On a warm breezy September afternoon North of 53 Consumers Co-operative general manager Tom Therien and board president Dave Kendall strolled the parking lot of what Flin Flonners know as the Armoury, which will very likely be the site of the Co-op’s new home.
An agreement ratified by Flin Flon city council on Sept. 2 paved the way for a deal that will transfer the property from the province of Manitoba to the city. “Right now the city has a lease on that land and it has an offer from the province of Manitoba to sell it to us, because we had engineered that at one time,” said city administrator Mark Kolt. “The province still needs to transfer the land to the city, and the city then will transfer it to the Co-op basically for what it cost the city.”
The deal means that the Co-op can move to major feasibility studies to ensure that the site is suitable for development.
“We’ve done environmental testing … [and] we’re quite happy with the results that came back with it, so now we’re going to the feasibility and let’s figure out if we can actually afford this,” said Therien. “We believe we can, we’re very confident we can.”
The land parcel is larger than what can be seen in the parking lot, Therien said. Standing at a fence behind the current location of the ReStore, he pointed toward the wooded area. “The store will be at the back of the property.”
Therien added that the land stretches back about halfway along the property line shared with Hapnot Collegiate.
If the plan goes ahead, the property will be levelled, which will include blasting in some areas and using the rock removed to bring others up to grade.
“It’s up to the engineer how it’s going to work,” Therien said, but he said there will be no incline and no decline on the lot. “In the winter we don’t want any people getting stuck going up, and we don’t want any people sliding down.” Therien said in the 41 years he’s been with the Co-op system, this is the most exciting thing he’s done. “I really want us, the people in this area to enjoy everything they possibly can.”
The new store is to be about one-and-a-half times the size of the current one.
“It’ll probably be anywhere between 35,000 and 40,000 square feet, somewhere in that neighbourhood,” said Therien.
“We want the appropriate size store, and right now what we have isn’t. We’ve outgrown our needs.”
Originally built in 1950, the Co-op on Main Street was added to in 1986.
While the current store may at one time have had adequate parking, “Not anymore,” said Therien.
“The size of vehicles is quite a bit larger now,” said Kendall. “It’s tougher for a vehicle to get in there and park in the spots.” Large trucks can take up to four spots, and sharp turns are difficult to navigate.
Therien said another factor is that people’s buying patterns have changed.
“I remember as a kid going to the grocery store in Winnipeg,” he said. “Payday Thursday was the busiest day we ever had…Everyone came in and bought baskets full.”
Today, people want what they can carry in their hands, and they do daily shopping, he said.
A new larger store will mean that the Co-op can offer a more extensive array of product lines and specialty foods. Therien pointed to ethnic food, gluten-free foods and sushi as areas that would likely expand.
He also said there would be more produce. “We’ve got an extensive array now, but there’s still stuff we can’t get because we don’t have room for it. We want to try it all.”
The store may also add another delivery day. Currently trucks arrive four times a week. “Depending on the size of the warehouse that we go with, [we’ll decide] whether we stick with four deliveries or we add the one extra,” Therien said.
While Therien allows that the new location will mean more staff, he won’t speculate on how many. “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
However, the building project will bring jobs to the area. “We are looking to include an extensive northern flair to the people doing the building,” Therien said. “I’ve never been one that advocates we have to bring people in from out of town unless it’s extremely necessary. I think we have quality people.”
Kendall added, “One thing about the economy slowing down a little is it may be the price of building a building might be a little more competitive. It’s very hard to say, even in the North.”
Should all go well with the major feasibility studies, Therien said it’s likely the store will be ready spring 2018.
With the deal to buy the land in place, the first thing to happen will be to take down the buildings on the property, probably in spring 2016.
Therien said he will be working with Federated Co-op on the design of the building. He pointed to stores in Dauphin and Virden as examples of new concept stores. “Those are all state of the art.”
Therien said grocery shopping is now an experience, and a new store means the Co-op can offer a better experience. “That’s what we want to do.”
