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Peavey Mart’s top management visits Salmon Arm to help prep for soft opening

Store will employ 20 to 25 people at its new 25,000 square foot site in Centenoka Park Mall

Shelves are filling up, staff are getting ready, the doors of Peavey Mart are about to open.

The soft opening for the new Salmon Arm store is set for this Friday, Oct. 28.

Twenty-five staff will be working in the newly renovated 25,000-square-foot site at Centenoka Park Mall, which includes 20,000 square feet on the store floor and 5,000 in the warehouse.

Peavey Mart’s chief operating officer Dave Simmonds was in town Wednesday, upbeat and smiling as he provided a tour of the new location, noting the company now has nearly 100 stores across Canada.

He described Peavey Mart as a farm and ranch retailer, predominantly focused on a rural customer, a farmer, an acreage owner.

“So you’ve got workwear that applies to being in a barn, or footwear, and at the same time it’s functional for city folks. It’s not like you don’t do work in the city. I think the appeal is like that throughout the store. Clothing works like that, we’ve got pet and animal feed, so if you own a horse, a chicken and a dog, you’re a one-stop shop with our business,” Simmonds said.

The grand opening will take place in about a month, in order to allow staff time to get used to serving customers and to make sure they’re ready to answer questions.

“Typically we can put together some exciting offers for the grand opening,” he added.

Hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Read more: Peavey Mart proposed for Centenoka Park Mall in Salmon Arm

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The Salmon Arm store carries a long list of merchandise which includes clothing, tools, paint and painting supplies, crafts, wool, pet food and supplies, bird feed and feeders, supplies for horse owners, automotive supplies, buckets galore, food-making kits, tarps, toys (many farm-themed) and more.

In a store the size of Salmon Arm’s, Simmonds said staffing generally fluctuates between 20 and 25 people, with the highest number during the busy times in October and November as well as in the spring.

“We’ll see how the reception is from the community; hopefully we build on that.”

Finding staff in Salmon Arm hasn’t been a problem, although it can be a challenge across Canada, he noted.

“We’ve had a really good reception from the point of people looking for work with us, and that’s exciting. It’s not always easy.”

How will the prices be? Simmonds said it’s about making sure the store offers good value and fair pricing.

“Part of our work before we come in is to look at the marketplace and see what prices are. We carry a variety of price points…, entry level price points all the way up to the best brands. I think customers are going to find good value when they come into our store. We get a lot of good feedback like that. I hope that that’s the experience.”

Simmonds added the company places a lot of value on being part of the communities it does business in. Management and staff are encouraged to make sure they’re connected to local groups.

“So as a new business in town, I think we’ll be really excited to try to create some of those partnerships and relationships here. It’s something that we’re known for throughout the country and we always try to build on that.”

Simmonds lives in Invermere in the East Kootenay but travels a lot to an office in Red Deer, Alberta as well as another in London, Ontario.

“I’ve travelled so much I actually love Salmon Arm,” he said. “It’s been one of the places I’ve thought, boy if I ever moved, I would consider Salmon Arm.”



martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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