Amid word that Dionne’s Valu-mart is changing hands, this week’s Cochrane history feature is about the grocery store. It first opened in the former Carriere’s Supermarket building – now Giant Tiger – in 1989.
The Cochrane Times of July 22nd, 1995 told of how it was moving out to the west highway by December of that year.
Public library archivist Ardis Proulx-Chedore reads details from the story.
“The store will not only double its size from ten-thousand to twenty-thousand square feet, there will be ample parking for several hundred cars, something the downtown location was lacking. Receiving was also a problem, with trucks having to maneuver on Sixth Avenue into tight spots.”
“’If there are no delays, we will be open in early December,’ explained Yves Bertrand, owner of Bertrand’s Valu-Mart. ‘We will be hiring another 20 to 30 part-time staff over and above our present payroll of 30 employees.’”
Bertrand was excited about added features like a Pizza Hut take-out.
The store was Bertand’s Valu-mart until 2002 when it became Chartrand’s, and then Dionne’s in 2012.
Your curiosity about Cochrane history can be soothed with a trip to the archives at the Cochrane Public Library.
