Slow road to recovery: Elliot Lake businesses band together to rebuild.

AuthorKelly, Lindsay
PositionNEWS

Exploring the aisles of The Algoma Store is like wandering into a department store of days gone by.

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Stocked with suspenders, paintbrushes, contact lenses, shoes, spatulas and everything in between, the shelves offer up anything an Elliot Lake resident could need for the home.

Local, one-stop shopping is the concept behind the store. Opened by pharmacist Andrew Bennett last November following the partial roof collapse at the Algo Centre Mall, it serves as an antidote to the exodus of shoppers who have spent their money out of town since the mall was deemed derelict and demolished, said Adam Amyotte, the store's manager.

Amyotte, who lost his job at The Bargain Shop! when the mall closed, had a clear mandate when doing the hiring: everybody who got hired on had to have been affected by the mall collapse.

"Unfortunately, Andrew couldn't give all 450-some people back their jobs, but he was able to give 10 people back their jobs," Amyotte said. "Everybody he hired was local, so we dealt with local contractors, and we even have some local suppliers we deal with that make local products. The whole core value was to build that wealth in the community"

Amyotte was working the day the roof collapsed, and was acquainted with Doloris Perizzolo, 74, and Lucie Aylwin, 37, the two women who died that day. His wife, son and stepdaughter were on the way to visit him at work when the tragedy occurred.

His truck was trapped on the roof, as well, but he said that was the least of his worries.

"I walked out of that building that day" he said. "It really opened up my eyes."

Now his focus is on bolstering the local retail sector-60 per cent of which was lost when the mall roof collapsed--by stemming out-of-town shopping. He finds it disappointing to see residents driving to Espanola, Sault Ste. Marie or Sudbury to spend their money when they could be supporting the local economy.

"We need Elliot Lake to be successful so we can stay here," he said. "It just gets frustrating when people don't understand the impact" that shopping elsewhere has on the community.

To combat that outflowing of resources, the Elliot Lake & District Chamber of Commerce has embarked on a unique shop-local program offering residents incentives to keep their money at home. The local newspaper features weekly profiles highlighting local businesses, and there's a coupon section promoting deals at various retailers in the city.

Todd Stencill, the chamber's general...

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