After pouring $1 million into renovations, the former Westminster Savings Credit Union building on Lougheed Highway and 226th Street is ready for a new role.
This time it will serve as the location for Dollarama, a discount chain that already has a presence in Maple Ridge, on Dewdney Trunk Road and 203rd Street.
With the second opening, it’s among 700 locations across Canada that sells goods priced up to $3.
Realtor Adrian Keenan said Dollaramas are now thought of as anchor stores in retail locations.
The 10,000-sq.-foot downtown space is the second development of one of Keenan’s Vancouver clients in Maple Ridge, the first being a new professional services building on Dewdney Trunk Road and 228th Street.
Keenan said his clients see Maple Ridge as stable location for investment.
The district’s town centre incentive program, which offers streamlined processing, tax exemptions and discounts for building in the downtown core, also helped.
He pointed out construction costs in Vancouver are the same as in Maple Ridge, but retail space locally rents for only about $25 to $30 a sq. foot.
In 1992, the Dollarama business was founded by CEO Larry Rossy, a third generation retailer.