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LangleyAdvance
| Thursday, November 29, 2012 |
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Groceries
December sees new stores open in Fort, Willoughby Lee’s Grocery and a Loblaws affiliate are both about to throw open their doors. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
The late fall seems to be the busy season for opening grocery stores in Langley. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, the first Langley outlet of the Your Independent Grocer chain will open at the Willoughby Town Centre shopping plaza on 208th Street just south of 80th Avenue. The town centre is still under construction this week, with workers planting trees and working on the exterior of the buildings. Eventually, the complex will include condos, commercial areas and office buildings. A liquor store, daycare, and seniors facility was just approved for another part of the com-
plex (see inset story). The Hakam’s Your Independent Grocer is a 28,000 square foot store that will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Franchisee Hakam Cheema has 15 years of grocery experience, he said. “I know many people in our community were curious about this store opening, and I’m excited to introduce to them this new store,” Cheema said in a statement. For the opening on Dec. 5, there will be a ribbon cutting, cake and refreshments of customers, free food sampling, and free giveaways to the first 500 customers. A truck with the Your Independent Grocer logo is expected to be in the area prior to the opening handing out hot chocolate and takeaway items. In Fort Langley, the Lee’s Market is getting closer to opening. A replacement for the Lee family’s IGA, which stood on the corner of Mavis
Avenue and Glover Road for decades, the new store has been rebranded and will open on Dec. 9. Owner Robert Lee said there will definitely be a ceremony of some kind.
“It’s been a long wait for everybody,” Lee said. Two years ago, the former Fort IGA burned to the ground, after someone tried to cut through bars on a window to break in.
The fire left the Fort without a grocery store. Lee had hoped to open the store in late November but pushed back the date slightly. Right now, staff are
already stocking the store with some dry goods, and the rest of the produce and meat will arrive at the last minute, no more than two or three days before the store opens.
Development
Liquor store near school gets approval A proposed liquor store is a go for Willoughby despite being near a church and school. by Matthew Claxton
mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
A new building for a Willoughby commercial centre will go ahead, with council approving plans for a liquor store. QC Holdings had asked for a rezoning to allow some changes for its Willoughby Town Centre project. It wanted to add provisions for a liquor store, a daycare, and some seniors housing for the next phase of the project.
Earlier this month, a few neighbours and members of the nearby Free Reformed Church objected, saying it was too close. The site is also to the south of the current site of Willoughby Elementary. On Monday, Township councillors asked whether there are hard and fast rules about how close a liquor store can be to a school or church. Township director of community development Ramin Seifi said there are no provincial guidelines for how close a liquor store can be to a school or church. The guidelines are for pubs and bars. The Township has guidelines for both, but neither Township or
province has hard and fast rules, Seifi said. Councillor Kim Richter suggested removing the liquor store from the application, but other councillors said the differences between a pub and a liquor store are fairly significant. The motion for the rezoning passed with Richter opposed. While the school board has said it may consider eventually relocating Willoughby Elementary, that is not set in stone. The Willoughby Town Centre is a mixture of condos, retail stores, and offices on a plot of land that wraps around the elementary school to the south and west, near the corner of 208th Street and 80th Avenue.
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