Editor's note: This is the final story in our series of articles to mark the 75th anniversary of the Southern Plains Co-op. We congratulate the co-op on their 75th anniversary, and thank them for all they've done for the community.
If any company is going to have success in this day and age, with constant changes and evolutions, then it’s important to adapt with the ever-changing times.
The Southern Plains Co-op has done just that, and it has a bright future accordingly.
“Over the years we’ve been able to adapt,” said general manager Brian Enns. “Seventy-five years is a long time.”
It’s important for the co-op to think about what the customers want, the commodities they will need, how they can engage with their members and where technology will take them.
“One of the things we found during COVID was customers preferred online ordering, and sometimes it would be pickup or delivery, and we were able to provide that for them this past year,” said Enns.
An online map for Federated Co-operatives Limited showed Southern Plains’ Estevan grocery store was the third in the province to offer grocery pickup for customers. Customers can visit a website, select the items they want and then select the time they want to pick up the food, drink and other items.
The response was great at first, Enns said. It has since levelled off, but the demand for online shopping is still steady.
“I wonder if people want to get out of the house a little more as the weather warms up. We’re seeing a little more foot traffic lately,” Enns said.
The co-op also continues to have delivery options, which became very popular at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, people can go online and place their order, and have it delivered for free to their home.
The demand hasn’t slowed down for the free home deliveries.
The co-op is also always looking to add to its fleet of services. It opened liquor stores for the Estevan and Oxbow locations in 2019, and another one is in the works for Carlyle this year.
Improvements are happening within their buildings as well. For example, the co-op installed new flooring at its Estevan grocery store earlier this year.
Some of those improvements will be noticeable for customers, but others will not.
And it continues to move forward with technology, as it has to keep pace with those changes.
“Where else is technology going to take us in the future? I’m not sure,” Enns said.
The co-op has a good board of directors, Enns said, and they are willing to look at all kinds of options as they take that next step into the future.
There are other changes that are happening behind the scenes, and it might be a while before the customers notice them.
It’s important for an organization to look at where they’ve come from, he said, along with what they’ve done and what they can do better, and as the co-op continues to do that, it will help with the future of the company.
