Brantford Costco news: Opening date, job fair, deals

Some said it would never happen.

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Even today, there are those who say they won’t believe it until they walk inside the open doors and lay their hands on a rotisserie chicken.

But a senior source at Costco Canada confirmed Wednesday that its newest big box venue at the Lynden Park Mall will host a grand opening on Nov. 8.

“We’re going to open that day at 6:30 am and can’t wait for people to come in and shop,” said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified.

And, he outlined some not-so-secret deals.

Costco has been sending a vanguard of people into the community to visit other businesses and talk up the membership trailer, now on the site of the new build. Those who get a new membership now will have extended it a couple of months, as if they purchased it during the actual opening of the store.

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For two weeks in November, the Brantford store will feature exclusive deals to celebrate the new facility.

About 300 people will be working at the new store, and Costco calculates about 180 to 200 of them will be local to Brantford.

A job fair will be held Sept. 18 and 19 at the Lynden Park Mall where Costco has rented space, and the store is looking for full- and part-time workers, including some very specialized ones such as an audiologist, pharmacist and optician.

“But we also need people in merchandising, fresh foods, and as cashiers,” said the Costco source.

“And we’re looking for people with career aspirations because 99 per cent of our development is from within.”

While most hires begin as part time, he said most people get a chance to go full time within the first year. The stores, he added, generally have about 50 percent of workers in full-time roles.

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The store itself will be 150,000 square feet and include a full gas station and services for glasses, hearing aids and prescriptions.

“We’re a leader in retail, so we’re looking for high-level, service-oriented people,” said the source.

The arrival of a Costco in Brantford has been discussed for more than 20 years.

While some urged city council to woo the business two decades ago, others said it was unnecessary and would kill small businesses here.

The current and previous mayors and councils have long been pestered with questions about why the city hadn’t built a Costco yet, as if they could control the retail giant.

In 2015, Brantford was finally on a list of potential sites for Costco.

A Toronto-area developer that did work scouting and prepping properties for Costco bought a plot on Morton Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Parkway, and a plan was confirmed by the city in 2016 that Costco would build there.

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There were traffic studies and negotiations with the Ministry of Transportation over a parking lot that would extend toward Highway 403 and, over the next two years, the plan stalled over high-traffic concerns.

In 2018, people began suggesting putting Costco at the Lynden Park Mall, where Sears had recently closed its large store, and council pushed to speed up the much-talked about Costco project.

There were lots more discussions with the Transportation Ministry, which finally backed the mall project four years ago, demanding changes to the area roads.

But wait.

Site plans had to be revised and re-revised and then major infrastructure work had to be done to service the property between the existing mall and highway, and widen the roads into the mall.

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Finally, despite repeated refusals from Costco Canada to confirm the project, the city issued a building permit on the last day of March 2023 for a $33.5-million project at the mall confirmed to be Costco.

Interestingly, Costco continued to say it wouldn’t make any official announcement until a location was posted on its website list of “coming soon” locations, but Brantford’s store — now erected and with lights shining from the doors at night — still hasn’t made the list.

The “Coming Soon” Costco signs went up at the end of May 2024 and foundation work began.

This week, Mayor Kevin Davis posted a photo of himself and the new store’s manager, Justin Peckitt, at city hall. Peckitt is moving from managing a London Costco to launch the Brantford one.

Before the Costco job fair, which is expected to attract hundreds of hopeful applicants, the Community Employment Service in Brantford is holding a specific Costco application session for people who might need assistance in completing an online application. That’s a drop-in from 1:30-4 pm on Sept. 5 at 1100 Clarence St. S., Suite 102.

Over the last month, the outer “box” work of a big box store was finished, a parking lot outlined and lit, gas tanks sunk and, finally, on Nov. 8, people should be able to have a rotisserie chicken in their hands.

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@EXPSGamble

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