Stettler's Brick store celebrated its grand reopening in its new downtown location on Friday, Dec. 9.
The store, which has been a fixture in the Stettler Mall on the west end of town since it opened a decade ago, closed its old location to take advantage of the new downtown showcase space located in the old Sears store.
Owner Len Hoac and his staff set up a special day for their loyal customers, with cupcakes and Brick-style mimosas with cranberry juice.
The new store is significantly smaller than the other one, Hoac said, but the downsized space isn't a concern when compared to the benefits.
"(We made the move) for the downtown traffic," Hoac said. "Downtown Stettler is pretty vibrant, especially compared to other towns."
He said a lot of the focus in the community is downtown, with events like Moonlight Madness and the Night Before the Night Before bringing people in droves to the main street area.
"It also doesn't hurt to have Home Hardware across from us, and the other furniture store down the street," Hoac said.
Hoac said he doesn't believe the Brick's move downtown will hurt other businesses, but may instead drive traffic up as it will be easier for shoppers to compare.
"We don't have the same products," Hoac noted. "We complement each other."
The new store comes in at about 6,000 square feet, a massive cut from its more than 28,000 square feet in the mall. However, using the space they have conservatively means that almost the same number of items are on display as before – and, in fact, Hoac said the store was able to increase its appliances display.
"When we put the Brick in the mall space, we went really big because the space was available," Hoac said. "That was really unusual in a market of this size."
Chris Gloweski, the Brick's national franchise sales manager, and Todd Crawley, the Brick's regional sales manager, came to Stettler for the grand re-opening. Both praised Stettler's vibrant downtown and said they expected to see great things from the new location.
"(The new store) is a lot more cozy," Gloweski said.
Crawley agreed, calling the space a "lot more comfortable."
Hoac said there's no plans to evict their neighbours, the community's thrift shop Superfluity.