Central Plaza merchants enthused at the prospect of an IGA store coming to the shopping centre – originally planned for this spring – are going to have to be patient a while longer.
The store is still coming to White Rock, but plans are up in the air as far as the physical form it will take, according to H.Y. Louie IGA representative Scott Coburn.
Coburn said Friday he could not yet supply a timeline for opening the new store, planned for space vacated by Shoppers Drug Mart more than a year ago.
“We’re reviewing exactly what we feel we wish to put in that location,” he said.
Merchants had celebrated the announcement in December that the company had signed a lease for the property, with a projected opening in May.
Since the departure of Shoppers Drug Mart, which moved across the street to South Surrey’s Semiahmoo Shopping Centre, walk-by traffic has diminished considerably, merchants say.
White Rock Business Improvement Association executive director Sherri Wilson Morissette said that while she had heard the new IGA store is going ahead, she had also heard the company has been trying to negotiate more space at Central Plaza.
Coburn acknowledged that space is an issue.
“The site presents opportunities, but it’s also a very small location for a usual grocery store – it’s not a very big footprint,” he said.
“We’re trying to cope with that and we’re still exploring options and figuring out where to put displays – and there are all kinds of building conditions to consider,” he said.