Dear Editor,
North of 53 Consumers Co-op was incorporated in 1946 and the present site has had the store on it since 1949. Many renovations later, it still serves us well.
I am a former Co-op board member. I like our store as a consumer. It has everything I need 99.99 per cent of the time. The access is easy and level, parking is a little tight at times, but that is better than an empty lot.
I realize there may be perceived problems with the building; however, I would think it would be easier and cheaper to remedy them than building a new store at the old armoury site.
Our store is making money. The dividend cheques show that it is an attractive shopping centre.
A new store will cost a few million. It will be built on a sloping rock pile with two very old buildings on site that will be expensive to remove. The access to and from the main route will make turning left a difficult and dangerous procedure.
If Extra Foods or an equivalent reopens, a huge mortgage on a new Co-op building will ensure we will never see another dividend cheque for many years.
A great Co-op is one that is adapted to its settings, to the needs of the community, so that it can sustain itself through adversity. Then you want to know not about the buildings, but about the balance sheet; not the capacity, but the market; not the volume, but the earnings.
The board of directors has not yet indicated that they will be asking the membership whether they would like to abandon Main Street for a new building on the east side. In fact very little information has been released other than what appeared in The Reminder.
The members need to be asked what they want. I would prefer a confidential vote done in privacy with no pressure from the board or management.
Of course the board must also explain why a new building is necessary. Personally I have not yet talked to anyone in favour of moving from our location to the armoury.
I have heard many that were hoping that Extra Foods would sell its building to the Co-op. Apparently no deal is imminent. It will be interesting to see what the feasibility study says.
Certainly those customers and businesses in the core area will not want to the store moved. Our Main Street area needs the Co-op anchor store to prevent further decline. Flin Flon’s population peaked in 1961 and has declined every year since.
Ken Mansell
Flin Flon
