The expected closure of Campobello's main grocery store may not happen after all. The owners had recently announced the store would be closing its doors by the end of March, but an island resident and the owner of three area grocery stores have announced their intention to purchase the Campobello Village Mart. Greg Hooper of St. George and Curtis Malloch, a former MLA from the island, filed on January 21 a letter of intent to purchase the store in Welshpool.
     Malloch says of Hooper, "He knows his stuff when it comes to small grocery stores and small communities." Hooper currently owns three stores -- Uncle Mayn's Convenience in St. George, Hooper's Convenience in Blacks Harbour and Milltown Market in St. Stephen. Malloch adds that Hooper donates to local causes and is "very, very generous" to the communities in which he runs a business. "Greg is a very successful grocer. He's good at turning small stores around and making a profit."
     Hooper says they should know whether they'll be taking over the store within about the next month, so it would not need to close. "We have to work out a few things," he says, noting they are talking with area banks on financing and with both levels of government about bringing product across the border. Under the present requirements, the store owners have to pay a bond of approximately $9,000 a year to take their inventory through the U.S. to Campobello. "We shouldn't have to pay a bond to bring stock to our own country," says Hooper. "It's a big expense." He would like to see the seasonal ferry service to the island extended for another 12 to 16 weeks, which he says would help the store, as it eliminates travel across the border.
     The store would continue to be a franchise of Sobeys, as are Hooper's three existing stores. Sobeys supplies most of the inventory for his stores, but he can purchase from other suppliers.  Hooper says they are planning to carry a wider range of groceries and are considering some type of food service, with perhaps pizzas and chicken. They are also looking at possibly putting in gas pumps, as there is currently no gas station on the island, but he observes, "It's hard to compete with U.S. prices."
     Noting that his stores are all part of a family-owned business, Hooper says, "If we can pay the bills and make a little profit, that's all we're in it for. We look forward to offering a service to the citizens of Campobello."

‘Business has died’
     As for the reasons why they were planning to close, Richard Young, co-owner of the Village Mart with his wife Patricia Bent, says, "Business has died." He notes that the population on the island has dropped substantially, from over 1,000 when they took over the store in 2012 to around 800 today. "The older people have died or are in the nursing home. A lot are gone," he says.      Younger islanders may do all of their shopping while they're in St. Stephen, and he notes that when the bank closed on the island in 2000 "things changed." While the population may increase in the summer up to perhaps 3,000, Young says, "Three or four months doesn't cut it."
     His wife has been in Alberta starting up a bookkeeping business, and Young, who is 60 and has health issues, plans to move out there. "I'm ready to go."
     He adds that "it hasn't been the same" since Co-op Atlantic, with which the Village Mart had a franchise agreement, sold its stores to Sobeys in 2015. Sobeys "inherited a ton of small stores, and that requires a lot of people to service them," Young says.
     Also, prices have increased, and he says that islanders are "used to going to the IGA in Lubec," partly out of habit. "They got used to the American product over the Canadian for the same things," Young says. "Some say we're not competitive on our pricing, but I've got to make a living." He notes that he once bought "a buggyload" of produce at the Atlantic Superstore in St. Stephen and figured that the same amount of goods would only cost $10 more at the Village Mart.
     "They say we don't have anything on the shelves," but he says he had to stop buying some products if they weren't selling and ended up having to be thrown out.
     If the store were to close, islanders would no longer have access to an ATM machine and the liquor sold at the Village Mart, but they can still purchase groceries at the smaller Nikki's Island Convenience and Harbour View Variety. The Village Mart carries meat, produce and groceries and also some goods such as office, cleaning and camping supplies.
     Young says he had been actively trying to sell the business for the past year and a half.

Islanders will have to support store
     Malloch agrees with Young that some islanders shop for their groceries off the island. "They talk about the selection," he says, noting that the stock may have been depleted some in the past. But he adds, "If you stock the store here and people want it here, they have to shop here." Malloch notes that the Village Mart has been trying to keep the store well stocked with fresh produce, but he says, "They can't stock what they're not selling."
     Malloch believes the islanders can support a grocery store so it's not losing money, "but they all need to get on board with it and support the store. There needs to be a new look to get them back through the doors. You have to involve the community and see what they want." He believes having the store owned and operated locally might help.
Noting that he's as guilty as anyone by sometimes shopping in Lubec or St. Stephen, Malloch says,      "We as islanders have to think and have got to look in and picture that as an empty building." He adds, "How many people will say, 'You don't know what you've got till it's gone.'"
     Noting that the former Campobello Co-op, which later became the Village Mart, was "the pride of Campobello" when it opened in 1996, he says not everyone who became a member of the co-op actually was shopping there, because "it didn't work out."
     Malloch also points out that the exchange rate between the U.S. and Canadian dollars is a factor for the store, too. "More will shop there if the discount is high," he notes.
     As for individuals bringing groceries onto the island through customs, Malloch notes that there are limitations on produce such as eggs, chicken or turkey. He relates that he bought two turkeys in Machias for Thanksgiving but then found out he could only bring one onto the island.
     The building houses a few other businesses, including a pharmacy, hairdresser, nail salon and the rural community office, which Malloch says helps with mortgage payments. Young says he holds the mortgage on the building, and the rent from those four groups covers the payments.
     "We've got to try to save what we've got," says Malloch. "I believe you can make that store work. At the end of the day, people on the island are going to have to support it."