M’CHIGEENG—The new Freshmart in M’Chigeeng is on target for an April 4 soft launch and that should be cause for excitement, according to store manager Steven Debassige.
“Our store is going to have sections for fresh produce, bakery, fresh meat and seafood, dairy, frozen food and a general grocery section,” Mr. Debassige says. He has garnered over 30 years of food service experience throughout his career.
There have been many weeks of feverish training taking place in advance of the store’s opening and Mr. Debassige says the process has been going smoothly so far.
“Training has been going great. The Little Current (Cambrian College) employment centre did about a four-week training session with staff, getting them trained in many areas including job-specific training as well as transferable skills,” he says.
Fraaz Mahmood of Environmental Public Health Services recently finished a food handler safety certification program with the new staff. There are about 20 staff members to start, but Mr. Debassige says he expects that number to climb to 30 by the time summer arrives.
“We are 100 percent M’Chigeeng owned and operated; we’re managed by M’Chigeeng staff. There’s only a small handful at the hourly level who are from outside the community,” he says.
The community-focused attributes are expected to provide significant benefits for the First Nation. Mr. Debassige says a business plan by accounting and business advisory firm BDO projected the store could generate $2 million in revenue, without accounting for off-reserve customers and summer traffic levels.
For the time being, the team is busily completing their required training and finishing stocking the store’s shelves.
“Freshmart is owned under Loblaws, and all our shelves will be stocked with Loblaw-supplied food including President’s Choice (PC) products and No Name products. We’re pretty proud of that and happy with that,” says Mr. Debassige. He adds that the No Name brand offers more affordable pricing while the PC line offers a name brand at a “quality price.”
Signs on the outside of the building highlight the No Name product availability, but Mr. Debassige says the store will also offer all the top name brands as any superstore.
The store’s grand opening celebration is expected to take place sometime closer to mid-June. Mr. Debassige says if all goes well with the store’s operations, there could potentially be future expansions to add even more services to the store’s initial offering.
