‘It’s the right thing to do’: N.B. village grocery store offering free delivery

A Petitcodiac, N.B., grocer is delivering food to Salisbury seniors after their store burned down.

It was almost 52 years ago when Lloyd Killam started working at the grocery store in Petitcodiac, N.B.

He’s worked at the small community stores in both Petitcodiac and Salisbury during his career.

Although he hasn’t worked in Salisbury for years, Killam was still devastated to hear about the fire at Walker’s Your Independent Grocery.

“It was a shock,” said Killam. “Devastating because I worked at Independent when this store burned in 1986. So, went through it twice I guess. I worked there when this one burned now I work here when that one burned.”

Salisbury’s only grocery store burned to the ground Sunday morning.

No one was hurt, but the community has been left without a vital lifeline, especially for seniors who don’t want to or don’t have the means to travel to Moncton or Riverview.

Now, Killam’s employers at the Foodland Petitcodiac are offering free grocery delivery to Salisbury residents who are unable to travel.

“We are one community,” stated a post on the store’s Facebook page. “When one village suffers a loss, we all feel that loss. Petitcodiac remembers losing their store.”

Killam said they want to help out any way possible.

“Small towns. Everybody knows everybody. We all try to help each other out,” said Killam. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Staff at the Petitcodiac store will take orders from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily over the phone.

After this week, the store will try to keep the service going once a week if possible.

Killam said there have been a lot of people from Salisbury and the surrounding area in the store this week.

Lois Budd travelled from nearby Riverglade, but usually shops at the grocery store in Salisbury.

“That’s our go-to. I had planned on going Sunday before church to pick up milk for our service that day and it was closed, it was burnt. It was gone,” said Budd.

“I’m still in shock.”

The 79-year-old doesn’t want to drive on the highway to Moncton and enjoys the convenience of small-town grocery stores, so Foodland Petitcodiac will be her new go-to for the foreseeable future.

Warming hearts

Hearing about the service provided for seniors who can’t make the roughly 15 to 20 minute drive to Petitcodiac warms her heart.

“I think that’s typical of Petitcodiac. Just like Salisbury helped Petitcodiac when they had their fire. It’s what we communities do, back and forth, the two of us. We share here,” said Budd.

Jeff Thibodeau of Riverglade also popped in to the store in Petitcodiac to get a few items.

“It’s such a big part of the community. Anybody from that area generally shopped there instead of having to go into Moncton,” said Thibodeau. “It’s definitely going to be a big change until, hopefully, they decide to rebuild.”

He thinks the delivery service is a fantastic idea.

“The community has a lot of seniors and getting to and from here was going to be a problem,” said Thibodeau.

Petitcodiac resident Rachel Crandall said she got emotional when she saw the notice from the grocery store on Facebook.

“I was not born when the grocery store burned here, but I’ve heard stories of it and it has transcended my whole life. So, I know that it means a lot to the people in the village to be able to help out the community next door. It’s a big deal to lose your grocery store. I can’t imagine,” said Crandall.

Loblaws is also trying to make sure its customers can get to the store.

The grocery chain is providing a free daily shuttle service from Salisbury to Riverview for customers who can’t make the trip to Petitcodiac or elsewhere.

The shuttle will run for two weeks with daily pickups at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

CTV News reached out to the Fire Marshal’s office on Wednesday for an update on the cause of the fire, but has yet to hear back.

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