Fire Creek Store at One Arrow First Nation. Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
By: Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wakaw Recorder
August 11th One Arrow First Nation proudly opened their very own Fire Creek grocery store across from the Band office. The store carries a full range of grocery products from dairy to bakery and pasta to produce. Meat products are stocked in the freezers and coolers, and sauces and canned goods line the shelves. As the store gets its feet under itself and determines other products local shoppers are looking for, there is adequate floor space in which to expand the number of aisles they have if needed, to carry even more grocery merchandise.
A social media post on Bellevue’s News, Events, and Information page shared the exciting news with One Arrow’s neighbours and invited them to stop by the store and check it out as well as the gas bar which has been open for a while now. The One Arrow gas bar offers both gasoline and diesel fuel for sale. The store and gas bar are open daily from 8 am to 8 pm except for Sundays when the opening hours are 9 am to 6 pm.
For elders and those who don’t drive or have access to a vehicle, getting groceries in the past has meant relying on someone else to either pick up groceries for them or give them a ride to a grocery store outside of the community. With the opening of this new grocery outlet right in the community, it offers those without transportation the opportunity to shop for themselves and use the money that would have gone to pay for gas, to buy more groceries instead. It is truly a win/win situation for the economy of the community and for the community members themselves.
One Arrow First Nation also operates the Fire Creek Gas & Grill gas bar and convenience store on 20th Street at Ave. P in Saskatoon.