WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! IF YOU HAVE a note, photo or story to share about Costco or Costco members, email connection@costco.com with
“Member Connection” in the subject line, or send it to: Member Connection, The Costco Connection, 415 West Hunt Club Road, Ottawa, ON K2E 1C5.
MEMBERconnection
YOU MIGHT THINK healthy foods with a high yum factor
are a contradiction in terms. But not for the mother-daughter
tag team of Kelly Childs and
Erinn Weatherbie, who own
two Burlington, Ontario–
based eateries that specialize in clean eating. That’s
clean as in gluten-free, allergy-friendly, vegan products
made with whole, organic and fair-trade ingredients.
In 2009, the pair, both Costco members, opened what is
now called Lettuce Love Café ( lettucelovecafe.com), the success of which spawned Kelly’s Bake Shoppe ( kellysxo.com)
three years later, with the intent of serving wholesome food.
Working side by side has had more ups than downs. The
duo know what buttons they should and shouldn’t push.
Weatherbie, 25, describes her mother as “feisty,” while Childs,
52, says her daughter is cool as a cucumber.
“Sure, it’s kind of stressful at times,” Weatherbie tells
The Connection. “And we’re probably harder on each other
because we’re family, but we have a really neat dynamic.”
Their teamwork is paying off. BuzzFeed ranked the
bakery number three in the world of the top 25 cupcake
shops to try. And their book, Made With Love, will be
available in most Costco warehouses in April.—Kelly Putter
weetsuccess
S
TAC
E
Y
FO
R
TN
ER
New truck a real treat
The kindness
of strangers
WHEN COSTCO MEMBER Gary Dionne of
Regina, Saskatchewan, was told he was
the winner of the 2015 F-150 Contest, he
couldn’t believe it.
“Your head’s spinning; [you’re thinking]
it couldn’t be happening to me,” he says. “I
don’t win prizes and things like that, so it’s
really a different experience.”
Dionne and his wife, Marge, won a new
2015 Ford F-150 XLT Supercrew 4x4 in the
annual contest sponsored by Costco Whole-
sale Canada. Dionne, who has been a
Costco member for 22 years, is the fifth win-
ner since the contest’s inception in 2011.
“The whole process, dealing with Ford
and Costco—it was terrific. Everybody was
accommodating,” he says.
Dionne selected the Bronze Fire
Metallic for the colour, and further outfitted
it with running boards, mud flaps and a
truck bed cover.
“In Canada, trucks are very popular,”
he says. “It’s a real treat to have one now.”
—Christina Guerrero
ONE OF OUR forklift drivers, Lori Lebo, who
helps out on the front end after opening, was
cashiering when a middle-aged businessman
came through her register.
He asked her to ring in his order up to
the bar that divides the orders, then subtotal
and ring through groceries for the next order
until it reached $100.
It seems the businessman had been
talking to the member behind him—a man in
his 20s who had recently moved here and was
out of work—and decided to help with his grocery bill. He did not stop at $100, and ended
up paying for the entire second order of $240!
This is a fantastic example of the kindness
and generosity that can happen.—Jim Creasey,
Costco warehouse manager at Calgary NE
Mother-daughter team,
Erinn Weatherbie
(left) and Kelly Childs.
In our digital editions
Click here for more
about Kelly Childs and
Erinn Weatherbie.
(See page 7 for details.)
C
H
RIS
S
U
E
-C
H
U
Contest winners
Marge and Gary
Dionne (left) with
Costco manager
Kevin Vanstone and
Ford representative
Irv Lazorko.
