A group of Standard and area business operators and community boosters are working towards filling the retail void in the village after the closing of the Standard Co-op.
The Mail reported in the March 7 edition the membership of the Standard Co-op decided to close its doors. This came after a significant drop in sales over the last 10 years. The stock was liquidated and the building put up for sale.
Brett Gates tells the Mail the building has been purchased and they are doing upgrades in hopes of finding someone interested in running a retail store in the community.
“We are still working on that. We haven’t got an operator yet, we have a couple of options but we haven’t signed a deal yet, but we are sure giving it our best shot. Someone could make a darn good living there with our support,” said Gates.
He said in June a group of 29 supporters in the community formed a numbered company in hopes of attracting a tenant.
“We started doing some work in there, changing some refrigeration equipment and other improvements,” he said.
They are hoping for someone to open a grocery store, liquor, and lottery on one side of the property. There is another vacant bay for another business.
“We just want to be a landlord, we don’t want to operate anything. We don’t need to make money, we just want to break even and get a store back in the town because it is just killing our town. It used to be the centre of the community and now there’s nothing,” he said.
