Co-op’s new liquor store location
Don McConkey has worked in the Co-op Retailing System (CRS) for 25 years, starting with the regional office of Federated Co-op.
Thirteen years ago he accepted a position with the Calgary Co-op in a number of merchandising director roles. His main responsibilities were in grocery and marketing but he was told he would also have to look after the liquor store.
At that time there were just four; today Co-op has 23 locations in and around Calgary with a single liquor store in Edmonton.
McConkey has had to shed the other departments as managing director Co-op Wines Spirits Beer, overseeing a very successful division that employs around 200 staff.
He is currently working on a new location — recently leased through Chris Howard of Avison Young Real Estate — at the corner of Kensington Road and 25th Street N.W., formerly the site of a Honda dealership.
The single storey, mid-century modern building at the busy triangular junction of Kensington Road, Crowchild Trail and Parkdale Blvd. will provide 5,000 square feet of retail space and enough surface parking for more than 40 customer vehicles.
The building is being redesigned by Abugov Kaspar Architecture with the help of interior designer KRS Retail Solutions, a specialist in liquor store properties.
McConkey says the 18-foot ceilings will allow for the Coop’s signature Tuscan decor package and the store will carry its normal varieties with a focus on a wide selection of wines and scotch plus its popular Beers of the World cold room.
The number of stores under his wing and the huge increase in business they enjoy has meant McConkey is bringing all of his senior staff under one roof at the Oakridge store location. Buyers Ramo Marcucci (wine) and Dan Ellis (liquors and beer) will move, along with operations director Dave Haluska and sommelier Erin Rosar, who, as the ‘face’ of Co-op liquor stores, has been given the new title of customer experience lead.
The chain now has several sommeliers on staff as McConkey is keen to have all of his employees well trained to help customers.
Trinh Bui, the person responsible for all of the yearround events, rounds off his senior management.
The spring and fall Grape Escapes held at the BMO BMO Centre on the Stampede grounds are hugely popular as are the regular gatherings in the four Co-op tasting centres.
Only last month a new big format liquor store was opened adjacent to the existing Co-op grocery store in Shawnessy, providing 10,000 square feet of retail including a mezzanine tasting room.
Norman Leach, who many know as the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Calgary, is also a recognized military historian.
He is the bestselling author of five books on military history including Passchendale — Canada’s Triumph and Tragedy on the Fields of Flanders which was nominated for a Governor General’s Award.
Shorncliffe, located on the south coast of England, was built as a defence from Napoleon who camped across the English Channel and became the home of Sir John Moore who designed and created the Martello towers.
It is hallowed land for Canadians as it was the base of thousands of Canadian soldiers heading to the trenches in Belgium and France during the First World War.
It is now in danger of being developed and Leach has been appointed as Canadian Ambassador to the Shorncliffe Trust to promote its close ties to Canada.
He will work with Canadian/ North American stakeholders and source other volunteers, donations and grants to help save the land and the adjacent military cemetery where local children place flowers on each Maple Leaf grave on Canada Day.
The seventh annual Oil Sands and Heavy Oil Technologies (OSHOT) conference and exhibition opens Tuesday, July 23, and Calgary’s economy will benefit by the registration of approximately 1,000 delegates visiting this city from 25 countries. OSHOT will take place at the Telus Convention Centre and will continue until July 25.