Apartment Look

Mainstreet Equity (OTC:OTC:MEQYF) is an under-the-radar residential apartment owner/operator in Western Canada . Despite a market cap of $325m (all figures Canadian ), it often sees volume of less than 1000 shares a day on the TSX where it trades under the MEQ ticker. The recent investor presentation (July 2017) gives a brief snapshot of the properties Mainstreet controls . It's important to note that Mainstreet is well away from the frothier markets in Canadian real estate , both geographically and in terms of price point. The average apartment it owns is valued at just marginally more than $100k with an average monthly rent of just $864. These are solidly middle class , leaning lower middle class , properties. The company is focused on rolling up what they view as smaller, underperforming buildings, often ones that have fallen into significant disrepair, are being managed by inexperienced and/or unprofessional owners, and giving them a makeover, with some recent examples fr...

Almost 10 years ago, Cactus Club Cafe made an announcement that sent shockwaves across the food world. Rob Feenie, then one of the country’s brightest culinary stars , would be going to work for the Vancouver-based “casual fine dining” chain. The move was calculated on both sides – at the time, Feenie was looking for a stable place to land after walking away from his two restaurants, the result of an acrimonious split with his former business partners. And Cactus Club could cash in on the cachet and street cred a name such as Feenie’s carried at a time when the power of food culture and food television (of which Feenie had been a star) was becoming fully realized. Still, the reaction was swift. “Yikes, Feenie really sold out on this one,” one commenter on the the foodie forum eGullet said at the time. “The power of the dollar!” That announcement was just the start. In the near-decade since, many of the best restaurants across Canada have seen their top talent leave for jobs at c...

Even the doughnuts are getting in on this phenomenon. The solar eclipse is coming, and Krispy Kreme has responded by offering today to “eclipse” its iconic glazed doughnuts with chocolate just for the occasion. In truth, it’s surprising that more companies haven’t tried to find profit and visibility in the moon’s passage in front of the sun. How is this not “the Hardee’s/Carl Jr.’s Solar Eclipse?” How is Eveready not the official battery of the 2017 solar eclipse ? Either the marketing execs are asleep at the switch, or they don’t know where to send the checks. But make no mistake: This will be a 21st-century eclipse that will be tweeted, Instagrammed, Snap-chatted, texted, YouTubed and maybe Facebooked (by some of the old-fashioned folks). It will even be broadcast live on cable TV’s Science Channel, titled “The Great American Eclipse .” Americans are traveling in droves to stake out optimal viewing spots in the “Band of Totality,” a gently sloping arc that traces its parabola from...