After six weeks of extensive repairs to its refrigeration system, Smith's Market on Lasalle Boulevard is once again open for business.
Owner Greg Smith was there Tuesday morning, greeting customers, some of whom arrived 15 to 20 minutes prior to the store's re-opening at 10 a.m. They were eager to get back into their favourite store.
“It's a great store,” said longtime shopper Joan McCool, who waited in her car in the parking lot, eager for the store to open.
“The staff is wonderful and the food is great,” she said. “I like that if I have any problems with it, I can just bring it back and they'll take care of me.”
The fact the store was closed for six weeks was a bit of an inconvenience, and McCool said she's very happy they are open again.
“I called them three times to see when they are opening,” she said. “They told me they would be opening today first thing, so here I am.”
They July 9 downburst that wreaked havoc on New Sudbury is the reason Smith's Market was closed for so long.
“We were kind of at the epicentre of that storm, and we certainly bore the brunt of it here in New Sudbury,” Smith said. “It ripped all the refrigeration equipment off the roof and damaged it beyond repair.”
As such, Smith had to get new equipment and run new pipe into the store. With dozens of refrigerated walk-ins and showcases, it was a huge job, and that's why it took six weeks, Smith said.
“Even though the building itself looked intact, it was the infrastructure that really suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. And, since we are primarily a fresh food market, refrigeration is pretty important for us.”
Smith said many of his customers made the trek to his other two locations, which he really appreciated.
“Ninety per cent of our customers are repeat customers, and you worry about whether being down for six weeks will change their shopping patterns, but we have a lot of loyal customers,” he said.
Being open again after six weeks feels “fantastic,” he said.
“Six weeks is a long time, especially in our prime season. July and August are usually our two biggest months, so it's tough be down during that time.”
Smith's Market is celebrating with some really good buys, he said.
“We have a lot of big features on. A lot of our suppliers have taken pity on us, knowing what our situation is, and they've given us some great deals to pass onto our customers. We're going to get back into the swing of things, and we'd like to thank our customers for their patience, and our staff for getting us through this.”
