The Pretzelmaker making a return to the Corner Brook Plaza
Mall manager says new business is a sign of good things to come
CORNER BROOK — Tami Humphries’ family have been tenants of the Corner Brook Plaza for 40 years.
Until getting into the candy business with the Funky Dory, it had primarily been in the giftware and souvenir business with its flagship Island Treasures store.
Now she’s about to venture more into the food business by opening a Pretzelmaker and Mrs. Fields Cookies location in the mall.
Humphries was a fan of the Pretzelmaker when it was previously at the mall. It closed several years ago.
“I love the pretzels. I just love the taste of them,” she told the Saltwire Network earlier this week.
Her fondness for them has continued, and she always buys some while visiting her son in St. John’s.
It was during a trip not long ago that she starting to think that she should bring it back to Corner Brook’s mall.
“I just wanted to open a franchise, so I contacted them and bought it,” she said.
The Pretzelmaker and Mrs. Fields Cookies will be located in the former David’s Tea location and the Funky Dory candy store is moving to the former Telus location.
Along with the pretzels and cookies, the store will include a full espresso bar.
Humphries has been working on securing the franchise since about March and will be going away for training on Aug. 5. She hopes to open the location by mid-august. It will employ four to six people.
Corner Brook Plaza manager Byron Bellows said the mall is looking forward to having the new business.
“It’s a nice addition. It gives our customers a little hope that more is going to come,” he says.
Locally and corporately, through mall owners Westcliff, Bellows said work is ongoing to secure new tenants for the shopping centre. He’s hopeful this will be the start of a few new businesses coming to the mall.
That’s good news after nearly two-and-a-half years of dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business and a decrease in mall traffic.
While many people turned to online shopping during the pandemic, Bellows thinks a lot of people have exhausted that.
“It’s really good, but it’s probably not that good for some who like to try on clothes, and try on shoes and try on different things.”
He said it’s different shopping when it’s a tactile piece of merchandise that people can feel, “versus buying online, when you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
He said there seems to be a return to mall shopping and traffic at the plaza is good.
Bellows said tenants that the mall was working on before the pandemic started were put on hold, especially anything coming from upper Canada or the United States.
“They put everything on hold, and they didn’t do anything with new business in the last two-and-a-half years.”
Some of those potential tenants have resurfaced and are looking at coming again, he added.
“The whole process is kind of starting over.”
Things are getting close in some cases, but he couldn’t reveal what stores that might involve.