WATERVILLE: When A Depanneur Becomes The Sole Food Supplier For 2000 People!

One would expect that on hearing the news, she reacted as if she had won the lottery, giving tons of high-fives and running away to the next auto dealer to buy a luxury car.

But not at all.

On the contrary.

When she learned of the sudden and unexpected closure of her only competitor in Waterville, a charming village in the Eastern Township region, south of the city of Sherbrooke and east of Lake Massawippi, Erin Smith, owner of Dépanneur Waterville, immediately realized that she was in trouble.

Indeed, her depanneur became de facto the sole food supplier of a community of 2,000 souls. The nearest competitors are now as far away as … 5 km minimum (either in the village of Compton or North Hatley).

The thing is: Erin operates a convenience store that accommodates, not a grocery store that feeds! That’s a big difference.

It happened Sunday, August 27th.

“A blank page with the words “Store closed, thank you”, was posted on Monday afternoon on Marché Morin’s main entrance door in Waterville, and the consternation was palpable throughout the village. Customers were still coming in and out from the commercial parking lot, on Monday, 24 hours after the store closure. Many customers stopped to double check if the doors of the grocery store were really locked. ” – La Tribune, August 28, 2017

The effect was immediate, instantaneous, powerful.

“The first week, we saw a lot of new faces come into the store, people we had never seen before and who seemed a little lost,” she recalls.

Erin’s first priority has been to contact her suppliers and make new arrangements to increase deliveries and product selection.

Operation “maximum stocking”

Erin’s priority is twofold: she must, on the one hand, increase the volume of deliveries of existing products that are sold now much faster than before, and on the other hand, add new categories of products allowing customers to prepare meals at home.

Her food supplier is Metro, which supplies the store from its warehouse in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. For gasoline, she sells Petro-T (Harnois Groupe pétrolier). She therefore sits down with them and quickly agrees on new delivery schedules and volume.

As for fresh fruits and vegetables, Dépanneur Waterville had already some: it was therefore key to increase the section, selection and the quantity offered. Same thing for meat, where the store does not hold fresh but processed meat.

It was important also to introduce new product categories like spices, a greater variety of dairy products and more, more, more grocery products.

“From the beginning, we had to work very hard to meet the demand. I went from 17-20 crates of food deliveries a week to about 60. Only for eggs, I went from 10-12 dozens to 2 crates a week! “, she says.

Fortunately, all of this happened after she had completed her depanneur’s expansion phase.

The brilliant success of a young woman who started from scratch

Born in Waterville, Erin Smith recalls that in her youth, the place was swarmed with businesses.

“Here in Waterville, we used to have two grocery stores, a convenience store and a butcher shop that were all really busy,” she recalls.

At a young age, she embarked on the proximity retailing trade. With almost no equity to start with, she managed to buy the little but well-known Dépanneur Mado, a very small store located on Compton Street East.

It’s a tiny store, with just enough space for basic commodities, but it’s perfect: Erin can start building her equity and with energy and determination, she doubles sales in just two years.

Having established her foundation, she arrived to a point where the lack of space became a limitation, plus the fact that the place was rented.

Erin then makes a masterful move by negotiating a five-year gradual purchase agreement with the Rouillard Garage, strategically located in the village and selling gasoline.

During these five years, she shares the building with the garage operator after which, as planned, she completes a full acquisition including the gas pumps, allowing her to step on to a new level.

Therefore, over the past few years, Erin has been the proud owner of a large depanneur with gas, plus a canteen that she added, offering meals to go!

And then, suddenly, she becomes the sole food supplier of the whole village!

The incredible fall of Marché Morin

The sudden, surprising and unexpected closure of her main competitor should serve as a cautionary tale to all c-store operators in remote areas.

Marché Morin (OMNI banner, owned by Sobeys Quebec) has always been part of the Waterville landscape. It was located on Principale South Street, in the heart of the village.

The owner then decided to move his premises to a brand new $ 5 M commercial location nearby, all with a new building, Sonic gas pumps, larger surface and more.

The thing is: why getting in debt to acquire a bigger store when the demand will most likely remain the same?

So that a little more than a year after the opening, the heavily indebted owner realized that he can no longer support his monthly payments and entered into a bankruptcy. It’s the end … abrupt and unexpected!

Consolidation makes winners and losers

So Erin is now working twice as hard to satisfy the customers who, them too, have been caught off guard.

“I have 23 employees right now – I’ve only hired two more – but I’ve been doing a lot more hours for the past two months … I’m exhausted,” she says. The last few months have been really crazy, as she says.

And what about sales?

“Everything has gone up a lot,” she says. “But the most complicated thing was getting new categories in like spices (50 skus more), milk (10 skus more) and beer (3 skus more)”.

Erin can’t predict what will come next since a new grocery store could very well reopen: many concerned people in the locality are taking steps in this direction. That’s why she is reluctant to hire more.

She also looks for alternatives in case this is going to last: “I’m in discussion with a butcher and I’m going to bring in a new freezer to offer more frozen foods,” she says.

And as to her current depanneur, the necessity of life has positioned it in some new bizarre category, something like a convenience grocery, a grocerypanneur or a dépanmarket.

True, we’re often told “Help yourself and heaven will help you”. This could not apply better to Erin Smith who whatever happens, is reaping the outcome of years of effort, discipline and brillant moves!

For the record, Dépanneur Waterville was ranked 82nd among the Top 100 most liked depanneurs in Quebec ranking unveiled by DepQuébec at the beginning of the week!