Tisdale’s coffee – and liquor – drinkers can rejoice.
“We were informed today that the Tim Hortons and the Sobeys liquor store will be starting construction shortly, depending on weather,” said Sean Wallace, Tisdale’s economic development officer.
The two stores will be built beside each other, within the piece of property in front of the old mall location along Highway #3, roughly at the same distance away as the Robin’s. The Canalta Group will build and own – but not operate – the stores.
The 2,700 square foot Tim Hortons should be done in November and the 4,000 square foot Sobeys liquor store should be finished at the end of the year.
“We had land vacant in Tisdale and knew some of the corporate partners had a desire to develop in Tisdale, so it was a good match for us,” said Robert Visser, the Canalta Group’s assistant controller. “We’re excited to bring new development to Tisdale.”
The economic development officer said he believes Tisdale’s central location within the Northeast is a reason why they decided to build.
“We actually have a bigger market than Melfort does, when you look at the 60 kilometre radius. There’s probably about 10,000 more people in our market area than Melfort, plus we have one of the busiest intersections in northeastern Saskatchewan.”
Rough guesses place the jobs created by the two stores in the 35-40 range.
Wallace said the two stores will benefit Tisdale’s economy.
“I think it’s going to be another draw for Tisdale. I think now that we have the grocery store that’s coming along – quite quickly, we’ll be able to bring those families in that used to be accustomed to shopping in Tisdale when we had two stores.”
He added that nowhere else in the Northeast is there a Buy-Low or a Sobeys liquor store, so that will also draw in customers.
Visser said he’s enjoyed working with the Town of Tisdale on this project.
“Working with the town administrators has been a real pleasure, very helpful. That’s one thing that’s been really exciting for us throughout is that we’ve garnered a strong relationship with the town and they’ve been very pro-development, so it’s been very good for us on that front.”
The economic development officer said he can’t talk about other possible projects, but he believes 2017 will be a record-breaking year for commercial builds in the town.
