Market still seeking relocation
Photo: Luc Rempel
Brad DeMille says there’s still a “long way to go” for plans to relocate iconic Salmon Arm business DeMille’s Farm Market.
After more than 50 years in business providing Shuswap residents and summer visitors with farm fresh produce, DeMille is working on an ambitious plan to relocate to the Northyards Apple Orchard he purchased last year at 3181 11 Ave. NE.
“When we started last year, we had challenges in that we knew that we didn’t have a future in our current location,” DeMille said. “Our 20-year lease was up, and we were having a difficult time negotiating anything longer than even 10 years.”
He said that’s when Northyards came up for sale.
“The opportunity that we’ve had up there has been a remarkable opportunity,” he said.
The City of Salmon Arm agreed to submit an Agricultural Land Commission application for non-farm use on behalf of DeMille’s. If approved, this application would allow for the construction of a new building with 12,000 square feet of commercial retail space, as well as a new 40,000 square foot parking lot located at the top of the property closer to the highway.
The city also agreed to use language “strongly recommending” the application to the ALC based on the importance of DeMille’s as a business in the history and present day of Salmon Arm.
“My hope is the council’s strong recommendation … hopefully that says something,” DeMille said. “We feel that our relationship with the ALC is very solid.”
Despite this optimistic outlook, DeMille said he is also planning for a future where this application could be turned down.
“The ALC is not an automatic and so … we’re confident in it, but we can’t be overconfident,” he said. “Because they could say no.”
He said his goal is to secure a future for the business. He needed to find a piece of land “not only for my future, but my young management team.”
“It’s not just my generation, but the next group of kids and young people that can keep the DeMille’s brand moving,” he said. “Not just for 10 years, but for another 50 years and long beyond me. I have a collection of the coolest people that make that place tick, and they’re probably about as crazy as me.”
If the ALC application is approved, DeMille’s still has a lot of work ahead to construct a new storefront location, which would include a huge cooler to accommodate its growing wholesale produce business.
“We started importing oranges about three, four years ago on my own licence,” he said. “We expanded that licence to include not only B.C. Coast, BC Hot House, Oppenheimer Group, Windset Farms, Village Farms, all coming out like cucumbers, tomatoes, little tomatoes, lettuces from Canada, greenhouse grown, all that stuff we’re doing.”
He added they have also travelled to Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington to bring in trucks of fresh produce.
“We’ve done almost 150 trucks in a year and three months from the United States, bringing us up what we can’t get in Canada,” he said. “That’s important to remember … because we don’t grow celery, we don’t grow oranges.”
Plans for the new building
DeMille’s vision for the new building is unique, involving nearly triple the retail floor space of the existing business. He is looking to create a space where shoppers can pick produce straight off of the pallet it was brought in on.
“You’re going to walk into, like, an arena-style setting,” he said. His plan would be to have the main store area cooled to around four degrees celsius, “like Costco,” he added. “But they blow air on you, and I don’t like that.”
His plan involves adding cold air from vents near the floor allowing for colder air to stay near the floor and up to about four feet.
“You walk around, your head’s above the the cold,” DeMille said. “And then after you leave produce, then you get into the warmer parts of the deli, the meat shop, the candy store, the ice cream parlour, the frozen section and all your local stuff.”
This chilly new concept will allow DeMille’s to stock whole skids of produce on the main floor of the shopping area.
“You’re shopping between skids of blueberries and strawberries and all this stuff, it’s going to be like a kid in a produce candy store,” he said. “And we think that’s very efficient in the use of labour.”
Northyards Cider Company will continue operations on the property as DeMille’s has an agreement to provide it with apples from the orchard.
And fans of the petting zoo at DeMille’s have nothing to worry about, as DeMille said if the relocation plan goes ahead, he will be bringing all of the animals up the hill to the new location.
The property also has two existing walking trails, and DeMille said he would like to add a dog park area to the property as well.
“I think that dogs are neglected or overlooked when it comes to visitors because you don’t want them on your property,” he said. “I think we should be able to designate a small portion of the property to have a dog park … as long as they pick up the feces.”
Despite dreaming big, DeMille said there is still a long way to go if he wants to make those plans a reality.
“I think we have a really good opportunity to do a really cool job up there,” he said. “There’s three big steps: city, ALC, banking. We still have all three of those steps to do yet.
“When I wake up in the morning, some days, I don’t know if I have the energy for this. It’s a long way to go still.”
A zoning bylaw amendment for the relocation is scheduled for a public hearing on April 14.
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