BOYLE - The Village of Boyle will be down to one grocery store April 1, after the Boyle Buy-Low closes March 31.
Multiple sources, including Mayor Colin Derko, have confirmed that the store will be shutting its doors March 31, although a formal statement from the company has yet to be provided. Derko, who said he's an eternal optimist who believes that one door closing means another door opens, was concerned for the 16 people who will be out of work.
"They are maybe not sleeping so good at night because they're wondering about their jobs. The reality of it is that those people are a part of our community, so I struggle with that and I worry for them," said the mayor. "We're resilient, and things will be fine. We aren't going to struggle for groceries."
The grocery store will be the second major business to close in the community after the CIBC announced it would also be leaving in December. Derko said the timing of the two closures was a coincidence but acknowledged the impact it will have on the village.
"In a small community, people take ownership of that store like it's their own, just like we do with all our businesses. That's part of our team, and we just lost part of our team," said Derko. "It's disheartening."
Derko said Boyle's council had met with representatives from Buy-Low Jan. 30, when they were told the store would be closing.
"I'm very sad, its devastating to the community," said Terry Mudryk, Boyle's Chamber of Commerce president. "They were a great supporter of hockey and just about every organization, including grad classes, that have come to them. That support is going to be gone."
"I'm trying to wrap my head around this and say, 'Oh my gosh," how many more things have we lost because of this business being gone. I'm sure there's things I haven't even thought of."
Athabasca County Reeve Brian Hall said the decision came as a surprise to the county: any stakeholder engagement done by Buy-Low and its parent company, the Pattison Food Group, didn't include the municipality.
"It's disappointing that they didn't reach out in the region and let us know this was coming," said Hall. "The village and the county don't function in isolation of each other. This will impact the summer villages as well as folks in a much wider region, including Grassland and Caslan."
-With files from Lexi Freehill
More to come...
