is operated by a franchisee who has committed to opening five Heal Wellness locations across Vancouver Island. The Saanich location is the first step in that commitment.
The opening gives the brand a foothold in the Shelbourne-McKenzie area, close to the University of Victoria and established residential neighbourhoods. The location is part of a broader retail and mixed-use environment that has been developing around University Heights.
The five-location commitment is an announced expansion plan, not a published list of five confirmed opening dates. The timing and locations of the remaining stores have not been publicly identified in the sources reviewed for this article.
For more details, see the reports from B.C. Business and Kalkine.
Photo: Krish Capital Pty Ltd, via Kalkine.
Loaves and Fishes moves into a much larger Nanaimo facility
Status: Moved into new facility
Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank has begun moving into a new 24,000-square-foot facility at 1861 East Wellington Road in Nanaimo.
Known as the Tom Harris Regional Food Centre, the building is four times the size of the organization’s former 6,000-square-foot location on Fry Street. The organization received its occupancy permit on August 24 and began moving office operations shortly afterwards, with food operations scheduled to follow.
The new facility is intended to bring the organization’s work together under one roof. Loaves and Fishes supplies food to more than 100 community partners, including food banks, charities and schools, across more than 40 communities and Indigenous groups on Vancouver Island and as far north as Haida Gwaii.
Expanded storage and modernized loading bays are expected to make it easier to work with larger donations and send food to remote communities. The facility also represents a major capital project, reported at approximately $16 million, supported by government contributions, fundraising, a mortgage and land donated by the City of Nanaimo.
This is not a conventional retail opening, but it is an important local expansion. It adds operational capacity to a Nanaimo-based organization with a regional distribution role.
The Nanaimo News Bulletin’s report also noted that demand for Loaves and Fishes’ services has increased by 30 per cent over the past five years.
Blackbird Creator Studio opens in downtown Parksville
Status: Opened
Blackbird Creator Studio has opened at 114 Middleton Avenue in downtown Parksville.
The studio is a rental space for photographers, content creators and other creative professionals. Its warm, minimalist design is intended to support different types of shoots, including family, branding, boudoir and wedding photography.
Owner Jess McLaren told the Parksville Qualicum Beach News that she spent two years looking for a suitable space before opening the studio. The business also plans to accommodate team meetings, workshops and independent work.
For Parksville and the central Island, the opening adds a specialized space for people who need a professional setting without travelling to a larger urban centre. It may also provide a useful venue for local businesses preparing product photography, branding content or small events.
More information is available through Blackbird Creator Studio.
Photo: Contributed photo, via Parksville Qualicum Beach News.
Brickitty-Dooda expands into a larger Cowichan Valley space
Status: Relocated and opened
Brickitty-Dooda has relocated to a larger space at 951 Canada Avenue.
The specialty and Lego store, owned by David Sequin, moved after outgrowing its former Festubert Street location. The new shop held a members-only soft opening on August 1 and a grand opening on August 2.
According to the Cowichan Valley Citizen, customers lined up for more than two hours during the grand opening. The store sells current Lego sets, rare and discontinued sets, and thousands of mini-figures.
The larger location is also intended to bring back a birthday party room and creative building workshops. The business has discussed future opportunities to work with schools and educators as well.
Brickitty-Dooda’s move illustrates one of the more familiar forms of local business expansion: a small operator using a larger physical footprint to add experiences alongside products.
Photo: Chad Cawson/Cowichan Valley Citizen.
Alphabet City Books plans a permanent Victoria storefront
Status: Planned
Alphabet City Books plans to open a permanent downtown Victoria storefront in early November.
The independent book business has been operating as a pop-up inside Habit Coffee’s Chinatown location. According to the Martlet, co-owners Talia Freimanis and Michael Pollard have secured a roughly 950-square-foot retail space, with a lease beginning September 1.
The planned store is expected to focus primarily on second-hand books, with a smaller selection of new titles. The owners have described the concept as a curated community space rather than a large-format bookstore.
An early-November opening is a target rather than a confirmed opening date. Until the business provides a final date, readers should treat the timing as planned.
If it proceeds as described, the storefront would add another independent book presence to downtown Victoria and build on the audience developed through the pop-up.
MUJI announces its first Vancouver Island store
Status: Announced; opening date not confirmed
MUJI plans to open its first Vancouver Island location at Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria.
The Japanese brand is known for clothing, household products, stationery, health and beauty items, food and other everyday goods. MUJI already operates stores in several Lower Mainland communities, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Delta.
The Victoria Buzz report noted that MUJI has been recruiting sales and leadership associates for the Mayfair location. That suggests preparations are underway, but no official opening date had been announced as of publication.
This distinction matters for shoppers and nearby businesses. MUJI is an announced arrival, not a confirmed fall opening. The store’s eventual launch date and footprint remain to be confirmed.
Photo: MUJI Canada/Facebook, via Victoria Buzz.
Dr. Joe Haegert Community Health Centre prepares to open
Status: Scheduled
The Dr. Joe Haegert Community Health Centre is scheduled to open at 576 Burnside Road East in Victoria.
The centre is located inside Cool Aid’s Crosstown housing complex and is scheduled to begin serving existing patients on September 9. It is expected to begin accepting new patients on October 1.
The centre will initially focus on people within Cool Aid’s priority population, including people affected by substance use disorder, mental health diagnoses, chronic conditions associated with those issues and HIV. The medical team is expected to include doctors, registered nurses, counsellors, physiotherapists, acupuncturists and mental health clinicians.
The Times Colonist reported that Cool Aid’s existing medical vans will continue operating around the city.
While this is a health-care development rather than a conventional business opening, it represents an expansion of local service capacity. Its staged opening dates are also clear: September 9 for existing patients and October 1 for new patients.
What these developments suggest
Taken together, these Vancouver Island business openings and expansions show a varied pattern of local activity.
Some operators are growing because they need more space, as seen with Loaves and Fishes and Brickitty-Dooda. Others are testing or establishing specialized concepts, including Blackbird Creator Studio and Alphabet City Books. National and franchised brands are also entering Island markets, with Heal Wellness now open and MUJI announced for Mayfair.
The developments span retail, food service, creative work, books, community distribution and health care. That variety is more useful than any single headline about Vancouver Island economic development. It shows where organizations and operators are making concrete commitments, while also highlighting the difference between an opening that has happened, one that is scheduled and one that is still planned.
For more Vancouver Island business news and local developments, follow the Roaring Coast blog.