Jamie McCormack is used to seeing people pause with a look of surprise on their faces when they first see the offerings at Imagine Home & Leisure.
“I see what their reaction to it is first, and then I explain a bit – It opens the door to talk about stuff,” said McCormack.
Located at 885 Lakeshore Drive, half of the store is the new home for Benjamin Moore paint in Salmon Arm. On the other side of the commercial space, a small portion near the front serves as a storefront for Colby Erickson’s Shuswap Countertops. The rest is devoted mostly to something McCormack has a passion for: wood pellet-fired Pit Boss and Louisiana Grills.
“It’s quite an interesting combination,” said McCormack. “I keep saying I was trying to make it easier for the wife to drag the husband to the paint store – so he has something to look at and not hurry her through picking colours.”
McCormack and spouse Sonya Davies mange the store and are partners in it with Gord Erickson and Tim Frazer.
McCormack and Davies recently relocated from Prince George, but have roots in Salmon Arm. Davies has family in the area. McCormack said his family used to own Century Sandblasting and Painting in the city’s industrial park.
“We came home,” said McCormack, explaining their return was prompted by the partnership with Erickson and Frazer and their acquisition last July of the Benjamin Moore store at its former location near Boston Pizza. The business was moved in December to its current location, a larger space that had room for McCormack’s idea to sell the wood pellet-fired grills.
“I am quite passionate about smoker grills or pellet grills,” said McCormack. “I’ve been cooking on them for almost seven years. So I approached the partners to see what they thought about it; they thought it was a good idea so we went ahead with it.”
McCormack stressed he doesn’t want to up-sell, or sell something you don’t need; he just wants to help customers with the things they need.
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On the grill end, that help comes in the form of grilling experience, a love for good food and cooking in a casual outdoor setting.
“The pellet grills are so much more forgiving than a gas grill,” explained McCormack. “A gas grill dehydrates your food right away. A pellet grill you can let it cook longer and slower so you can enjoy your space, take your time, and it all happens while you’re relaxing…
“There’s no substitute for good food and I enjoy making it. I’ve done a lot of coaching in my lifetime with my kids and sports and different things, and I think I enjoy helping people learn about different things.”
As for the paint side, the brand Benjamin Moore was something McCormack could get behind.
“You can’t go wrong with Benjamin Moore,” said McCormack. “It’s fantastic paint, it’s been around forever… When Gord talked to me about this opportunity, being that it was Benjamin Moore paint I knew it was something that would work fine.”
Store hours are Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 250-833-1410.
lachlan@saobserver.net
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