Shoppers in Grande Prairie spent more than $4.7 billion dollars in the area last year. That’s according to numbers collected as part of the 2019 Retail Market Analysis.
“Grande Prairie’s retail market is one of resilience and high performance. The City has multiple new and well-established retail nodes that provide a range of formats and opportunities for local, national and international brands to succeed. Grande Prairie is the epitome of what a regional retail hub can and should be,” says Kieron Hunt, President of Key Planning Strategies.
Hunt notes that Grande Prairie benefits from being far enough away from Edmonton and close enough to cities in Northeastern B.C. to provide shopping and services for a much broader area than most urban centers.
Mayor Bill Given says some of that could also be thanks to Canada’s largest Ford Dealership opening in Trader Ridge and Canada’s largest single-storey Canadian Tire opening in Westgate.
“Grande Prairie has seen immense retail growth with the development of new areas like Trader Ridge and Westgate. We appreciate the challenges and risks that come with visionary, large-scale development and recognize the commitment to our community from developers to make our City a retail hub.”
The study was done from December 2018 to April 2019 in order to help the city see what could be done to keep current businesses and attract new ones. The full report can be found here.