By Thia James

UPDATED: Prince Albert Sobeys lays off 70, store closing in September

Jun 26, 2014 | 8:11 AM

The president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1400 said they were caught by surprise by the layoff notices handed out to workers at the Prince Albert Sobeys location on Wednesday.

Sobeys has given 70 employees at the store their layoff notices and the store will be closing on Sept. 25, Norm Neault said on Thursday. The union represents workers at the Sobeys store in Prince Albert.

“We always thought that Prince Albert was a very profitable store. It was in a good location in a retail area, and it certainly took us by surprise,” he said. 

Keri Scobie, spokesperson for Sobeys West, confirmed that the Prince Albert and Moose Jaw locations would be closing. The company sent a team to the store on Wednesday to meet with employees to deliver the news.

“These are always difficult conversations to have when you're closing stores,” she said, and added they're working closely with human resources and via the collective agreement in place at this location.

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She said the decision to close this store was a part of a larger decision. 

Sobeys announced in its earnings report that it will close 50 stores that it said are consistently underperforming. According to the statement in the earnings report, 60 per cent of the stores that are closing are in Western Canada.

“The decision was made to close all of the stores that were underperforming and no longer financially viable,” Scobie said, and explained that it didn't make sense to continue operations in these markets.

The store has been located in Prince Albert for more than a decade.

Neault said it has been a difficult week for workers.

“It's shaken the workers and their families. It's going to have a profound effect on the community of Prince Albert.”

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne heard the news about the store closure this morning and said that he feels sad for the employees. He is hoping the community will come together and find good jobs for the workers who have been laid off by Sobeys.

“I dealt at Sobeys, I knew a lot of the employees there, and at the end of the day you got to be sad for employees that are losing their jobs.”

To him, this doesn't say anything about the business climate in Prince Albert. 

“If you look at how much groceries have expanded in the last couple of years, it expanded tremendously. I do know quite a few of the stores were affected when Walmart added all their groceries,” Dionne said. 

He described the loss of 70 jobs as a setback to the city's growth pattern. But he said it's a short-term one for the city's economy.

“We probably gained over last year over those 70 jobs. But now it's put us right back almost back to nothing.”

-With files from Nigel Maxwell.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow