Giant Tiger in Shawville has a New Manager
He’d been expecting the call for a month, but he was still surprised when the phone rang. He was driving along the TransCanada heading back to his home in Kirkland Lake when he got the news. Within minutes, he pulled over to the side of the road and dialed his wife’s cell. “We got it!” he told her. “We are moving to Shawville.” It was June.
One week later, Brandyn Gauthier stood at the door to Giant Tiger, shook Ken Pack’s hand, and was ushered into his new store. The transition was seamless, switching from one store to the next. Moving a wife, four kids and two cats 500 kms to a new province has proven to be a bit more challenging.
Leaving his hometown and family had been in the cards for a while. Brandyn was ready to manage a larger store. He admired Ken Pack and his long years of service to the company. When Pack announced his retirement, Brandyn immediately applied for the store. Shawville offered a lot of positives for the young family. For his wife, Marie-Eve, it was closer to her Mom and Dad in Longueuil.
“It was hard to move away from family and friends, but this was the next logical step for me,” said Brandyn. “For such a young man, he has already had a long career with Giant Tiger. He has grown up in the store, starting as a part-time clerk in his teens. After high school, he studied Business Management at Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology. After graduation, he dabbled in banking, but it was not long before headed back to Giant Tiger, taking his first management job in his hometown of Kirkland Lake.
Kirkland Lake has a population of nearly 8,000 — yet has one of the smallest stores in Canada with only 13 employees. It is a mining town. The Shawville store has 38 employees and boasts some of the highest annual sales for grocery items in the country.
“I have lived in small towns all my life,” said Brandyn. “but no two are the same. It’s my job to get to know each community and the people who shop in the store. After five months, Brandyn has settled into his new role and credits the great staff for the smooth transition. “The people here are awesome,” he says. “They made all the difference.” Brandyn was thrilled by the warm welcome he received from the customers. He appreciated all of the well wishes from the shoppers that stopped him in the store to introduce themselves or just to say hello. “The local people are amazing in this town and very friendly,” he said. He was also surprised at how the store supported the local producers. He had never seen such a wide selection of locally-produced products in any other store in the system. He said, “I plan to try every one of them.”
The product testing will have to wait until January though. For now, the new manager is very busy stocking the shelves with toys, gifts, holiday decorations, and great food. He says, “I am so grateful for the warm welcome. I look forward to making this town my home and serving this community for many years to come.”
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