‘It’s a problem: Residents of Bowden struggle with loss of grocery store

Residents of Bowden have been left to cope with the loss of their grocery store, and it has been a tough time for seniors and those with mobility concerns.

Residents of the small Alberta town of Bowden are left to cope with the loss of their grocery store.

“Bowden has taken a really hard hit,” said Mayor Robb Stuart.

“We’ve got 1,200 people here and no grocery store. It’s a problem,” said resident Wayne Baldock.

The Reddi Mart gas station and grocery store operated in downtown Bowden for decades.

Since closing at the end of January, residents need to travel to get groceries.

The nearest town is about a 15-minute highway drive away.

While it isn’t a big deal for people who work out of town, it’s tough for others, including seniors and people with mobility concerns.

“Sucks, I’ve got to drive to Olds to get everything I need. It’s very expensive driving back and forth. It’s about a 40-kilometre drive there and back,” said Dean Anderson, a Bowden resident for 35 years.

“I’m vision-impaired, and I can’t see properly to drive. Yeah, it’s very difficult.” said resident Wendy Thompson.

The building is owned by fuel distributor Parkland Corporation.

It had listed the site for sale and did not renew the lease of the tenant who operated the store.

Parkland said it could not find another buyer and decided to close down the site but didn’t explain why.

Residents say it was a community hub for adults and kids during their school lunch breaks and employed eight part-time workers.

“It’s sad,” said Baldock.

Bowden’s mayor says since Parkland’s refinery shut down years ago, many residents now work in other towns, which has impacted efforts to attract another grocery provider.

“Two or three people have approached us, and we’ve said we’d do anything we could to help them, and then they did the market analysis and said it would be too much of an investment on the return they would get,” said Stuart.

“For a while now, it’s been more of a bedroom community, like people work in Calgary or wherever, and they’re here through the weekend.”

He says many people are relying on the kindness of strangers, but some residents are still hopeful that another grocery store will open.

“I hope that some way, somehow, that it can happen,” said Thompson.

“My neighbours are wonderful, but I hate to take advantage of people because it’s not just groceries. There’s other things I need to ask people for in my situation.”

Residents say it’s also difficult since the town has no public transit.

The mayor says they used to have a weekly shuttle, but the service was ended years ago because it was underused.