The inside of the c-store has also been remodeled. Along with looking nice and fresh, there are islands holding product easily visible and accessible when customers first walk in, with plenty of space to move around. They switched from Van Houtte to Co-op coffee inside.
There is also an aesthetic improvement. The canopy and lighting at the pumps have given the station a slick look. In fact, it looks just like the Co-op gas bars in recent commercials.
“It looks terrific, especially at night. It looks great from the highway.”
The only part of the facility that is not up and running at present is the two-vehicle car wash. It is undergoing a refit, and Polnik said it would likely take until the end of the month to open up.
The cost of the project was expected to be in the $2.5 million range, and Polnik said it should be in that ballpark. There are still a few smaller things that need to be done to finish up, like getting the décor on the outside of the c-store building and pouring a little more asphalt at the site. These will be done when the weather improves.
There is also fuel in the tanks. For all Co-ops, this was a concern. There has been a clash between Federated Co-op and its employees at the Regina refinery. It centers on workers’ pensions, including switching them over from all employer contributions to employer-employee ones. The employees, through their union Unifor called for a strike, but Federated locked them out first, late in 2019. As well as picketing, Unifor members and their supporters were barricading the refinery and some other outlets, including Winnipeg. At one point, Red River Co-op was out of gas. Court orders have been bringing the barricades down, but there have been a few hiccups in getting fuel out.
In Boissevain, there were some long line-ups at the temporary tank on Friday, February 7. However, Polnik said there were no problems with fuel in town. They get most of theirs directly from Regina, the moves in Winnipeg did not impact them.
Overall, the general manager thanks the public for their patience and support during the work on the project, which began in the fall of 2019, and figures everyone will be happy with the new facility.
“I think we’re going to see additional volume,” Polnik said. “We had congestion at the pumps in the past, and I think this will make it easier on customers. I think it just looks great.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff