Igloolik Co-op reopens two years after fire gutted old store

After a fire in January 2021 reduced Igloolik’s Co-op store to rubble, a new, much larger store had its soft opening Monday.

“It’s bigger and brighter than the old store,” said Duane Wilson, an Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. vice-president.

The new two-storey building is larger and will have spaces for in-house employee training, a new warehouse, offices and a bank.

“Co-ops are trying to satisfy [everyone’s] need for food, but they’ve also got tools, and they’ve also got clothing, and they’ve also got footwear, and they’ve also got electronics, and they’ve also got appliances, and they’ve also got furniture, and they’ve also got musical instruments,” Wilson said.

One photo Igloolik Co-op provided of the new store shows several guitars displayed on a high shelf.

Wilson was quick to note that a Co-op is more than just a building.

“A Co-op is an association of people, there is no new Co-op” in Igloolik. “It is still the same association of people as it has been for over 50 years,” he said.

A fire rages at the Igloolik Co-op in January 2021. (File photo)

An official opening is expected to be held sometime early in the new year, but stakeholders wanted to open this “excellent community asset that you don’t want to under-utilize,” Wilson said.

The early opening will also allow them to work out any kinks in systems, while everything is brought online.

Wilson couldn’t say what the final cost was for the new building, but it was a multimillion-dollar project borne by insurance, with the remainder made up from existing “accumulated equity and debt financing,” he said.

Wilson notes the new bank as a particularly important addition. Operated by the First Nations Bank of Canada, it will offer services in Inuktitut, he said.

After the fire, the Co-op had to adapt. It converted an existing convenience store into a micro-grocery, moved general merchandise to an underutilized church space and assigned its administration staff to a hotel its operates.

“[This is what] being an association of people, not a store, not a building” means, he said. “The Co-op was able to pay a very meaningful amount of patronage [dividends] to members despite operating out of a micro-grocery store.”

The Co-op paid out $1,434,866 in patronage dividends over the last fiscal year, according to district supervisor Todd McNaughton.

The fire, initially deemed “non-suspicious,” was later declared arson and two youths were charged in connection with the blaze.

The grocery store is open now from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.