The Evolution of Pop

Your Business magazine profiles Pop Shoppe: A vintage brand back on the scene

TORONTO, June 1 /CNW/ - Things Brian Alger didn't have when he bought the Pop Shoppe: staff, a headquarters or a clue as to how cutthroat the beverage business could be. Alger is a one-man operation - directing his various suppliers and partners out of a lakeside home office in Grimsby, Ontario. But thanks to a cool vintage brand and extreme outsourcing, he has successfully revived the once dormant business.

For many, Alger is bottling nostalgia by tapping into boomers' and Gen-Xers fond memories of the Pop Shoppe. And he pulled it off: Last year, he sold more than six million bottles, making it Canada's second-best-selling premium Soda. What's next? The classic conundrum Alger faces: should he grow or should he go?

Writer Joanna Pachner reveals what the future holds for the retro brand, in the summer issue of Your Business magazine available in select issues of The Globe and Mail and online on Thursday, June 3, 2010. Visit globeandmail.com/yourbusiness

Also in this issue of Your Business magazine:

A Ride on The Wild Slide - Seventy acres, 35 water slides, and a wave pool the size of three NHL hockey rinks. By the numbers alone, the Ottawa region's new $45-million Calypso water park is an impressive project. But one number owner Guy Drouin doesn't have a lock on is the one measured in Celsius. Writer Steve Ladurantaye finds out why it is time to bring on the summer sun.

The End of The Office - There's been no shortage of talk about the paperless office and the wireless office. How about the officeless office? As a number of entrepreneurs are proving, the last thing a budding tech empire needs is a castle to call home. With millions in revenue, dozens of employees and clients beating down their door, this new breed of start-ups is avoiding real estate. Writer Clive Thompson explains how virtual offices are changing the future of work.

-TGAM-

The Globe and Mail's Your Business web site and magazine focuses on entrepreneurs and small-business owners. The combination of digital, magazine and newspaper content provide an integrated, 360-degree coverage of and reach to small- and medium-sized businesses. The Globe and Mail serves the unique needs of these audiences with a wealth of online resources and dedicated coverage of small business issues and news at globeandmail.com/yourbusiness. The magazine is distributed to members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, via select home delivery issues of The Globe and Mail and online at globeandmail.com/yourbusiness.

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For further information: or to arrange an interview please contact: Jennifer Hills, [email protected], [phone]