Derek Nordstrom has had his eye on Rimbey for some time. Soon, the Wainwright dentist will be looking from the inside.
He plans to open Nordstrom Dental on the town’s north end in Evergreen Estates.
The clinic will occupy about one-third of a 12,500-square-foot commercial building that Nordstrom is developing, with around 5,000 square feet of the remainder to be shared by two as-yet-to-be-determined business tenants.
The building should be ready by early next year, and there is room for a second, 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot commercial building on the same 2.3-acre lot at some point in the future.
Nordstrom, who graduated from dental school in 2005, explored the possibility of practising in Rimbey — and Red Deer — before settling on Wainwright. But Central Alberta remained in his mind.
“My wife (Angela Nordstrom, nee Sachs) is from the Rimbey area,” he pointed out, adding that Angela works as a dental hygienist at his clinic.
“Now that we’ve been successful, we’re expanding our business to Rimbey, which is a part of the country we’d like to be in anyways.”
Nordstrom, who has a second dentist at his Wainwright clinic, plans to work in both communities. Rimbey already has a dentist, but he thinks there’s ample business for both.
“Rimbey has a drawing area of over 12,000 people,” said Nordstrom, speculating that many of these residents currently travel elsewhere for dental care.
“The more professional services you can keep in a town, the people stay there.”
His father Bryan is a dentist in Nordstom’s hometown of Viking, and two brothers are also dentists.
One, Patrick Nordstrom, operates Nordstrom Family Dental in Stettler.
Evergreen Estates consists of about 57 acres and includes commercial, industrial and residential property.
In addition to the Nordstrom Dental building, NAPA Auto Parts and Midwest Propane have developed there, and Rimbey Co-op has purchased a site for a proposed cardlock gas bar.
Seven of 12 estate lots in the subdivision, each of which are an acre in size, have been sold, said developer Carey Anderson.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com