Customers of a national farm goods store are trying to figure out whether they will have to start looking for a new place to shop.
Peavey Mart, headquartered in Red Deer, Alta, had previously announced the closure of locations in Ontario and Nova Scotia as part of what it referred to in a news release as an “organizational restructuring.”
It said closing some of its stores will help optimize its retail footprint by reallocating resources to markets with stronger performance while addressing underperforming locations.
However, that post has since disappeared from its website and individual store managers in other parts of the country have shared information indicating that they, too, will be shut down, leading to speculation that the entire retail chain could be going under.
Searches for “Peavey Mart closing” are trending across Canada, according to Google’s online dashboard and local Facebook and Reddit groups in Western Canada are full of discussion and speculation about the store’s future, though additional closures have not been officially confirmed.
CBC News has contacted the company for clarification but has not heard back.
WATCH | A corporate history of Peavey Mart:
The company, which markets itself as a “farm and ranch” retailer, traces its history back to 1967 when it was known as National Farmway. Its first retail location was in Dawson Creek, B.C., and over the decades, it spread across the country.
Though it was briefly owned by the Peavey Company of Minneapolis, it returned to Canadian ownership in 1984 and, it says it is “100 per cent Canadian-owned and operated.”
Fans of the chain say it provides a service for people in rural communities not found in other big box retailers by selling goods such as farm equipment and horse feed.
“It was a place you could go and readily get some stuff you need quickly,” Crispin Colvin, an area director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, told CBC News last week after the announcement of closures in that province.
“They’re really a handy store. It’s unfortunate because now people will have to drive farther to get things, which adds to the cost.”
Colvin said while online retailing has changed the farm supply market, he and many other farmers like to see merchandise in person before they buy.
“Whether it’s a bag of feed or whatever, I prefer to go in and have a look to see what the options are,” he said. “Online gives you a picture, but there’s a lot to be said for going into the store and seeing the product.”