La Ronge Chamber Of Commerce Pursuing Walmart

La Ronge Chamber Of Commerce Pursuing Walmart

Tuesday, December 01, 2009 at 13:34

Walmart could be coming to La Ronge, if some members of the local Chamber of Commerce have their way.

Members of the business group are trying to talk the retail giant, whose nearest store is currently in Prince Albert, into setting up a store that would serve communities in an 80-kilometre radius of La Ronge — and there seems to be some interest on Walmart’s part.

What Walmart needs, according to the chair of the Chamber’s business expansion committee, is evidence that the community actually wants such a store — in the form of 3,500 signatures.

Al Loke says he sees an opportunity here to fulfill some of the shopping needs — such as for children’s and adult clothing — that local businesses aren’t able to meet, and benefit those businesses, and the community, at the same time.

“If you see this come to town, you’ll probably see a lot more come to town, which will be better for everybody in all the communities. And the existing businesses will benefit from it too, because we’ll get more people coming into town and shopping locally and staying in town,” Loke says.

Loke says that if there is enough community support, Walmart officials will come in and do an evaluation to see whether one of their smaller stores would be viable in La Ronge.