Coast Wholesale Appliances will pull the plug on its Red Deer store this Saturday.
The Vancouver-based retailer, which operates 16 stores from British Columbia to Ontario, announced last month that it was closing its outlet at Gaetz Avenue Crossing. The Red Deer store has been liquidating merchandise since, said general manager Brent Hilderman.
“There’s not a lot left. We’ve maybe got about 15 fridges, probably about 20 stoves, like four dishwashers and a couple (over-the-range microwaves), and that’s about all.”
The other stores in the Coast chain will continue to operate, said Hilderman.
“Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina — all those other stores are still going strong.”
Local customers can contact those stores with respect to warranty issues and other matters, he added.
They can even arrange for new products to be shipped to them in Central Alberta.
Coast dealt with a number of homebuilders, and hopes to maintain those relationships, said Hilderman.
“We’ve given them the option to do that, coming out of Calgary. Then we’d send a truckload up once a week type-of-thing.”
The decision to close the Red Deer store reflects the fact that the retail appliance market is very competitive here, said Hilderman. Coast was one of the last stores to arrive on the scene when it opened here seven years ago, so had to overcome the existing loyalties of consumers.
The economic downturn that hit shortly after Coast opened in Red Deer also made it tough for the store to gain a foothold, he acknowledged.
“That’s just the way it goes,” said Hilderman, who will continue to work for Coast in Calgary.
An official with the company that manages Gaetz Avenue Crossing said he couldn’t comment on plans for Coast’s approximately 10,000-square-foot space in the south-side shopping centre.
The stores hours of operation today and tomorrow are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com