A deal is in the works to bring a Shoppers Drug Mart store to the Trail Bay Centre in Sechelt.
Bruce Morris, vice president of Trail Bay Properties Ltd., said last week his company is in negotiations with Shoppers Drug Mart, but it's not a done deal yet.
"There's a subject clause outstanding on one of the deals that's holding things up," said Morris. "If everything goes ahead, it's going to be really good for the downtown. It will keep Sechelt from going the same way as so many small towns, with a vacant downtown core."
Sechelt Mayor Cam Reid is also hopeful the new store will be good for Sechelt and will not have a negative impact on other local businesses.
"We were concerned about the impact of [London Drugs] and Canadian Tire," said Reid. "If in fact these larger stores help us shop more locally, it may be a case of growing the pie bigger rather than cutting the pieces smaller."
Reid said Sechelt has seen a tremendous increase in housing construction recently, and more major developments are on the horizon, which will create a need for more shopping.
"Our population is definitely increasing," said Reid.
Morris said the Trail Bay mall needs a major anchor store in order to compete with the Sechelt Indian Band mall, whose first tenant is Extra Foods.
If the Shoppers deal goes through, it will bring major changes to downtown Sechelt. Many of the stores currently in the mall will move to new locations or go out of business.
Morris said the mall has issued notice to a number of tenants in order to create space for the proposed Shoppers Drug Mart.
"All the notices given to tenants were in excess of the amount required under law," Morris added. "We realize it's difficult to move a business. We've tried to offer alternate accommodations."
The Zippers children's clothing store is already closing, partly because of the changes coming to the mall.The Home Hardware store plans to move across the street to the Trail Bay Properties building currently occupied by Protech Office Electronics. Dave Lamb, Home Hardware manager, said the Shoppers Drug Mart arrival is a big change that will affect a lot of people.
"It seems like a necessary move," said Lamb.
At the RapidEdge computer store, owner Adrian Ruigrok expects to weather a period of slow business during the construction of the Shoppers Drug Mart, then a boom in traffic to the mall once the new store opens.
"Most of the people who are left in the mall are very positive about the changes," said Ruigrok.
