Thompson, Man., bracing for economic impact as Sears store set to close

The owner of the Sears outlet in Thompson, Man. says people in the north will have to travel much farther to buy household appliances once the store shuts down next week.

Hekuran Vlahna says he has no plans to open a similar retail store any time soon, given the dim economic outlook in the northern city, which is bracing for the impact of hundreds of layoffs in the mining sector.

Sears Canada announced earlier this year it is closing down all its stores across the country. The closing of the Thompson store will mean five people will lose their jobs, but the impact will be felt throughout the community, Vlahna said in an interview with CBC's Radio Noon.

The news has hit his customers hard. "They've been coming in and saying they're sorry to hear that this is closing and asking if I'm actually bringing another franchise in to basically replace the services that we used to offer, but at the time right now it's just too hard to even think of doing anything," he said.

Mining giant Vale announced in May that it is closing its Birchtree mine in Thompson by the fall. It will also shut down its smelting and refinery operation in mid-2018.

"There's a lot of uncertainty in the location right now," Vlahna said.

After Sears closes, he expects people will need to travel to Winnipeg, 800 kilometres to the south, to do their shopping.

In May, an internal document sent to Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen predicted northern Manitoba could lose up to 1,500 over the next two to three years.

Raj Thethy, president of the Thompson Chamber of Commerce, says he understands Vlahna's reluctance to open another store in the city.

"He's right. If I were in his situation, I'd sort of hold off to putting in a big investment until I know what is happening," he said.

Thethy expects the mining layoffs could lead to thousands of people moving away from the city of about 13,000.

"It's going to start in December and we're not sure how long that's going to be. But I'm thinking by the end of 2018 we'll have a good idea of how many people stay in the community," he said.

In order to mitigate the impact of the layoffs, the city, province and federal government have set up a taskforce called Thompson 2020.

The taskforce is meant to help retrain laid off mine employees and try to find ways of keeping retired mine employees in the community.

"The outlook is not bright because we know there are layoffs and that's a fact. There are going to be layoffs. So what happens after the layoffs is a wait and see game," Thethy.

Vlahna will turn his focus towards his construction business, which he says is doing well. In the meantime, he still owns the building that housed the Sears store, and says one day he might open something new in that location.

"I'm planning to stay in Thompson, so hopefully things get better here and we can do something," he said.

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