Dedicated to sales and service

Y&R Water Sales in Grand Forks was Business of the Year thanks to a dedication to serving the region and focusing on customers

From left, owner Bob Yemm and staff Mike Jones, Jarrett Kraus and Tom Roberge provide water services in the Boundary region. — Photo courtesy Jarrett Kraus

There aren’t many similarities between driving a bread truck in downtown Toronto and owning a service business in a small Kootenay town. Luckily, Bob Yemm, bread truck driver, was ready for a change when his brother offered him an opportunity to get involved in Y&R Water Sales and Service Inc. in Grand Forks back in 2005. Yemm is now a ticketed pump installer and, since his brother retired in 2011, he owns the business along with his partner, Deb Lauzon.

“More and more people are becoming concerned about their water supply, so they’re keeping us pretty busy testing,” said Lauzon. “Especially in the agricultural areas, there’s arsenic and things like that in some wells. We test for potability, mostly.”

Y&R carries almost anything a client might need for water systems in the retail side of the store. What sets the company apart from other places that sell parts is that Y&R also offers a high level of service. This is one advantage of buying from a local shop that Lauzon feels is too often overlooked.

“There are a lot of people who will shop across the line because it might be cheaper,” she said, “but what they don’t realize is that if there’s a problem with that water softner that they got in (the U.S.), it’s not going to get serviced. If they buy local and we put it in we will service it. So sometimes that deal that you get at Walmart isn’t such a deal if there’s a problem with it.”

Y&R Water Sales and Service has been in its current location for a year and a half after outgrowing its previous shop. The extra room is nice, said Lauzon, allowing the store to offer more stock. Y&R Water Sales and Service was named the Grand Forks 2012 Business of the Year, an honour that Lauzon feels resulted from Yemm’s absolute dedication to customer service.

“Bob’s extremely customer service-oriented and he’s even gone out on an emergency call Christmas Day,” said Lauzon. “He’s just like that—very dedicated to the business.”