REGINA – A new Co-op facility with a gas station, car wash and convenience store is now in the works in Regina.
At the annual general meeting on May 5, the Sherwood Co-op unveiled its plans for the project, which is expected to take two years.
The new facility will be built at the existing Co-op site on the 4300 block of Albert Street south where a gas bar, convenience store and two car wash bays already sit.
“We’ve been looking at different options to develop that gas bar for a number of years,” Troy Verboom, general manager of the Sherwood Co-op, said.
“We have a good business there and we sure didn’t want to vacate the premises. It’s extremely difficult to find property large enough for us to build what we need to on Albert Street south.”
To accommodate the expansion, in 2013 Sherwood Co-op purchased the adjacent land currently occupied by A&W and the Plum Gardens restaurant.
“It’s our oldest site and it needs to be redeveloped,” Verboom said. “It’s a couple decades old.”
A new A&W, which will be leased from the Sherwood Co-op, will be built where the Plum Gardens was situated on the south end of the site.
The gas bar and convenience store will be built during phase one of the project, which is expected to be completed by 2017. The full-service gas station will have 10 bays, which can fit 20 vehicles at a time.
Phase two will be the development of a 10-bay wand car wash with a twin-bay touchless car wash attached. That phase will be completed in 2018.
Verboom said the entire development is expected to cost $14.7 million and is growing from the current 110 feet of frontage, or the width of a lot, to 375 feet of frontage.
It’s going to be a lot more wide open,” Verboom said.
It’s not going to be near as cramped as it is now so there’s going to be lots of room in there for customers to be able to move around whether they want to wash their vehicles, get gas, just stop at the convenience store or just slip through the A&W drive through.”
Sales down due to oil prices
Sherwood Co-op’s total sales were also outlined at the annual general meeting. In 2015, sales were $213.1 million, down from $234.6 million in 2014.
“Decrease in sales is 100 per cent attributed to the deflation in petroleum,” Verboom said. “Our litres were up from the previous year but sales were down.”
Verboom also said the co-operatives’ net savings, the equivalent of net income, was within $14,000 of last year’s savings at $10.3 million.
The Co-op also grew by 4,053 members in 2015. There are now 66, 978 members, of which 57, 977 are active.
“We continue to build and improve our facilities and of course, our equity and cashback program,” Verboom said. “I think people recognize that is a very good program and as a result, we continue to get new members year over year.”
Member’s cheques, a total of $3 million, are currently being distributed. A total of $14.3 million in cash has been sent out over the last four years. The cheques are half of each member’s allocation.
“So lots of dollars are staying in our local community and our local economy,” Verboom said.
In total, the Sherwood Co-op has 18 Saskatchewan locations, which include gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores and a home centre. They are located in Regina, Indian Head, Emerald Park, Southey, Montmarte, and Dysart.
As for future plans, Verboom said Sherwood Co-op is looking at property in southeast Regina and west on Dewdney Avenue for gas stations.
It is also considering a new development in Southey.
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