New Westminster may soon have the distinction of having the most large grocery stores per capita in the Lower Mainland. Wal-Mart has applied to open a new grocery supercentre in its Queensborough store. Thrifty Foods has just been announced as an anchor tenant in Sapperton’s coming Brewery District mixed-retail/residential complex next to SkyTrain and Royal Columbian Hospital. A new Safeway is coming to the Plaza 88 development at New Westminster SkyTrain. And of course, the River Market will open this summer as a newly food-focused destination with an as-yet-unnamed anchor grocer.

One of my many nerdy pleasures is games. Before having kids, I loved to play both computer games and board games. I even played a little Magic: The Gathering with friends (and liked it!). So you can perhaps imagine the little frisson of fun I felt when I stumbled upon a new board game shop just a block off New Westminster’s bridal boulevard.

New Westminster is a haven for unique boutiques. Perhaps it’s the character buildings lining our main shopping districts chock-a-block that draw the proprietors of these neat little businesses … or maybe just the low rents that can be found in some of our legendarily ‘up and coming’ neighbourhoods.

Here are some of my picks for places to go when you’re looking for that unique ‘special something’ for the person who’s hard to buy for.

With a DS- and Pokemon-obsessed eight-year-old stepson, a two-year-old whose alter ego is Prince Philip the Knight and a newborn girl I’m looking forward to spoil, I’ve had a personal interest in finding good local Christmas gifts & activities for kiddies.

Here’s where I’ve been shopping for gifts for my kids here in New West. (Hint: Sapperton is the place to be!)

After breaking a guitar string, Rob Jones strolls down 12th Street for the first time in search of a replacement.

It started off as a brainstorming session in which the editorial staff were sitting around ruminating about shopping locally over a glass of wine (or four). We started coming up with our favourites here in New West, stores that are hidden treasures and gems of awesomeness and started feeling pretty good about not having to leave the city to find a gift for everyone on your list. That conversation has evolved into a special series we’re calling Hyack the Holidays that we will be kicking off today. We invite Tenth …

When Ross started his most recent stint of post secondary education about five years ago, his mom had a custom computer built for him as a gift. This computer has become our family computer and the one I use to complete my at-home contract work as well as my for-fun online writing both here and on my personal blog.  
About three or four months ago, my hard drive appeared to pack it in, and I relied on the kindness of some friends to retrieve my valuable documents from it and save them to a thumb …

Local Farmers Market regulars and aficionados will be happy to hear that they won’t have to wait until next spring to get their fix of fresh, local food and community spirit. New Westminster’s Royal City Farmers Market will launch a new monthly Winter Market beginning this December.

It was the best of stores, it was the worst of stores….well, nothing is that simple.
New Westminster residents, like folks all over, develop a preference for grocery stores. Those of us habituated to the 6th Ave. Safeway in the Royal City Center have had our choice expanded as the Save on Foods has recently opened in New Westminster Center, on 6th st. Like anything, our individual choices will be based on a number of factors including location, layout, staff, selection and price. While it is impossible to say one …

This is a guest post by Rob Jones, who shares some of his first impressions of New Westminster as a new resident of our city. You can read more from Rob on his blog, The Delete Bin, and also find him on Twitter @clippernolan.
There are elements of every city that makes it unique, makes them feel like home.
My experience with big-small towns is well established, even if I am a recent resident of New Westminster. Like New West, my hometown of Oakville Ontario was founded next to a busy waterway; …

This is a guest post from Glenn Gaetz from Liberation B.C. , an animal rights group that advocates for a vegan lifestyle and an end to all exploitation of animals. You can find Glenn on Twitter @liberationbc.
A new business opened on Canada Day in New Westminster: Karmavore, an all-vegan store. This is the metro Vancouver area’s only vegan shop (short-lived Vegetate on Robson was the first).

Why a vegan shop? The owners wanted to run a business that was entirely in line with their values. A portion of profits are donated to animal-friendly charities, …

Admittedly, I’m a little biased. I was recently appointed as the market manager for the Royal City Farmers’ Market, but I am so excited about the market’s reopening coming up!
The second incarnation of the Royal City Farmers’ Market is about to kick off June 25th with a special “Welcome to Summer Vacation” market, featuring kids’ activities including toys and crafts, a magician, face painting, and a special appearance by Mayor Wayne Wright who will start the market season off with a bang! The market runs June 25 to October 8 …

This is a guest post by Nancy Gephart from Clever Mink’s Gifts, ’the minksiest gift shop in the Lower Mainland,’ at 711 Carnarvon St.
Tourism New Westminster has a terrific new campaign this summer, the “Passport 150″. It is a part of the city’s 150th Anniversary celebration and it is an excellent chance to explore the city’s shops, restaurants, galleries, theatres, festivals and attractions. The way it works is simple:
1) Pick up a free Passport at any participating business (I have them here at Clever Mink’s Gifts) or at any of the …

Yellow tights, architectural shoes, and exploding drop earrings might just be the continuous run of New York fashion week, but when it comes to eye glasses that make a statement, you don’t have to go further than New Westminster.
Brilliantly innovative, local designer Traff Green’s designs, Reflections by Traff, are a unique medley of hand-picked colours to show skin tones at their best!   The carefully contoured and connected shapes of his designs will match any face shape and eyes.
The result?
Bold, impactful eye glasses for the everyday woman. And with limited …

There was a hint of a congratulatory mood at tonight’s Annual General Meeting of the Royal City Farmer’ Market at the New Westminster Public Library.  The meeting was well attended and a number of people renewed their membership or became members with their $10 donation. Tenthtothefraser.ca also became a member in a way as both Briana and myself joined the society.
Andrew Murray, founder, past president and a major spokesperson for the RCFM, reported that over the 16 market days of the 2008 season, more than 11,000 persons attended the market …

New Westminster has a winery. I had no idea.
Pacific Breeze Winery, on Stewardson, is a small operation run by a couple of passionate oenophiles who began making wine in their basement with the support of a local wine club.
Here’s how Frank Gregus and Maurice Hamilton describe their work in a recent Province article:
We like to call ourselves a garage winery. We produce big, bold and powerful wines in our commercial warehouse in New Westminster. It’s high-end, high value, unique, handcrafted wine we make in small lots.
 - via Garage winery is …

This is a guest post by Brad Howard of Clever Mink’s, a great little gift shop at 711 Carnarvon St. If you’ve got an idea for a guest post, go ahead and drop us a line. 
Having never blogged before I found the idea daunting so I sought out some friends’ opinions. Some said you’ve got to open big to grab the reader. You’ve only got 4.3 seconds of their attention (that might be last year’s figure, this year’s is doubtlessly shorter) or they’ll move on to something splashier. Make …

Here at Tenth To the Fraser, our editorial team has been kicking around ideas for localizing our Christmas celebrations this year. Our family will attempt to source most of our food locally, and I had in mind to explore local shopping opportunities as well. One of our readers is taking it one better, and plans this year to do all her family Christmas shopping locally.

Hey there.  I just checked out your blog for the first time today at the suggestion of my husband, Blair Fryer [ed. note: Blair …