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HAY RIVER
About five years ago, Wayne Korotash got a call from one of the former owners of the Home Hardware store in Hay River.

Stan Boudreau had a business proposal for Korotash and his wife, Melissa Hofmann.

Boudreau and his wife, Karen, were planning to retire from Home Hardware and wanted to know if Korotash and his wife were interested in buying the business.

The Boudreaus had owned the store for 15 years.

"It just came out of the blue," Korotash said of the offer, adding he was both shocked and flattered.

While the couples had known each other for years, they had never discussed such a business deal.

Korotash and his wife thought hard about it for a week before he committed to try out working at the store as an assistant manager for a year.

"If it was something I didn't want to do, then I would do something else, but I knew within the first two months that this was something that I would love to do," he recalled.

Korotash, 39, worked at the store for four and a half years before the sale was finalized on Feb. 1 of this year and he and his wife became co-owners.

"There's so much to this business," he said. "You learn something new every day."

While Korotash worked at Home Hardware, his wife remained working at Northwest Territories Power Corporation until last December when she too moved to Home Hardware.

"We always wanted to own our own business, but in a small town it's really hard," Korotash said. "You're into such a niche market that the population can't support it or you're stepping on somebody else's toes. We weren't interested in doing either."

On Feb. 1, the store was renamed Hay River Home Hardware. It had previously been known as Wright's Home Hardware.

Korotash and his wife are now working owners at the business, which has a store manager and an office manager to look after day-to-day affairs.

As working owners, Korotash said they have a range of duties, aside from management responsibilities.

"We do everything from unloading freight to stocking shelves to running tills and mixing paint," he said. "We both do it all."

Before moving to Home Hardware, Korotash was office manager at Midnight Petroleum, a job he took after managing the Hay River Golf Course, where the Boudreaus were members.

"I think they liked the way that I handled the golf course. It's a customer service-based business," said Korotash of why the Boudreaus may have considered him and his wife to assume ownership of their store.

Plus, he noted he and his wife were born and raised in Hay River, and know a lot of people in the community.

"We know what life is like in Hay River," he said. "It's not like somebody coming up from the south for the first time."

Korotash said he enjoys everything about the business.

"It's one of those jobs where I don't dread going to work in the morning," he said. "I look forward to going to work. I think one of the biggest things I like is the people, the customers."

His Hay River business, which has 15 full-time and part-time employees, is one of 1,100 independently-owned Home Hardware stores across Canada.

Korotash said one question he has been asked since he has become co-owner is if he will be appearing on Home Hardware's national TV commercials, which feature storeowners from across Canada.

"It's a common question we get from everyone," he said.

Korotash explained storeowners audition for the commercials at Home Hardware's spring trade shows, adding, "I think I might try it out in April."

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