A city-style supermarket for Crawford Bay

Since early in the last century, the Crawford Bay Store has been an on-again, off-again operation. In 1983, answering a need for a grocery outlet in their small community, Peggy and John Stocker began to sell groceries out of the old store, a converted house in Crawford Bay, B.C. The residents of the area were quick to patronize the store, and the Stockers began to carry more inventory in order to accommodate the growing retail operation.

When the Crawford Bay area became better known in the 1990s and the community's population grew, the store began to show a significant profit. From that point, the Stockers’ grocery business needed every square inch in the aging premises.

An end and a beginning

After Peggy’s death in 2001, John continued to run the grocery store, but he decided to share the responsibilities of the business, hiring a general manager in 2008 and selling three-quarters of the business to the three Stocker sons.

With the nearest supermarkets located at least an hour away—in Creston or across Kootenay Lake in Nelson—a round trip to the supermarket took at least a half day for the residents and visitors to Crawford Bay. Jamie Cox, who was hired as general manager in 2008, said he was surprised and impressed by the level of success that had been achieved by this almost accidental business.

“I used to run ski hills for 30 years,” Cox said, “and I thought I knew what busy really was.”

By 2010, with the increased year-round population and ever-growing number of summer visitors, it was obvious that the somewhat rundown Crawford Bay Store couldn’t keep up with the demand for its goods, limited as they were. After weighing the pros and cons of renovating the old house or building a new facility, the decision was made to build.

“About a year ago we decided to build a brand new market on the 14-acre property,” said Cox. “We left the 2,200 square feet of space—with groceries stuffed on shelves along the walls—and built a full-on 6,000-square-foot market that has everything: meat, produce, dairy, canned goods, liquor. It’s a downtown-style supermarket.”

Keeping apace

Cox said that residents and repeat visitors to Crawford Bay are beyond delighted with this addition to the community. They now have an extensive selection of locally sourced produce, dairy, meat and bakery products available seven days a week, right here in town. Cox and the market’s team are basking in the appreciation that is heaped on them almost daily, and they shrug off the challenge of keeping the shelves well stocked no matter what the season.

“If the delivery trucks can manage to get through to a remote ski resort in the winter—and they can,” said Cox, “they can certainly make it to us in Crawford Bay.”