Thrifty Foods’ expansion on target for December
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Updated: October 19, 2009 8:34 PM
Work on the expansion of the Parksville Thrifty Foods is coming along well and they are currently filling in the dirt parking area, which will help with their recent parking issues, according to manager Doug Riederer.
Riederer said the outside work is on track to be complete before Christmas and there will be very little disruption inside the store until after the holidays, when Thrifty’s will then take about three months to renovate the inside.
“There were no weather hold ups this summer,” he said
“Our own contractors will come in and renovate the interior and move everything around,” he said, “we need at least three months once we occupy the space, we’re probably looking at March-April before we are complete and have our grand opening.”
Park Island Properties, the plaza owner, is building the 11,000 square foot addition onto the existing 24,000 sq.ft. store and Thrifty’s is responsible for finishing the inside.
Every department except meat will shift around, with the addition of a service meat counter and a pharmacy, which was made possible when People’s Drugs left the plaza in March.
The tills and main entrance will stay in the same area but be updated, with an entrance in the new corner towards Corfield Street.
“This will be one of the most state of the art stores,” Riederer said pointing out that they are making a special effort to reduce the store’s carbon foot print.”
“It’s going to utilize a lot of the most modern energy efficient equipment, we’re trying to build a green store, where it will use a lot of more efficient equipment, coolers, compressors and those things.
He said another exciting addition is a lifestyle centre.
“There’s going to be a second floor above a portion of the new section which is going to be a kitchen and a classroom and in there we will be doing cooking classes, health and wellness classes, we’ll have celebrity chefs coming in and seminars with dietitians.”
He said the lifestyle centre will service the whole north island making the Parksville location the flagship store of the region.
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