From now on, Co-op outlets in Prince Albert, La Ronge, Air Ronge, Big River, Birch Hills, Canwood, Debden, Domremy, Kinistino, Marcelin, Paddockwood, Shellbrook, Smeaton and Wakaw will now identify themselves as “Lake Country Co-op”.
Spokesperson Cara Stelmaschuk says the new name will help members remember the communities where they can use their Co-op number.
Stelmaschuk says, in the past, travelling members have not always realized when they were in Co-op outlets where they could earn equity.
“The story we hear the most is that they’ll go into certain locations and the person at the till will ask if they have a Prince Albert Co-op number,” she says. “And the member will look a little bit confused and say something like: ‘But I’m in Birch Hills.’ So with this we think you walk in, you’re asked: ‘Do you have your Lake Country Co-op number?’ and it will just be another reminder that the association serves many, many communities.”
She also says the new name better represents the region the Prince Albert-based Co-op serves, as most of the retail outlets aren’t too far away from a lake.
Lake Country Co-op has been known as the Prince Albert Co-op since its creation in 1940.
It has approximately 630 employees and an active membership of nearly 34,000.