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Downtown store taking shape
Tisdale - Wednesday, March 13, 2013
by:Timothy W. Shire

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Work began on the former site of Crawford’s Studio in November of 2012. The new building is a remarkable similar replacement for the old building it replaces that had to be torn down after its roof gave way. As you can see in the image below the front and sides of the building are made using foam forms filled with concrete. This makes for an extremely solid structure and has the added feature of being well insulated.

The back alley wall and the roof are a wood. They are not shown here but are now completed and the whole building is closed in ready for interior finishing. The foam forms were poured on November 20 and the sign proclaiming the nature of the new building was put up on or about November 29.
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There is no question that this project is a positive boost to Tisdale as it demonstrates the continued confidence the Tisdale business community has in the town and its marketplace. Only one other store front in the central business area is now for sale as the school division has closed their alternative programme which was house in a downtown storefront in the building that some years ago was Martin’s.

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With the creation of the medical and related offices complex attached to the hospital at least three offices downtown will be vacated as the doctors, optometrist and dentist offices move to the new facility.

From the sign and the progress of construction it looks like this new pair of businesses should meet their timeline of moving in this spring.

Valle Men’s Wear will be vacating their present location in the Tisdale Mall. The Mall is, like so many malls including the one in Melfort showing some shrinkage, it is still viable with several shops doing nicely and Fields has reorganized and expanded their stock.

One concern at the Tisdale Mall is despite the solid business support from the community of Tisdale and surrounding communities Extra Food seems to be putting little effort into operating their business. It is unknown if this is a management issue or that Loblaw is under capitalizing the Tisdale outlet. The coolers seem to be failing at a remarkably frequent rate and the store is just not stocked adequately. Items advertised in the weekly flyer are often not in stock during the term of the sale and the store does not measure up to the outlets in Nipawin and in Melfort which both seem well stocked and well managed. It is really unfortunate because as mentioned the business at the Tisdale Extra Foods was competitive with Nipawin and Melfort until there was the departure of the last known manager and since then it seems like Loblaw has neglected Tisdale and its outlet.

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