Standard to see new Christensen Grocery start up this year
By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Cathy Christensen
Village residents have been without a local grocery store since March 2018. In May 2018, a group of residents formed The Broadway Group to purchase the old Co-op building with the goal of completing upgrades and finding renters to turn the building back into a store.
Locals Ed and Cathy Christensen were successful in their application to open and manage the new store. They are aiming to open Christensen Grocery on March 1 of this year, following several upgrades taking place in the coming weeks including a new refrigeration system, new coolers and a new computer system installation.
“We wanted a name that would reflect the Danish heritage of our community because it is in fact a community investment,” said Cathy Christensen. “We chose to go with a surname that is not exclusive to our family, as it’s shared with many great families here. We hope the store name gives recognition as being owned by and operated by your neighbours.”
The store will offer a full line of grocery, meat, dairy and produce, an expanded liquor area, and lottery and popular hardware items along with proposed future additions of a slushie machine, gourmet coffee machines and some grab-and-go food products.
Sobeys will be the main grocery supplier for the store with name brands as well as the Compliments brand. One focus of the new managers is to stay competitive, in terms of quality of product and price, as other surrounding grocery stores.
“(We plan on) offering quality of product, competitive prices, great service and community involvement. Our number one goal is to become your friendly and inviting neighbourhood store,” said Cathy who added they will be occupying the former grocery side of the building only.
To start, Ed and Cathy will be managing and operating the store on their own with some of their immediate family volunteering their time to get the store up and running. They will also be relying on the guidance and knowledge of other locals in efforts of supporting the store.
“Given our Co-op store’s demise, the new community store will need to operate very lean in order to stay competitive and thrive … of course, we are hoping the store will be supported by enough of the community to afford staff to join us in the future,” said Cathy.
Ed and Cathy believe many locals will realize the value and convenience of having a store close to home as opposed to travelling for their basic needs.
“A store in Standard means the money that is spent here stays here and some of that cycles back into the community,” said Cathy. “Our personal decision is more about how having a store keeps our community connected, thriving and looking to a brighter future.”