Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

As reported earlier, renovations to the downtown mall in Slave Lake have (mostly) to do with two new tenants setting up shop there. One is Dollarama and the other is Pet Valu. As of last week, the Dollarama site is finished on the outside; what’s left now – according to mall owner Matt Stokes – is for the tenant to fix up the internal space and open for business.

“I think within a month,” says Stokes.

Pet Valu will take a bit longer. It will occupy about half of the space formerly used by Wonderland, Stokes says. Wonderland will be smaller but will use the reduced space more efficiently, he thinks. In addition, what used to be the entrance hallway area will be turned into “the Wonderland café.”

Pet Valu will have its own external entrance, Stokes continues. In fact the mall’s main entrance is moving over to that same area, which is where all the work has been focused for the past couple of weeks. Landscaping is part of it. Stokes says there’ll be a completely new look there, which will include signs and new concrete.

Final question: what about the renos to the former liquor store unit (in the same building as Mary Brown’s and the Medicine Shoppe)? Stokes says a cannabis retailer had been planning to rent that space but has backed out.

“I don’t think cannabis is doing so well in Canada,” he says. “And especially not in Alberta.”

The owners hope to rent the space to someone else, so decided while they have their reno crew on hand they might as well “freshen it up.”