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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op is celebrating Co-op Week as it marks 30 years serving its customers. Originally based out of the Roman Empire Building on 51 Avenue, the grocery store has come a long way over the years.

Customer Bill Reid and Corrine Jones celebrate the Yellowknife Co-op's 30-year celebration on Wednesday. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

Christine Meckling was the first manager of the the co-op when it opened in the Roman Empire Building in 1981.

She spent nearly a year in the position and said she remembers when the store was open from 5 to 9 p.m. and running from her GNWT job at Northern United Place, as well as most of the day Saturday and a few hours on Sunday.

"Right after work people would come to the co-op," she said. "And in just after a week or two we had about a hundred members," said Meckling.

She said she is impressed by how far the store has come from it's humble roots. "It's big with lots of people doing a good job," she said.

Jeff Kincaid is the business development and asset manager for the store. He was able to provide a little history on the store.

"Really, what we wanted to celebrate with this event, is the changes that the co-op has gone through and the changes the city has gone through," said Kincaid. "There was one time when the ferry would go out and prices would go up. And the prices were higher in Yellowknife 30 years ago than they are today."

The store began as a buying club based out of a kitchen before they got the space in the Roman Empire Building. Members would order products from the south before dividing it up for sale.

"It grew so quickly that they actually needed a building and, then another building, then a bigger building," said Corrine Jones, assistant manager of member and business development, noting that the Co-op now has approximately 55 thousand square feet of space at its location on Old Airport Road.

"So now we have about 4,200 households who are members of the Co-op."

Kincaid said there is a lot for the store's membership to be proud of, including becoming more environmentally conscious and keeping shelves filled when the ferry is out.

"About 14 years ago, they decided that during break-up no prices would increase during that time," said Kincaid. "(It's) more like a regular store where we don't have those fluctuations in our prices. We stock before hand to make sure we have all of the perishable items.

"We have reduced our waste to the dump ... We've also started replacing a lot of our refrigeration cases with a lot more energy efficient LED lighting, more environmentally friendly refrigerants. It will eventually help us in lowering our overall cost, but the big thing is the environmental impact," said Kincaid.

He also pointed out that all members are shareholders in the company, which is owned by Arctic Co-op.

The store actually marked its 30 year anniversary back in March, but management figured Co-op Week would be a good time to celebrate it.

"On Sunday, we did a pancake breakfast. There's face painting with Cooper the Co-op bear, the same thing on Saturday, except we're giving out barbecue chicken and Co-op week cake," said Jones.

Throughout the week, the grocers were also offering lunch specials and free items to their membership.

Bill Reid lives downtown and is not a member, but he does makes the trip to the Co-op to purchase certain items.

"I like that they have some products that you can't get at other stores," said Reid.

"Now we're into a different part where we want to lead. We want to really expand our borders and be a great store in Canada, not just in Yellowknife," said Kincaid.

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