The snip of scissors was heard Thursday, July 12 as the ribbon was cut on the new Thrifty Foods retail support centre.
The 152,000 square foot facility which cost about $31 million to complete will not replace the grocery chain’s Keating X Road facility, but rather will offer more space for Thrifty’s to take on some of the distribution they used to outsource.
“We never used to distribute our fresh meat, so that’s a major change with this facility. It will also handle the distribution of grocery and frozen items and dairy to all Thrifty Foods stores as well as the 40 or so independent wholesale customers we have,” explained Thrifty Foods president Jim Dores.
Dores said the location of the facility on airport land made sense in terms of both location and land use.
“We chose to put it where it is because of the proximity to the ferries and the major arteries. Also we’re committed to the Island and the green space it offers so we wanted to locate it somewhere that it would make sense,” said Dores.
Construction of the new facility started in November 2010 and it currently employs about 50 people, but as operations ramp up, that number will grow, Dores said.
“We’ll continue to operate our Keating X Road facility but we did have a smaller, satellite warehouse in Victoria which we will close.”
The ceremony was attended by Dores, MP Elizabeth May, MLA Murray Coell and Mayor Alice Finall who all helped to cut the ribbon on the new building at 1893 Mills Rd.