The changes will be ongoing, but aesthetically the transfer of the Chemainus store from 49th Parallel Grocery to Country Grocer has now become more immediately apparent.
Related story: 49th Parallel Grocery acquired by Country Grocer
The 49th Parallel Grocery sign was taken down Thursday, with the Country Grocer sign put up in its place outside the store. There’s no official ceremony yet, but the business technically opened its doors as Country Grocer for the first time Friday.
“We kept it pretty quiet,” said Tyler Large, the North and Central Island operations director for Country Grocer. “We’re not overly fancy people.”
Like 49th Parallel, Country Grocer is a deeply-entrenched family operation so the change fit the bill perfectly for the buyers and the sellers. “We have lots of the same values,” Large added.
Conversations had come up in the past about acquiring the stores.
“We didn’t think it would go anywhere,” Large conceded. “They came up and we jumped on it.
“Six of us are second generation in the ownership group. We take what our families have built and try to grow and expand.”
He said it’s been a lot of work to switch over the four previous 49th Parallel Grocery stores to the Country Grocer brand.
“Short-term pain for long-term gain,” Large remarked. “So far it’s been a lot of fun.”
The Duncan store at Beverly Corners was the first to be converted and then Chemainus, with still a lot of internal work to be completed in the months ahead. As of Monday, efforts are now being concentrated at the Ladysmith store for the next five weeks, Large pointed out, and then three weeks at the Cedar store to complete the circuit.
About nine weeks down the road, “we’ll do more of an official grand opening in all four of the stores,” he said.
Receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from the community has been positive for Large.
“Change obviously isn’t easy for everyone,” he conceded. “We’re appreciative of the feedback we’re getting from everyone – both good and bad.”
Large realizes the Chemainus store brings the added significance of being the only grocery outlet of its size in the community, unlike the others, so added attention needs to be given to customers – especially seniors – with that in mind.
“We’re trying to make it so they don’t have to drive into town (Duncan) and get everything they want,” he stressed.
Large is grateful to have inherited such a great staff and “we’ve added to the team that’s already here, too,” he pointed out.
Cosmetic changes within the Chemainus store will primarily include equipment such as more freezers.
“We want to show them who we are and we have good prices,” noted Large. “We’ll add some more equipment and take out some of the old stuff that doesn’t necessarily work for our plans.
“We put our nutrition centres in. That’s one of the big changes people will notice.”
The popular coffee shop area will be maintained, although “it may look a bit different in the coming months,” Large pointed out. The seating arrangement is likely to change slightly.
Country Grocer simply has designs on putting all its programs in place and its own stamp on the stores. But nothing is ever etched in stone.
“The grocery business, it’s always changing,” summed up Large.
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don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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