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Betty Jane (BJ) Janzen
THE BACK STORY
The Rosebud Country Inn, in Rosebud, Alberta was built in 1995 and first occupied in 1996. It was built by Kent and Leila Johnson, former students at Rosebud School of the Arts. It was their dream to build this facility, to accommodate the patrons who attended the Rosebud Theatre.
My husband and I bought the Inn in 2009. Our desire has been to build a loyal clientele who come to the Inn to enjoy the quiet, amazing views, country air, a good sleep and great food!
The Inn enhances the experience of those who come to see a theatre production at Rosebud Theatre. As someone wrote in our guest book “We came for the theatre and discovered the Inn.”
From the beginning, the values that we determined we would exhibit were: integrity, cleanliness, service excellence, respect and laughter (and there is a lot of that!).
The Big Idea
COVID-19 brought about a very challenging scenario. We realized how dependent we were on the theatre. When I had 58 cancellations in one day, I knew that I needed to pivot and come up with another way of introducing folks to the Inn.
10 days later, a friend and I launched the Rosebud Country Market, where folks could order their food online and drive to the inn for pickup, where we would place their groceries in the trunk. Contact was avoided and a need was met. We even brought in a food truck!
We then wondered how we could attract guests who were used to seeing a theatre production here in our little town. So…a group of actors created our own theatre production. It was a great success, for the time that it was allowed to be performed. Our minds are going on the productions we can offer, once the COVID restrictions come off.
These various events and offerings have given our struggling town opportunities for new folks to see what we have to offer. It has created an awareness that we are more than the theatre and that the theatre experience can be enhanced.
Now, 5 years later, the market is thriving, the Inn is busy (and expanding) and our theatre productions are drawing large numbers of folks from around the world.
LOOKING FOR:
Business Plan
Access to labour
A Feasibility Study
Contact:
www.rosebudcountrymarket.com
FB @RosebudCountryInn
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