Mill Bay Thrifty Foods Re-Opens
Jun 08, 2012
(News Release) VICTORIA — Mill Bay store manager Mike Murphy and Cowichan Valley regional district area director Mike Walker officially reopened Thrifty Foods' Mill Bay location following four months of extensive in-store renovations, including an array of green building upgrades.
“After 29 years of working in and managing our Mill Bay location, Mike Murphy, alongside his dedicated and talented team, are celebrating the grand reopening of a new and improved Thrifty Foods,” says Thrifty Foods president Jim Dores. “With its customer-focused design and significant energy efficiency improvements, we are proud to offer our customers the best in fresh and some of the greenest aisles in the business.”
Murphy moved to the Cowichan Valley in 1983. Both of his children, along with his wife, Deb, have worked at the Thrifty Foods Mill Bay store at various times over the years.
“Since the day the store opened back in 1983, we have had an exceptional community here — both customers and staff,” says Murphy. “As store manager, I am so impressed with how everyone has shown their support through the entire renovation process.”
A Power Smart partner, Thrifty Foods renovated the 27,000 square foot store to be substantially more efficient, with 715,000 kilowatt hours per year in estimated energy savings — the equivalent of powering 65 homes for a year. Thrifty Foods Mill Bay has also been updated to include state-of-the-art lighting, ventilation and refrigeration systems. These elements, combined with a full heat reclaim loop to warm the store’s air and water from the excess heat of the refrigeration units, will contribute 25 per cent less to global warming than a conventional grocery store.
Mill Bay is the latest in a series of new and renovated stores in the Thrifty Foods banner, including recent improvements to the Thrifty Foods Duncan location, Central Saanich – currently also under renovation – and the Crown Isle location in Courtenay, which is expected to open this fall.
Thrifty Foods was founded in 1977 in Victoria. Today, Thrifty Foods, a banner of Sobeys Inc., has a total of 27 retail grocery stores across the Lower Mainland and throughout Vancouver Island.