Promising 100 construction jobs, another 100 permanent jobs and the sale of local produce and goods, Save-On-Foods ceremoniously broke ground Wednesday afternoon for its planned Whitehorse store.

“We’re here to meet our new neighbours,” Save-On-Foods president Darrell Jones told a small crowd. It was made up of city officials and business leaders on-hand, decked out in bright green Save-On-Foods scarves for the ceremony and press conference.

Behind Jones was a large sign advertising the grocery store’s planned location to be opened in 2017.

Sleek designs showcased the plans for the site – including the 42,000-square-foot grocery store and adjacent 12,000-square-foot wholesale store.

By comparison, the Canadian Tire store, also on the Chilkoot Centre property, is approximately 100,000 square feet.

Jones issued an invitation to community residents to let the company know what they want in the city’s newest grocery store.

“We customize our stores to each community,” he said.

Save-On-Foods wants local products in its store, he said.

Each shop features an area specifically for locally-produced goods, whether that be produce, jams, preserves or other items.

Along with advertising local goods and the usual mix of grocery offerings at competitive prices, the store will feature a variety of “meal solutions,” it was noted.

Save-On-Foods officials also strive to make it “the best place possible to work,” Jones emphasized.

The plans were greeted with applause from the crowd and enthusiasm from Mayor Dan Curtis and Rick Karp, the president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce.

As Curtis commented, he hasn’t been this excited since Northern Vision Development (NVD) purchased the former Canadian Tire store on Fourth Avenue and reopened it as a mall featuring a number of businesses.

In doing so, NVD raised hope in the community, as a former empty building was redeveloped.

In this case, Save-On-Foods will open on a site that has been vacant for a long time.

While it had been announced a number of years ago that Landmark Cinemas would build a new movie theatre on the vacant lot, those plans never came to fruition.

Landmark agreed to end its lease for the land, with Save-On-Foods purchasing the 1.4-hectare site (valued earlier this year at $4.1 million) and the 0.55-hectare site (valued earlier this year at $1.6 million).

Curtis said when he first learned that Save-On-Foods was planning to move to Whitehorse, he thought he was “being punked,” knowing that the grocery store can pretty much be successful wherever officials decide to open.

“They chose us,” Curtis said. Local business competition makes the community stronger and gives consumers choice, he added.

Along with looking forward to shopping at the store, Curtis joked that “after the next election, I may be working there.”

Karp also praised the planned store “as a huge opportunity,” adding it shows Whitehorse is continuing to grow.

After the ceremonial shovels – complete with green ribbons – officially broke ground, Jones was questioned by reporters on why Whitehorse was selected for a store.

“Why not Whitehorse?” he replied.

A community like the Yukon capital is the perfect spot for a new store, given the population of 37,000 Yukoners it can draw from (including residents from communities who come to Whitehorse to shop).

This will mark the third major grocery store in the downtown area, the others being the Real Canadian Superstore and Wykes’ Your Independent Grocer (which both fall under the Loblaws brand).

Jones argued the area could likely support up to four major grocery retailers, given the population.

Other grocery retailers in the city include the Farmer Roberts store, specializing in local and sustainably produced goods, Super A stores in Riverdale and Porter Creek, and Bigway Foods in Granger.

They’re complemented by a number of convenience stores selling some grocery goods and a small food section at the Walmart store.

Save-On-Foods officials have efforts planned to sell local produce.

For goods coming from out of town, Jones said, the grocery store chain just opened a new warehouse in Edmonton, shortening the truck time for produce coming north.

Save-On-Foods has experience getting produce to its shops in northern B.C., including stores in Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, among others, Jones pointed out.

As for the building that formally housed Ricky’s Restaurant on the Save-On-Foods site, Jones said it will be torn down and rebuilt closer to Quartz Road.

Construction of the new grocery and wholesale store is expected to begin in the coming months.

Officials with the grocery store chain also plan to return to Whitehorse this summer to further look into what the community wants in the new venture.

Recruitment for positions at the store will get underway in the fall.