Bergland's only grocery store reopened Friday

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Bergland area residents will be happy to hear that their local grocery store has been reopened!
The store closed briefly last week when Karen Sepers lease ran out on Aug. 31st. A month earlier the community met to talk about ways of saving the store. At that time Krista Rencher of Bergland said she and her family looked at taking it over in September, but the owners of the building did not want to lease it out any more.
“But then about two weeks ago everything changed. They changed their mind about leasing and we started working towards taking over. It was a nervous and exciting time for me!” said Rencher.
She has been busy doing all kinds of paperwork and still has big stack to work through. However, last Friday she reopened the store with some stock and gasoline for sale. Over the next few weeks she expects to be fully stocked. “This week we hope to have a little bit of everything and about three weeks be fully stocked.”
Part of the problem is she had to reapply to all the wholesalers for credit and then hit the trucks when they come through town. That process is going well and last week some of the deliveries arrived.
“We plan to offer a full selection of groceries, meat and produce,” said Rencher. She has kept Mary Anne Milne on as a employee. Milne who has worked there for 22 years will be cutting meat and has served invaluable to Krista in learning the ropes.
“I have only a little bit of business experience and none in retail. I even had to learn the till,” she said Saturday. She has worked in a family catering business and most recently her and her father Leonard ran a landscaping business.
However, in August her dad announced his intention to retire. “It was like it was meant to be for me taking over the store. I was losing my job but wanted to stay in Bergland,” said Rencher. She firmly believes every time one door closes another opens.
Rencher also gave former operator Karen Sepers kudos for helping with the transition. “Karen has helped me a lot.”
Her retired dad is her partner in the business and her nephew Shane Rencher will also be working at the store part time. She hopes that if things get busy enough that she will be able to hire part time workers as well.
For now she is busy learning the ropes and hopes to have a grand opening in October. She has changed the name of the store to “The Bergland Store.” It is operating the same hours as Sepers had, seven days a week. “As winter comes we may reduce the hours, but for now we will keep them the same.”