The grand opening of the Canora Gateway Co-op C-store and liquor store was held on October 18.
The celebration was the culmination of many hours of planning and hard work by Co-op staff, said Bryan Harder, store manager.
The original plan was to build a C-store and gas bar, but then Co-op acquired the liquor store tender, which gave the project a new dimension, said Harder.
“It has become a one-stop shopping centre. Shoppers can come here for their fuel, liquor and milk, and we even have an RV dump site.”
The ground was broken at the site in September of 2016, and construction took approximately 10 months. One of the appealing aspects of the new store site is the ample parking space, with plenty of room for larger vehicles such as RVs and campers.
The eight gas pumps each offer regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel fuel, a significant upgrade from the previous C-store which only had regular and diesel available, said Harder.
The C-store offers a number of features new to Canora.
A roller grille allows the store to offer hot food to customers. The store is on a Co-operative coffee program, offering flavoured shots at the coffee bar. There is a single-serve bakery display and an expanded deli fresh program.
“The flavour burst slushy machine has four frozen varieties. With the flavour burst option it increases to 12 different flavours,” said Harder.
The liquor side of the store offers a wide selection of spirits and liquors, and includes a walk-in beer vault, which is new to Canora.
Liquor store hours are expanded to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, including most holidays, while the C-store is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The facility has a backup generator, allowing it to be open for business even in a power outage.
