The Meadow Lake Co-op is looking to expand northward. Recently, it was announced the Ile-a-la Crosse Co-op store, which opened its doors in 2022 under the auspices of Arctic Co-operatives Ltd., will soon be sold to the Meadow Lake Co-op, a move officials believe will prove beneficial for both the business and the community.
“We’ve had discussions now for a few months with Meadow Lake,” explained Donny Favel, secretary-treasurer for the Ile-a-la Crosse Co-op. “They expressed some interest in partnering with the Ile-a-la Crosse Co-op through amalgamation eventually. This led to us discussing an outright purchase agreement considering a large part of our population in Ilea-la Crosse already does its shopping in Meadow Lake. It only made sense for us to proceed and to eventually get to this point.” As noted, the Ile-a-la Crosse store opened for the first time in July 2022.
“We were the Arctic Co-op’s 33rd store, with the other 32 all in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut,” Favel continued. “As such, we have had our share of challenges trying to get to where we want to be with our store. There were some things we lacked, things new to Arctic we tried to get moving, but which took too much time. There were some shortages on the shelves, things like that which didn’t sit well with the board or with the membership. At the end of the day, we were looking for a stronger co-operative to partner with. It’s something we had on our mind.”
Favel said the opportunity was presented to the community, and everyone was on board. “Our vision is to have a one-stop shop in the community similar to when you walk through the doors in Meadow Lake, so I believe it’s a no-brainer to partner with Meadow Lake,” he said. “Our membership agreed. It was a unanimous decision at our recent members’ meeting.”
The partnership is expected to come into effect by Sept. 15. “It could be a little bit sooner – there’s some legal stuff that still needs to get done,” Favel said. “Our Co-op store will be looking to retain as many staff members as we can, while we also have the Innovation Credit Union branch set up in the store which will continue.”
Also looking forward to the impending acquisition is Meadow Lake Co-op general manager Caralee Strome. “Initially, they (Ile-a-la Crosse) contacted us last fall, wondering if there was a way we could partner or work together to help them out,” Strome said. “They’re a relatively new co-operative, and were having some issues with the supply of product and whatnot… We had discussions back-and-forth, Arctic Co-op has been helping them out through this process, and, while we haven’t finalized everything at this point, we are looking at purchasing their assets. Our intention is to continue in the food business in the community of Ile-a-la Crosse.” Strome said, by joining the Meadow Lake Co-op, the Ile-a-la Crosse store will see improvements, particularly in terms of product availability.
“We intend to supply them with fresh meat, which is something that was missing from their operations, as well as some of the other fresh offerings we have including items from the bakery, the deli and some of the produce items,” Strome added. She also confirmed staffing would remain unchanged. “We need the local people,” she said. “We will be there to support them, but we definitely need that local presence. We’re here for the community and simply enhancing the services we were already providing to the community of Ile-a-la Crosse. We look forward to the partnership.” The Meadow Lake Co-op is part of Federated Co-operatives Ltd.