Canadian specialty outdoor retailer MEC plans to open two new stores in Calgary over the next three years.
Opening first, in fall 2018, a 30,000-square-foot location (21,000 retail) in Seton Urban District, south-east Calgary. Roughly six months later, in 2019, a west Calgary location will open in the Trinity Hills development within the new community of Medicine Hill. MEC stands for “Mountain Equipment Co-op,” which is Canada’s largest retail co-operative.
The new south Calgary and west Calgary stores will complement the Co-op’s existing 10thAvenue store in the Beltline and enable MEC to better serve its 350,000-plus members in the area.
“Since the Co-op first opened in Calgary in 1977, MEC has been an integral part of the outdoor community and literally hundreds of thousands of members’ adventures – close to home, in the mountain parks and beyond,” said MEC CEO David Labistour. “These two new stores, Calgary South and Calgary West, promise to support many more adventures in the future, and be more accessible to members who live in those areas of the city.”
Located at the 365-acre mixed-use Seton development next to Deerfoot Trail and near the new South Health Campus, the south Calgary store will feature a comprehensive assortment of products for camping, climbing, hiking, cycling, running, fitness, yoga, paddle sports and snow sports. Services will include a full-service bike and ski tech shop, as well as equipment rentals and bike fitting stations. Like the main Beltline store, a community room will be available for use by local outdoor clubs.
MEC’s west Calgary location, spanning 27,000-square-feet, will provide members with a similar product and service offering, as well as a community room and extensive event programming. The store will be adjacent to Canada Olympic Park within the Trinity Hills development. It will provide convenient access to more than 17 kilometres of hiking and biking trails within the community and the City of Calgary’s new regional park on Paskapoo Slopes.
“Besides being accessible to more members, Calgary South and Calgary West will serve as hubs for outdoor activity, just as the Beltline store does,” said Jerry McGillivray, MEC’s regional operations manager in Calgary. “We see great synergy between the stores and the outdoor activities that will take place near them.”
Together, MEC’s south and west Calgary stores will provide approximately 160 jobs through a mix of senior staff, full-time, part-time and casual positions.
The new Calgary stores deepen MEC’s recent investments in Alberta, where one in six residents already belongs to the co-op. The retailer expects to open its new South Edmonton Common location in Edmonton this fall and relocate its downtown stores to the Edmonton Brewery District next spring.
MEC has also announced plans to open new stores later this year in Laval, QC and North York, ON.
Established in 1971, MEC is Canada’s largest consumer co-operative with over 4 million members across the country. Last year its sales topped $350 million for the first time, while membership grew by more than 225,000.
