A village in southern New Brunswick is getting its grocery store back thanks to the efforts of an entrepreneur who relocated to the community from Moncton.
Byron Gourley, the owner of Gateway Market Inc., told Huddle he plans to open in Hillsborough, at 2842 Main Street, on the last weekend of May.
Gateway Market will be located in the former Hillsborough Freshmart.
Freshmart closed in 2019, leaving the community with no local grocery store.
“It’s convenient for something closer to home, and because of this, the mayor of Hillsborough has invited me to be on the economic development team for Hillsborough,” Gourley said.
He said the community hype is growing and is happy to see the overwhelmingly positive response.
Gourley, an artist and economic development officer with Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation, moved to Hillsborough two-and-a-half years ago. He was looking for a new home in Moncton but couldn’t find one for what he thought was a reasonable price.
Gourley’s search brought him and his husband Chuck LeBlanc to Hillsborough, where they found the ideal house–one that almost seemed too good to be true, Gourley said.
“I was like, ‘I’m sold,’ I didn’t care about what it needed, I just fell in love with the property.”
In a strange twist, Gourley and LeBlanc ended up selling their former home to the owner of the Hillsborough home they bought.
A month after moving in and starting a series of renovations, Covid-19 struck.
“Luckily, Chuck works for Armour Transport, so our jobs were essential services, so they didn’t stop,” said Gourley, who said he pivoted to remote work.
But, settling in after restrictions were mandated in 2020, Gourley said he became conscious of the local need for a grocery store.
“There was no place to get groceries in Hillsborough. The previous grocery store owner, Henry Stafford, was leasing space for the Freshmart,” he said.
It was after talking to Stafford, who left the business for personal reasons and saw no local interest in succession, that Gourley saw an opportunity to take up where the former grocer left off.
“With my background, I could see a niche here and a need for this,” he said. “Marketing is my background, so I did surveys and asked the public ‘is this something you need?’”
In order to make the venture financially viable, Gourley knew he had to buy the building, so he tracked down the former owner of the property, made an offer, and eventually bought it.
After a series of renovations, Gourley has given the entire complex a facelift, renovating the grocery store space for his own business, the garage at the back of the building, and several offices that he’s renting out as commercial properties.
The complex, which sits on about three acres of land in downtown Hillsborough, is also home to a pair of two-bedroom apartments on the second floor.
“We now have three new businesses in the complex, along with our store, as well as the Hillsborough Service Centre garage in the back,” he said.
Gourley made a deal with Sobeys, which will supply groceries to his business as long as nine percent of the groceries he sells are Compliments-brand.
He said the Stellarton, N.S.-based grocer went “above and beyond,” providing shelving, refrigeration, and other equipment to get the business rolling. That helped him save on the budget to equip the 8,000-square-foot space that will house his grocery store.
“We were able to save on a big chunk of our budget because of Sobeys,” he said.
Gourley noted the revenue from his renters is helping him cover his mortgage and property taxes, making it easier to get Gateway Market going.
“I knew the building was vacant, and that nobody was doing anything with it. Usually, when that happens, nobody wants to pay taxes on it, so they want to get rid of it fast.”
In addition to bringing a grocery store back to the community 20 kilometres south of Riverview, Gourley will also bring the equipment and recipes from the recently-closed Baking Stone.
Gourley has agreed to purchase the equipment from Baking Stone owner Vera Bochar and plans to transplant everything from its 21-year home in the City Market in Saint John to Hillsborough later this month.
The bakery will occupy 1,500 square feet, sharing space with the refrigerators, freezers, walk-in coolers, a butcher, and delicatessen.
“It’s still in operation but we’re packing it up and shipping the business up here. I even got Vera’s recipes,” said Gourley.
Gourley said anyone walking into Gateway Market will know they’re in Albert County, with uniforms and decorations in-store to be festooned in Albert County’s red-checker tartan.
“Of course, you might be mixed up in the fall, when you see all the red plaid everywhere.”
Sam Macdonald is a reporter for Huddle in Moncton, an Acadia Broadcasting partner.