7 HE SAID/SHE SAID: The news and views of area executives on pertinent business issues of the day.
16 CORPORATISM: Jim Blasingame says in business one must think like an owner, not an employee.
FEBRUARY 2026
W I N D S O R ’ S F O R E M O S T B U S I N E S S N E W S P U B L I C AT I O N
INSIDE TRACK 2
AT A GLANCE A look at Canada’s top traded goods that contribute trillions to the economy.
Rico and Lidija Lopez at the new county location of their Windsor collision shop.
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CROSSWORD Take a coffee break from work and challenge yourself with our crossword.
By Ron Stang
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ESSEX ECONOMICS A series of guest columns by business executives on various trends in the region.
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PRIME PROPERTY A look at recent commercial property transfers in the city of Windsor .
PHOTO BY JOE SYMCHYSHYN PHOTOGRAPHIC
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A look at residential property sales in Essex County and Chatham-Kent. 12 BUILDING PERMITS A compilation of construction activity in the Windsor and area market. 13 WORLD OF WORK A career advice column by two workplace consultants and career coaches. 14 START UPS Newly incorporated firms launched in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent.
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ico and Lidija Lopez, long-time in the auto body business in Windsor, have joined a franchise and moved their business to Kingsville. The couple ran F & J Collision Centre on Tecumseh Road East from 2001 to 2022. It remains a family-owned business, which was started in 1969 by Rico’s dad Frank. “F & J is now operating out of this (Kingsville) address,” Rico said. “We’re F & J Collision but we’ve joined the banner of Fix Auto,” a national franchise. “We never sold our name,” Lidija said. “We only sold our building in Windsor.” The former Windsor property was purchased by another body shop, CSN Collision, also a chain. Continued on page 4
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