By Rick Pusiak
One of Valley East?s biggest grocery stores is getting bigger.
Work started a couple of weeks ago on a project that will see Moncion?s Your Independent Grocer expand by a total 14,000 square feet.
Co-owners Marcel and Linda Moncion are undertaking the project with the help of National Grocers.
?It will look a lot like the Lorne Street store, Dumas?s Independent,? said Marcel Moncion.
?There will be a sitting area and foods to go, some health conscious foods, children?s clothing and a big general merchandise section.?
The YIG on Highway 69 N in Hanmer will be eight years old in September.
It covers some 35,000 square feet, but 5,000 square feet was left unoccupied behind a false wall at the time of construction to allow for future expansion.
Workmen are busy hammering and drilling in that section and when a shipment of steel comes in construction will begin on the other 9,000 square feet being added on.
The foundation for the new section has already been poured.
A lot of local firms are involved in the job and Moncion said it?s nice to give hometown people the work.
While not wishing to discussion the exact dollar amount for the project the co-owner did say it is substantial.
The Moncions had been mulling over expansion for a couple of years.
They saw that the future is bright and the time is right.
The couple also wanted to offer consumers in Valley East some alternatives to driving to down Highway 69 to places like New Sudbury.
An example is the seafood section that will be featured as part of the Moncion expansion.
?The supermarkets out here carry some form of seafood, but not the fresh seafood that we?re looking at putting in,? said the co-owner.
?Change is good?people look forward to different and new items. I guess we?re all looking to add a little bit of spice in life?we have to continue to offer new and improved shopping facilities and products. It?s the way the market goes.?
An exact date for a ribbon cutting ceremony has not been set, but Moncion said it will be sometime in the fall.
