Pet food is just the beginning

Nick’s Feed Centre in Grand Forks has a lot on the menu

Nick's Feed Centre dishes out everything from advice to supplies. — Carol English photo

Nora Curiston is an employee at Nick’s Feed Centre in Grand Forks, owned by Nick Abektoff and Carol English. Nora first began working there 20 years ago.

What products do you sell at Nick’s Feed Centre?

We sell aquariums, pet supplies, birds and fish, and pet and livestock feed.

What has made the business a success?

I think that one of the key things has been that we are always genuinely interested in the customers. We have so many different inquiries, whether it’s regarding pets, livestock or pet feed. (Plus), the owners are fantastic.

How do you go the extra mile with your customer service?

Everybody that works here really makes an effort to find out what the customer needs and to come up with the answers (to inquiries). If we don’t know the answers, we’ll look them up.

What is the biggest challenge in your job?

It’s trying to stay on top of all the new infomation on pet foods and pet health. It’s a constantly changing industry and we’re (always) trying to stay on top of pet nutrition and what products are available.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

It’s interacting with the customers. The majority of people are really friendly. Working in what is primarily a pet store, people are in here talking about their animals. That’s a nice common denominator.