One great store in Morinville

By Grant Cree

Despite the pandemic challenges, the Morinville Home Hardware and Bumper to Bumper store continue to support local non-profit organizations and sports teams. The family-owned business is also hoping to sponsor this year’s Show ‘n Shine.

“Once the Town [Council] nails down a festival date, we usually do the Show ‘n Shine on the same day. That’s a big opportunity for us to raise some money and give back to the community,” said Moe Chevalier, owner/operator of the retail stores that were first established in the 1940s.

Home Hardware and Bumper to Bumper support groups like the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation, the Morinville Jets hockey team, and various donation requests. “It’s important to us to give back when we can, and we can’t wait to get back out there and raise money like we used to,” said Chevalier, who played with the Jets in his youth.

He took over the family business in 2000 and shares the same concerns as his customers. “I’ve never seen this type of inflation in more than 20 years. We’re seeing price increases as I’ve never seen before in such a short period,” said Chevalier.

“There’s always price increases of 1% or 2% here and there, but this is almost a straight across increase. We’re going to see a lot of price increases in 2022, and I think it’s going to affect all of my stores,” said Chevalier, who noted price increases will affect anything that must be shipped anywhere.

“You probably already noticed the price of a lot of things has gone up in other industries like food. And it’s going to affect our industry, so it’s concerning,” he said.

Another retail concern is supply chain issues. Although the Home Hardware and Bumper to Bumper stores are well stocked, few items are in rare supply.

For example, ABS plumbing pipe is commonly found in residential buildings. “It’s a very common item, and we’ve been waiting over six months. Things like that used to be easy to find,” said Chevalier. He is scrambling to find another supplier because their supply chain has been hit hard.

Chevalier is grateful to the community for doing business at his stores hosted by friendly employees despite those challenges. “I can’t emphasize enough how impressed I was with my staff,” he said, referring to the days when COVID-19

disrupted everything in 2020.

The store staff was kept busy helping customers suddenly motivated to tackle a few home-based projects. “It was just like a light switch went off. It went from incredibly slow for about a month to full out for the rest of the year,” said Chevalier, adding that people needed supplies for home renovations.

His staff continues to help visitors looking for hardware needs or auto parts. The store offers home delivery to customers in the Morinville trading area who cannot or prefer not to leave their homes. The inventory of hardware items and vehicle parts is on their website at www.onegreatstore.ca