Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Arctic Bay (Feb 11/02) - The brand new Northern store in Arctic Bay is a modern-day business success story.

The company has 300-year-old roots in the North.

Arctic Bay's Leata Olayuk keeps things running smoothly at the community's new and improved Northern store. - photo courtesy of Tim Ross/North West Company

"The store is actually operational at the moment but the grand opening is on Feb. 25," said director of sales and operations with the Northern's parent company, the North West Company, Tim Ross. "Right now the store is still under a bit of construction."

The old Northern store building in the far North community of about 800 people outlived its time. The newly renovated selling floor is 4,130 square feet. There is also an additional storage area of 2,700 square feet.

"That's so important for storage. That's where we store our dairy coolers, our deli coolers, frozen foods and produce prep area," said Ross. The additional storage area will mean more consistent service and less chance of running out of things, he said. Ross ordered 700 food items for the new store that were not available before.

All of the heavy, non-dated goods are moved up to Arctic Bay via sealift but perishable items go north by air every week.

"Obviously the cost of shipping goods to the North is expensive. There is no doubt about it," he said. Freight and delivery is the biggest challenge for the Arctic Bay Northern, he added.

The North West Company can trace its roots back to trading posts in the late 1600s. When it merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1800s it created a fur-trading monopoly that covered one-quarter of North America. But the enterprise continued as the Northern stores division of the Hudson's Bay Company.

"In 1987 the North West Company separated from the Hudson's Bay Company," said Ross. The Northern stores division was purchased from the Hudson's Bay by a group of investors which included 415 employees.

"A lot of it is owned by management and staff through shares," said Ross.

The store in Arctic Bay operates under the same trading name as all the North West Company's retail stores -- Northern.

"We have a lot of merchandise that is being shipped into the community right now. Our assortment will broaden in both foods and merchandise."

A team of people will be going to Arctic Bay to merchandise the store, he said.

Many of Arctic Bay's residents work at Nanisivik Mine, a zinc mine that is scheduled to close, but Ross said that doesn't change the direction of the store's operations in Arctic Bay.

"We've been there for years and we want to continue with our service," he said.

The store employs about 18 people, three more than before the expansion.

"We are the biggest retailer in Nunavut," said the company's chief financial officer, Gary Eggertson.

In the last five years there seems to be a renewed awareness of the company's success. That could be because of about $200 million spent in Northern Canada to improve Northerns in the last 10 years. It could also be because of southern interest in the North resulting from the potential of both a Mackenzie and Alaska gas pipeline.

"Also the establishment of Nunavut got a lot of attention," said Eggertson.

The North West Company's shares trade publicly on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shares are trading at more than $17 -- that's higher than any time in the last five years.

In its third quarter ending Oct 27, 2001, the company reported increased consolidated revenues of $175.3 million, up 4.2 per cent from the same period last year. Year to date revenues of $509.2 per cent were up 5.5 per cent over the same period last year.