Tommy and Lefebvre president Kevin Pidgeon says construction of the new building is well on its way.
If all goes according to plan, Tommy and Lefebvre sporting goods store will be getting a late Christmas gift.
The flagship location at 464 Bank St. is schedule to re-open in late January or early February after burning down in a fire earlier this year.
Prior to those unfortunate developments, the store had been in that location for more than 30 years.
Anticipation is building for the re-opening.
“Bank Street being the main store, I knew there was going to be something very very special,” says Mathieu Patry, a former employee at the Bank Street location and current manager at the Lancaster Road warehouse.
“Knowing that the new store is going to be as good as they say it is, I [am] quite excited.”
The construction, which will cost in excess of $3 million, is going to create a more contemporary, efficient store for customers.
“It will be similar to what we had but obviously more modern,” says Tommy and Lefebvre president Kevin Pidgeon.
“Our old building was comprised of three separate and distinct buildings, this will be one foundation, one building.”
While no official cause of the fire was ever determined, Pidgeon says he was told with old buildings such as that, this is a common occurrence.
“[The fire marshal] showed me, we had four external walls,” he says.
“He told me ‘you know what that is? An oven.' ’”
After the initial shock, the company immediately began the long process of re-building the store, while simultaneously converting the warehouse on Lancaster Road to a new retail centre and setting up a satellite store further south on Bank Street in the Glebe.
Pidgeon says the scramble was taxing for staff and managers.
“Getting our building permit was a little more time-consuming than we had originally anticipated,” he says.
“We got our foundation permit first, then the superstructure permit in October. The application was rendered back in July, so we thought it would be a 60-day process, it ended up being over 90 days, so that put us back a bit.”
However, he credits a light workload in the construction industry as one of the main reasons why the building is going up quickly.
“The structural steel, for instance, came in two weeks ago and it’s all already up,” Pidgeon explains.
“That can be a four-to-six-week process in a lot of instances.”
While the rebuild proceeds on Bank Street, the rest of the company, including sales, remains relatively unaffected, he says, thanks to great support from the community.
“Some people came and gave us flowers,” says Patry, who will be returning to his former post at the Bank Street location.
“Some people came in and just bought a shirt saying ‘we’re going to support you through this adventure.’”
Pidgeon says the store’s personnel deserve much credit for ensuring the business hasn’t missed a beat.
“It hasn’t been an easy road for the staff, but it’s certainly something that’s made us all closer.”
Owner Natalie Tommy agrees that community support has been amazing and that it has driven the need to return business to Bank Street.
“There’s a lot of family history, not even in the building, but in the ski community for us,” she says.
“There’s so many touch points with everything. It’s a place where skiers and snowboarders can come together and be completely accepted in the way that they love winter.”