Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
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Employees enjoyed ‘family’ vibe
After 30 years, Zellers closed its doors making way for a new Target store. mrtimes.com
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by Maria Rantanen mrantanen@mrtimes.com
The store shelves were emptying out and the fixtures were being sold off last week as Zellers closed its doors after 30 years at Haney Place Mall. Sheila Rach, who has worked at the Zellers cash till for more than 21 years, said that over the decades she has built up relationships with both her colleagues and customers. “A lady came in and thanked me for my years of service,” Rach said on Friday while reminiscing about her years with the retailer. The store will now undergo major renovations to become a Target, set to open in November. Rach liked to meet with her regular customers, and gave special attention to kids and people with developmental delays. One mother commented to her recently that “you’ve always been good to my kids.” Rach worked as a full-time employee at the Haney location of Zellers, and she felt there was a good rapport among the staff, between all ages of employees.
Maria Rantanen/TIMES
Sheila Rach worked at Zellers for 21 and a half years. Customer Ken McCuaig (inset) found some good deals just days before the store closed. “Everybody likes everybody – we’re all tight,” she said. If someone new was hired at the store, Rach would introduce
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him or her to everyone. “We’re all friendly – you don’t make [new employees] feel like an outcast,” she said.
Cheryl Cloutier, who just received her 25-year pin from Zellers’ parent company HBC, said a lot of retired and former employees still stay in touch. “It’s like a family... I can honestly say we all love each other,” Cloutier said. Maple Ridge resident Ken McCuaig took advantage of some last-minute deals at Zellers, buying cans of Chunky soup, which were on sale for 69 cents a can, normally $1.49. McCuaig said he would miss Zellers, where he’d get his prescriptions filled and buy cat litter and clothing. “They had a lot of good stuff,” he said. Shopper Michelle Leppington was at Zellers on Friday with her two young daughters, also looking for last-minute deals. “I should have come sooner,” she said about shopping just three days before the closing. Target will be renovating the interior and exterior of the existing building. Recently, the retailer was approved to add almost 26,000 square feet, which would bring the total space to more than 110,000 square feet.
mrantanen@mrtimes.com
The doors were closing at Zellers at Haney Place Mall on Monday, Feb. 11 – but the demise of one institution in Maple Ridge bolstered the fortunes of another. The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Christmas Hamper Society was able to cash in on deals at the store to help low-income families during the Christmas season, and after a massive shop Wednesday, volunteers walked away with about $6,000 in savings. They were able to buy 30 skateboards and
lots of larger items they don’t always buy like Connex building sets as well as a lot of educational toys for babies. “It was a huge, huge savings,” said the Christmas hamper society’s co-chair Lorraine Bates. Volunteers with the Christmas hamper society usually start their shopping right after Christmas, looking for deals and liquidation items throughout the year. “Typically, this is the shopping we do but we don’t do it in mass,” Bates said, explaining that she had to get special authorization from her financial institution to pay for such a large quantity of items. At the shopping spree, the volunteers had two skids piled up and shrink-wrapped, and a cage full of items for needy kids. “There’s going to be some pretty happy kids,” Bates said.
Volunteers from the Christmas hamper society did a big shop on Wednesday.
Michael Sather, MLA, Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows. 105 – 22561 Dewdney Trunk Rd. 604.467.9823 www.michaelsather.com