A customer leaves the Home Building Centre on Main Street. The store has announced it will be closing its Osoyoos location. (Richard McGuire photo)
A glimmer of hope remains to try and keep Osoyoos’ only home building centre open and save 16 full-time jobs in the process.
Paul McCann, the owner of the Home Building Centre on Main Street in Osoyoos, confirmed that he informed his staff last week that the store would be closing effective the end of November.
However, after talking to Town of Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff on Monday, McCann has agreed to meet next week in Osoyoos with McKortoff and senior administration from the town, Mark Pendergraft, the chair of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) and Mat Hassen, chair of the board with the Osoyoos Museum Society.
The Town of Osoyoos owns the land where the Osoyoos Home Building Centre is located, while the RDOS owns the building.
McCann has been leasing the property and building for several years.
The building will be the new home of the Osoyoos Museum and Archives and is scheduled to be turned over to the Osoyoos Museum Society board effective Oct. 1, 2016.
Back in 2010, management from Home Hardware Building Centre’s head office in Ontario purchased several acres of land adjacent to the Osoyoos Airport and had planned on building a large new home for the Osoyoos Home Building Centre.
However, current economic realities have resulted in head office being unwilling to commit to spending several million dollars to construct a new building, said McCann.
McCann made it very clear during an interview with the Osoyoos Times on Monday that he “does not want to close the store in Osoyoos” and never has, as it remains a profitable business.
However, he “had no choice” but to inform his staff about closing the store and believed the end of November was the best time as the store traditionally slows down significantly during the winter months, said McCann.
He has never owned the land or building where the current business operates and has always leased the property since he became owner many years ago, said McCann.
When he was informed there would be no further extensions of the current lease past the fall of 2016, McCann said he looked at all his options and closing the store in Osoyoos became the only option that made sense.
“I was informed we had to leave,” he said. “I was told I had to get out … I was left no choice but to close the store.”
Seven of the full-time employees currently employed at the Osoyoos Home Building Centre were offered full-time positions at his store in Penticton and they all accepted, said McCann.
Several more will be offered jobs depending on staffing levels and the profitability of the store in Penticton after November, he said.
McCann said he would be amenable to meeting with town and RDOS management and members of the Osoyoos Museum board to see if a temporary solution can be found to keep the current location open longer.
“I would hope that all parties will be able to come together and find a win-win solution,” he said.
McCann owns the Pro Builders store in Penticton as well as Home Hardware Building Centre locations in Kelowna and a new store in Canmore, Alta.
McCann remains convinced that this community needs and will continue to support a profitable full-service home building centre.
“I’m convinced Osoyoos is a great community with great people and great customers and it needs a lumber store,” he said. “Unfortunately, the timing isn’t right and the economic realities aren’t right to build up at the airport … and I’ve been told I have to leave here very soon.”
McCann said the Osoyoos location remains crowded and located too close to a residential neighbourhood and he’s convinced head office will commit to building the new location if the regional economy continues to prosper and grow.
“In the long term, we need to be on Hwy. 3 at the airport,” he said. “But I have to deal with today’s world and that world means I have to make decisions.”
It would cost several million dollars to build the new location near the airport and the cost of operating that business will be significantly higher than at the current store in Osoyoos, said McCann.
Senior management from Home Hardware’s real estate branch in Ontario have made it very clear it’s not willing at this time to invest that capital until the local economy improves, said McCann.
Hassen said he was very surprised when informed McCann had told his staff the business would close effective the end of November.
When Home Hardware announced the purchase of the land near the airport almost five years ago, McCann extended the lease for five years until the fall of 2016 and “every single bit of planning we’ve done since then has centred around the museum taking ownership” in October of 2016, said Hassen.
While he’s more than willing to meet with McCann, town and RDOS officials, Hassen doesn’t foresee a scenario where the building won’t be turned over to the museum society board early next fall.
A public referendum was held three years ago for residents of Osoyoos to determine the future of the Osoyoos Museum and the majority of local residents were in favour of supporting the new museum at the Home Hardware Building Centre site, he said.
Many of the provincial and federal grants available to the museum society are only available in a 12 to 18-month window before construction to convert the building to a museum begins, said Hassen.
The current home of the museum continues to deteriorate and nothing can change the fact a new home is needed, said Hassen.
“We’ve been here for 40 years … and the building is simply beyond repair,” he said.
“The town wants us out of here and we really do need a new home.”
There have been “several rumours” circulating around town that the museum is responsible for the premature closure of the Home Hardware Building Centre and potential job losses, but that’s not accurate or fair, said Hassen.
“We had nothing to do with that decision,” he said. “I’ve never met or spoken to Mr. McCann.”
His job as board chair of the museum society is to look at the best interests of the Osoyoos Museum and moving into their new home after several years of planning and raising funds remains at the top of the priority list, he said.
McKortoff said she had a productive discussion with McCann on Monday and is looking forward to meeting with him and all parties next week.
“I told him that a lot of people are in a sweat over this announcement of the store closing and he clearly understood,” she said. “He apologized for creating such an uproar and made it clear he didn’t have any intentions of hurting anyone, but was simply informing his employees about his plans.”
McKortoff remains optimistic a solution can be found to keep the Home Hardware Building Centre operating in Osoyoos beyond November.
“All the parties involved have agreed to sit down and see if we can come up with something,” she said.
Pendergraft is also looking forward to that meeting.
“I would absolutely be willing to sit down, without making any promises, and see what we can come up with,” he said.
There’s no doubt the Osoyoos Museum will be moving into the site currently occupied by the Osoyoos Home Building Centre, but it’s his hope a temporary solution can be found to keep the business running and keep jobs in this community beyond November, said Pendergraft.
Travis Loudon, who has been the store’s manager for five years and worked there for 10 years, said none of the staff were expecting McCann to announce the store would be closing at the end of November.
“We all knew the lease was coming up for the building, but we didn’t expect the end of November,” he said.
McCann has been an excellent owner and is trying to save as many jobs for Osoyoos employees as possible if the store does close in November, said Loudon.
“Almost half of the 16 full-time employees were offered positions in Penticton,” he said. “I was offered a job and I accepted.
“It was nice of Paul to tell us several months in advance so we can plan for the future.”
Loudon confirmed the Osoyoos store is profitable and he is also optimistic a solution can be found to keep the store open in its current location beyond November.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
