Post by IAMCAPER on Jul 7, 2004 23:28:25 GMT -4
Sydney - Home Depot Canada will be the anchor tenant for a new shopping district to be built near the Mayflower Mall.
“Following the closure of the steel and coal industries, I think we are in a new era of development in Cape Breton and we believe the opportunity is now,” said North Sydney native Annette Verschuren, president Home Depot Canada, Tuesday.
Verschuren has been promising to locate the home improvement supply and service store here for a number of years.
Along with heading the company’s Canadian operations, Verschuren is also president of EXPO Design Centres in the United States.
“It’s nice to come home and it’s also nice to give back,” she said.
She’s impressed with the inner strength of the people and the fact that Cape Breton is a wonderful place to live with an attractive lifestyle – things she believes will encourage people to settle here in the years ahead.
“The people of Cape Breton have shown great determination and conviction over the past number of years as the community adjusted to its new economy.”
The Cape Breton Home Depot location will be the company’s third store in Nova Scotia.
Construction of the 80,000-square-foot building, that will create 130 full- and part-time jobs, will begin in the fall with a late January or early February 2005 opening.
It will be built near the intersection of Highway 125 and Grand Lake Road.
The store is the newest prototype of a style which features a modern floor plan with newly designed departments, a special home decor section, more than 40,000 products, a tool rental centre, an At-Home services centre as well as an 18,000-square-foot garden centre.
Company spokesman Nick Cowling said the building being built here is not the largest in their chain but most people would not notice the difference.
The store will have free in-store do-it-yourself clinics on a variety of subjects to help people complete a project. There will be a Kids Workshop program as well as professional advice on home improvement projects.
“It’s great news for the local area and shows a level of confidence in the local economy which is important,” said Cape Breton Regional Municipality economic development manager John Whalley.
The well-respected retailer also adds diversity to what is offered in the market it serves, he added.
Whalley said Home Depot Canada will act as an anchor for a new shopping centre area.
“It will be interesting to see what that will draw,” he noted.
“I’m thrilled that anybody, especially of that high calibre and a local girl bringing great business, is locating here,” said Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce president Bruce Meloney.
“It’s retail that will stay here and that is good news.”
Meloney is also pleased with the optimism created by the announcement.
Luc Corneli, vice-president of Burnac Leasehold, Toronto, was not available to confirm the new outlet will be part of a big-box store development) across from the Mayflower Mall.
The company owns the Mayflower Mall and 56 acres near the traffic lights on the Sydney Port Access Road and Grand Lake Road.
It said last year it wanted to attract big-box retailers like Home Depot.
It has built an intersection on the SPAR road to develop its property.
A 26-year-old company founded in Atlanta, Ga., Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer with 1,746 stores, including 102 outlets in Canada. Net sales for fiscal 2003 amounted to $64.8 billion US.
“Following the closure of the steel and coal industries, I think we are in a new era of development in Cape Breton and we believe the opportunity is now,” said North Sydney native Annette Verschuren, president Home Depot Canada, Tuesday.
Verschuren has been promising to locate the home improvement supply and service store here for a number of years.
Along with heading the company’s Canadian operations, Verschuren is also president of EXPO Design Centres in the United States.
“It’s nice to come home and it’s also nice to give back,” she said.
She’s impressed with the inner strength of the people and the fact that Cape Breton is a wonderful place to live with an attractive lifestyle – things she believes will encourage people to settle here in the years ahead.
“The people of Cape Breton have shown great determination and conviction over the past number of years as the community adjusted to its new economy.”
The Cape Breton Home Depot location will be the company’s third store in Nova Scotia.
Construction of the 80,000-square-foot building, that will create 130 full- and part-time jobs, will begin in the fall with a late January or early February 2005 opening.
It will be built near the intersection of Highway 125 and Grand Lake Road.
The store is the newest prototype of a style which features a modern floor plan with newly designed departments, a special home decor section, more than 40,000 products, a tool rental centre, an At-Home services centre as well as an 18,000-square-foot garden centre.
Company spokesman Nick Cowling said the building being built here is not the largest in their chain but most people would not notice the difference.
The store will have free in-store do-it-yourself clinics on a variety of subjects to help people complete a project. There will be a Kids Workshop program as well as professional advice on home improvement projects.
“It’s great news for the local area and shows a level of confidence in the local economy which is important,” said Cape Breton Regional Municipality economic development manager John Whalley.
The well-respected retailer also adds diversity to what is offered in the market it serves, he added.
Whalley said Home Depot Canada will act as an anchor for a new shopping centre area.
“It will be interesting to see what that will draw,” he noted.
“I’m thrilled that anybody, especially of that high calibre and a local girl bringing great business, is locating here,” said Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce president Bruce Meloney.
“It’s retail that will stay here and that is good news.”
Meloney is also pleased with the optimism created by the announcement.
Luc Corneli, vice-president of Burnac Leasehold, Toronto, was not available to confirm the new outlet will be part of a big-box store development) across from the Mayflower Mall.
The company owns the Mayflower Mall and 56 acres near the traffic lights on the Sydney Port Access Road and Grand Lake Road.
It said last year it wanted to attract big-box retailers like Home Depot.
It has built an intersection on the SPAR road to develop its property.
A 26-year-old company founded in Atlanta, Ga., Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer with 1,746 stores, including 102 outlets in Canada. Net sales for fiscal 2003 amounted to $64.8 billion US.