Tsawwassen Resources

Tsawwassen has just about everything that the city has but with a little more personality and panache. These are products and services in Tsawwassen that we use personally and stand by. You’ll find everything from dining to car repair to hair salons here, as long as they’re a part of the community that makes up Tsawwassen and we think you should pay them a visit!

Ossie’s Deli & Meats

Ossie’s doesn’t have a website; They don’t have a lot of things. They do, however, have a lot of incredible food and unparalleled service.

Although Tsawwassen doesn’t have a shortage of deli style sandwich shops, Ossie’s has always been my favorite, not only because of the food, but because of the owners. When I first started going, Ossie himself was the proprietor of the shop. Staunchly German, the idea was that you could come and get outrageously sized gherkins, meats and pastries, just like back home.

When I really started going, Jürgen had taken over the place and kept all the things that made Ossie’s great, but added a whole lot of personality and a few jokes here and there. Over the years, he and his wife Anja made Ossie’s a fantastic place to visit. The sandwiches are overflowing with meats and vegetables and the soups and salads never disappoint either.

This is an incredible example of marketing by word of mouth because of the product and the service. There is nothing else like going into Ossie’s, seeing Anja, getting a hug, and sitting down to a giant Roast Beef Paddi sandwich for $6. Try and get a salad on the side. I dare you.

Randy’s Excel Tire

I think for the most part, brakes and mufflers are what Randy’s Excel Tire does most. However, I have taken my car there for everything: Oil changes, brake jobs, snow tires, weird vaccuum leaks and basically everything in between. Randy and his crew are a nice change from dealerships or big companies. You get service that is really unparalleled in the industry, at prices that dealerships should be ashamed to compare themselves to.

The staff is very friendly, but still down to earth and believably human. I can’t stress enough how nice it is to be able to talk to the technician, Peter, about just what is going on with the car. Colin, the store’s service manager, is also great to talk to. He’s awesome at correspondence and always makes sure I know what’s going on when the car is in the shop. There really isn’t a tire, brake and auto service shop like Randy’s in Tsawwassen. It’s always the first place I visit when I notice my car making a new noise.

Tsawwassen Medical Clinic

Dr. Park has been my GP ever since I moved to Tsawwassen in ’89 and I couldn’t imagine seeing anybody else. Granted, the Tsawwassen Medical Clinic has a number of truly unbelievable GP’s who will really care for your family, and I’ve seen a number of them when Dr. Park is out, but he feels like a friend now. The Tsawwassen Medical Clinic is a great place to have your health inquiries checked out. It is where you should find your family’s GP.

Dr. Standerwick

Dr. Brian Standerwick has been looking after my mouth ever since I moved from a much more expensive Dentist in Tsawwassen, just after he opened his practice. The old addage of dentists cracking bad jokes is a little bit blown out of the water with this one. Believe it or not, he tells good jokes. He’s a part of the community here too. I see him around town and he always says hi.

But I digress. The staff he works with is always nice to talk to and they seem to remember me even though I’m only ever in there twice a year. The bills are okay and the work Dr. Standerwick does is great. I think him opening a practice that does good work and charges reasonable prices might have hurt the other dentists in Tsawwassen. His practice continues to grow and I’ll be taking my kids to him for years to come.

Tsawwassen Cleaners

I started getting my dry cleaning done here in the late 80’s. Honestly, what won me over was the drive through window out back, but what kept me there was the service. There have always been a couple dry cleaners here and there in Tsawwassen but I haven’t gone anywhere else because of the guy that runs Tsawwassen Cleaners.

I wore a suit to work every day of my life for a number of years back then, so frequent visits to the dry cleaners were a must. A job change made it so that business casual was acceptable and I didn’t have to go back for probably the better part of five years. When I did, however, go back in to have a jacket cleaned, the owner remembered my name and gave me my old discount for being a return customer.

I think that, because he’s so far pushed away into the back corner of that little strip mall, his services and relations with the customers have kept him in business all these years. If people ask, I tell them to go Tsawwassen Cleaners for dry cleaning because of how I’m treated there.

Vancity

I was really very pleased when Vancity opened a branch in Tsawwassen. I had been a Vancity member when I lived in Vancouver, but had to switch to big banks when I moved out here. Granted, big banks used to be able to get you ridiculous loans for things like houses, cars and educations, but they are, in my opinion, a little more evil than credit unions. Because of the economic climate, loans like those aren’t really given out anymore. The big banks are watching every step they make and credit unions are often able to match rates. They realize it’s a competitive market and they really will do a lot to help you out. Go to Vancity fist and see what they can do for you.

Vancity has paid its dues giving back to the community where people are taken advantage of most. They established Pigeon Park Savings, so that people living on the downtown east-side wouldn’t have to pay greedy companies like money mart to cash their EI and welfare cheques without an address. They were among the first to pioneer small loans to new Canadians so that they could buy things to help them get on their feet and become valuable members of the community. But most importantly, they make their investments with a conscience. Social responsibility is something that is completely absent from banking, but credit unions are run with a different set of rules. Vancity just so happens to have paved the way here in Vancouver.