After close to half a year of renovations last month FreshCo 100 Mile House welcomed the public into its newly expanded store.
FreshCo has taken over the former B.C. Liquor Store, located next door in the Cariboo Mall, expanding the store's square footage by 5,500 square feet to 28,000 square feet. Owner-operator Daniel Broddy said this expansion, which includes new product offerings and self-serve checkouts, will help improve his customers' experience.
"I think it will give them a better feeling when they come in here and see the extra space and produce first thing. Our entrance has always been very cramped but now you turn right and there's room for buggies to go by each other," Broddy said. "Customers are going to be able to have different options in their meal planning."
Broddy said that since he took over FreshCo close to five years ago, back when it was still a Safeway, he has been wanting to expand into the old liquor store. Throughout the years a consistent complaint from customers is how cramped his store has felt due to limited space.
Throughout all this Broddy said his store performed better than expected and the higher-ups at FreshCo have worked to help him expand. In November of 2023, he got the confirmation they would be able to expand into the old liquor store which has sat empty since 2014.
"I was super excited. It was something I wanted and I don't think it's something that normally happens that fast. We had only been open for five years (as FreshCo) now but it showed they believe in us and investing in 100 Mile House," Broddy said.
The renovations began in July with the contractors Broddy hired first being tasked with cleaning out the mess next door, which FreshCo had been using to store chips and pop, before demoing the interior and connecting the space with the main store.
"There's a few small things that are still happening. We just have to finish off a couple of doors but in terms of what the customer sees inside the store that's all finished now," Broddy added.
With the extra room, Broddy said he's taken the opportunity to expand just about every single section of his store. He's added new countries to his multicultural section, added new options to the coffee section and has plans to start selling rotisserie chickens, to name a few. Broddy noted that once their chicken warmer is up and running, they'll be the only FreshCo in B.C. that offers them.
"Lots of great offerings like that you could have found in a bigger FreshCo say in Williams Lake and we carry a lot more of those items now," Broddy said.
FreshCo's expansion is notable as the first time a business has introduced a self-serve checkout to the South Cariboo area. While now a common sight in larger centres this is the first time they've appeared in 100 Mile House.
Broddy remarked it's strange to think his store is pioneering the technology in the area, noting that in his 20 years of experience working for FreshCo/Safeway, he's worked with self-checkouts at previous stores. He added that in the area where they've added the self-serve checkouts he could have added only one extra till, compared to the six self-checkouts, making it a more efficient use of space.
"It gives those customers who maybe want to come in and out quickly a chance to go through the self-checkout and ring out a couple of things," Broddy said. "Especially when the students come through (for lunch) that can help them get out quicker."
One thing the self-checkouts will not do, Brody stated clearly, is cause layoffs among his current staff of cashiers. On the contrary, Broddy said his team is actively hiring new staff members following the expansion, partially to help man these new checkouts. Broddy noted his store currently employs 70 people after hovering around 50 for years.
"I know there's a negative stigmatism that goes around about self-checkouts that people automatically lose their jobs. I can assure you that's not the case because we are hiring more cashiers so we can keep those manned as well," Broddy remarked. "They don't take cash, they just take cards, and we have two people manning them right now at any given time to help people through the self-checkout (and answer questions). We want people to feel comfortable about it."
To celebrate his store's upgrade, Broddy said he is holding a soft grand reopening on Dec. 12 with store-wide sales and discounts. He encourages anyone interested to come pick up a special flyer at FreshCo and take a look at the complete list of deals.
"I'm going to try and find a local place that does really nice cakes and maybe have a cake at the entranceway. I asked Save-On but they just sort of laughed at me," Broddy concluded with a laugh.
