By Thia James

Northern Grocers spring closure to throw 23 out of work

Feb 14, 2015 | 7:15 AM

After decades of operating in the Prince Albert community, Northern Grocers will be shutting down this spring and its 23 employees will lose their jobs.

The grocery wholesaler supplies groceries, tobacco, confectionery, produce and frozen foods to retailers and food service operators. It made the announcement to its employees on Jan. 29, and expects to close by the end of April.

Management made the decision to close amidst lower profits and difficulties finding labour, but one of the main reasons was that the managers were reaching retirement age, Paul Braaten, president and manager of Northern Grocers said.

The managers did make efforts to avoid having to make the decision to close.

“We approached a few people to purchase it, but nothing has come about yet. There’s still people looking at it.”

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When asked why management chose closure over downsizing the business, Braaten said their trucks would be running empty if they downsize. “You just about got to take everything you’ve got in order to make the run. You know, freight is so expensive. So, if you don’t have everything, there’s not much point [in] downsizing.”

The business is not operating at full capacity and it’s currently looking to clear out its stock. It still has three-quarters of a million dollars of inventory left. Between now and the end of April, Northern Grocers will be giving its customers special deal pricing before it opens up its stock to the public.

With the closure will come the job losses, which will eliminate an array of positions, from office jobs to order pickers to truck drivers.

Braaten said the employees all got the proper amount of notice. As to whether the employees will all be receiving payouts, he said, “if we don’t need them, then they get their severance, but the labour law says we give them so many weeks’ notice according to … how much time they’ve been working. So then … if you don’t need them, then you pay your severance.” Either way Braaten is confident the employees will find work soon. 

The closure also means a wholesaler that started up to fill a need when other wholesalers pulled out of the city will be leaving the community. A number of staff from the four different warehouses that pulled out of Prince Albert pooled their money to start their business.

But over the years, the landscape it had been operating in changed.

“Walmart coming to Canada, I think was an eye opener for everyone. Costco. The highways are getting better … people drive farther.”

There’s a lot of competition out there, he added.

Pulling out of the local business community is hard for Braaten. It’s particularly hard to leave the customers behind.

“Some of those customers have been loyal to us since we opened the doors and I hate to see the staff, you know, the way they’re going.”

The closure will also be a blow to the North. Braaten estimates that half of Northern Grocers’ business is in the North. The wholesaler’s service area spans Black Lake to Kelvington, and out towards Meadow Lake, and down as far as Rosthern.

One of the retailers it services in the North is Eddie’s Family Foods in Creighton, Sask.  The store’s grocery manager, who declined to have her name used, said she orders a few items through Northern Grocers, but another company acts as its main supplier.

But Northern Grocers provided the store with hard-to-find items. And some of these items are popular with customers.

“They carry a lot of stuff that we can’t get from anywhere else,” she said.  One such item is corn on the cob in a can.

Once Northern Grocers closes, Eddie’s retail manager said they just won’t carry these items if they’re not available.

The impact of the closure will also be felt within Prince Albert too.

For Mayor Greg Dionne, first and foremost are the job losses. He said he is also saddened by the closure because it represents the loss of a locally owned business, which serviced a large part of the city and the North. He added that Northern Grocers served a niche in the marketplace.

It also fit into the idea of Prince Albert being a hub service supplier – of trucking, education, medical, Dionne said.

He said it’s going to hurt, even though the slack will be picked up by outside suppliers that come to, and through, Prince Albert from Saskatoon.

“When you have people that operate locally, they have a feel for the community, and usually, they give back to the community. Like they [Northern Grocers] were great sponsors, they were great volunteers. They coached teams, hockey, baseball. So, they were well involved in the community. So, we’re just not losing a business.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames