Olds-based Westview Co-op plans to expand further into East Central Alberta by purchasing businesses in three locations in the Hanna and Consort areas.
Specifically, it has tentative plans to obtain Fox Lake Agro and Hanna Building Supplies as well as an ag and building supplies facility in Consort. They will all officially become part of Westview Co-op on Feb. 15 once a conditional agreement is completed.
Hanna is about 170 kilometres west of Olds. Consort is about 140 kilometres northeast of Hanna.
Westview Co-op has served its members and other customers since 1933 and currently has locations in and near Olds, Sundre, Eagle Hill, Carstairs, Drumheller and Linden.
This acquisition builds on Westview Co-op's purchase of Horseshoe Canyon Ag — formerly Tri West Agro Ltd. — last October and a merger with Drumheller Co-op which was ratified in October 2017.
Fox Lake Agro, located near Highway 9 in Hanna, offers customers a dry fertilizer blending plan. It also features bulk bin storage and a warehouse for agricultural chemicals.
Hanna Building Supplies sells home and building supplies for the do-it-yourselfer as well as a suite of services specifically for contractors. This location in Hanna also provides outdoor enthusiasts with hunting and fishing supplies.
As noted above, a facility in Consort offers ag services as well as building supplies.
“It’s important for us to evolve to serve our communities, which are also changing,” Westview Co-op general manager Dennis Laing said in a news release.
“When opportunities come along to expand our offering to Co-op members and guests by building on already respected local businesses, we have to take them.”
This acquisition is part of a trend among co-ops in Western Canada, especially in the ag sector. Since 2017, 11 agriculture sites have been acquired by co-ops in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
