Jennifer Obleman
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 5, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Customers of Shoppers Drug Mart will find more products, services and staff on site when the new 15,000-square-foot store opens next summer on 49th Street.

Daryl and Cindy Dolynny, pharmacists and owners of Shoppers Drug Mart in Yellowknife, are excited about their new 15,000-square-foot store to be built where the old J.J. Hobbies building currently stands. The new store, more than double the size of the current location, will open in summer 2008. - Jennifer Obleman/NNSL photo

"We feel the shopping experience is going to be enhanced many-fold. People are going to be shocked the first time they come in," said Daryl Dolynny, pharmacist and owner of retail operation.

With the opening of the new store, 20 new jobs will be created, including about 10 full-time positions. That will bring the total staff to 55 workers.

Shoppers has been in its current location since 1998, and while the 6,000-square-foot facility met the needs of the community then, it's been too small a space for too long a time, he said.

"We definitely outgrew that location a number of years ago," said Dolynny. "This brings us in line with down south in terms of what people expect in our products and services."

One major improvement to the new Shoppers will be accessibility, with wider aisles for customers using wheelchairs or canes, he said.

There will be a nicer waiting area at the new pharmacy, and special counselling areas to allow for one-on-one consultations and more specialized diabetic care.

Product lines, such as neutraceuticals, vitamins, sports nutrition as well as health and beauty, will be expanded.

"The prestige category is definitely going to take a huge lift," he said. "For people who weren't able to find some things here in Yellowknife, they're going to find we meet their expectations of down south.

Photo services will be added, including passport pictures, photo kiosks, cameras and a photo specialist on site.

Free customer parking will be available - the existing parking lot next to the courthouse will belong to the new store. The lot next to Extra Foods will be re-landscaped and connected to Shoppers with a crosswalk.

There are no plans yet regarding how the existing Shoppers Drug Mart space will be used, according to Kelly Hayden, vice-president of Northern Property Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the property.

The firm purchased the 237,000-square-foot commercial property in July from the WAM Development Group for $56.6 million, and inherited with the property the $6 million construction project.

The company is excited to be part of a retail development of this scale in the city.

"In the last few years a lot of retail business has moved to Old Airport Road, so we're very pleased to be able to retain a very strong national entity downtown," said Hayden.

The old J.J. Hobbies building and Igloo Plaza will be torn down next week, and in their place the new Shoppers Drug Mart building will begin to rise. The foundation will be in place before freeze up, and work will continue over the winter.