On the evening of August 26, 136 Wallinger Avenue in Kimberley was set ablaze with a fire where the causes are still a mystery. One of the businesses to suffer was Sprout Grocery and it’s Sprout that is the first of the four businesses to re-open.

The official opening date is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19.

“We were the luckiest of the businesses here in terms of damage. Our proximity to the fire and the fire department’s quick work was a success in saving our store. Damage was minimal, but with all of the smoke, we did have to replace our entire inventory and do some extensive housekeeping. We’ve spent the last two and half months cleaning up and taking a very close look at what we’re all about,” said Nicole Leclair-Dodd, Sprout’s owner.

She has viewed the fire as an opportunity rather than a set back.

“I’ve started a few businesses and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. It doesn’t feel so much as a ‘reopening’ as it does an ‘opening’. It wasn’t what I expected to be doing, but I’ve taken it as an omen and am using it as a chance to redefine our offering,” she said.

The store has taken the shopping climate around them into great consideration in their decisions to create the kind of atmosphere you’ll likely want to linger in. In 2012 Canadians spent $18.9 billion shopping online, this is something that the owner has definitely noticed. “When folks are shopping online, we can’t be upset because they aren’t buying from us, we have to stop and ask ‘why?’ and ‘what can we do about it?’” Leclair-Dodd said.

When Leclair-Dodd asked herself and her staff how they could retain their customers they decided that they needed to focus on the experience.

“There are a number of things you just can’t get online, face to face customer service, running into your friend’s at the store, reusing materials you already have like bags or jars and hands on experience in a workshop,” she said, adding it was with this information that she sought fresh ideas. “We didn’t want to do a complete overhaul, there was a lot of stuff that really was working for us and we’ve kept that. We knew we needed to add more of what our customers would like and that’s why we’ve changed our name to Sprout Grocery & Market.”

The new Sprout Grocery & Market has several additions to the store.

Some of these include a bulk culinary and medicinal herbs and spice section with 80 herbs and spices, a bulk soap refill station with personal and household soaps, the smoothie bar will be growing to add a daily hot lunch and elixir menu (they define elixirs as hot drinks made from superfoods like cacao and maca, a healthy alternative to sugary drinks).

You’ll also find more classes on topics like ‘natural weight loss’ and ‘healthy households.’ Eco-friendly household items, gifts and necessities for baby and mom are also available.

“It’s been a lot of work implementing all of our ideas and we’re still working on it, it’s fun and it never gets done,” Leclair-Dodd said.

Customers have asked her if she thinks the building is cursed, as the fire was the second to occur in less than five years.

Leclair-Dodd laughs: “When fires happen in the wild all of the animals flee and the people observing are often scared and sad, but when the fauna starts to grow back the animals come back in numbers that exceed their presence from before, in the end, the forest is always better for having the fire.”

Sprout Grocery & Market is reopening on Wednesday, November 19.

Their new hours of operation are 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

The best way to stay in touch is by signing up for their newsletter, there’s a link to that on the Facebook page ‘Sprout Grocery.’

Or visit their website or call 250-427-5523 to speak to Nicole.

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