Margaret Floch joined the staff at the La Ronge Co-op food store in March 1994. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

milestone

‘One journey leads to another’: Floch retiring from Lake Country Co-op

Jun 10, 2022 | 4:59 PM

After nearly four decades of working at Co-op stores; including 28 years in La Ronge, Margaret Floch has less than two weeks left before retirement.

“I’m certainly going to miss it. It’s mixed emotions for sure that I am retiring, but I feel it is the right time to go and travel and do things,” she said. “It’s the next journey. One journey leads to another.”

Floch began stocking shelves and packing groceries at the local Co-op store in her hometown of Craik, a small farming town between Saskatoon and Regina, when she was in Grade 7. After she graduated high school, she attended college and studied accounting, before returning to the Co-op store in Craik as a full-time employee.

In 1990, she accepted a position as store manager in Kipling and remained there until she relocated to La Ronge in March 1994.

“When I moved to La Ronge, I was in the old store which is on La Ronge Avenue,” Floch said, noting the current Lake Country Co-op store opened in March 2006. “Everything is just so much more modern. The old store was smaller, a lower ceiling, more crowded and it wasn’t even close to the variety we have today. The variety we have in this store is as good or even better than any city store.”

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While the current store has a staff of 76, Floch explained the old location had about a third of the employees. She called opening a new, state-of-the-art food store was a highlight of her career.

The local Co-op food store was located downtown prior to 2006. (Submitted photo/Margaret Floch)

The current Co-op food store in June 2022. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

Floch also mentioned how difficult it is to recruit and retain so many employees, adding the store heavily relies on students during the later store hours and on weekends. As the store team leader, Floch said it’s important to be open minded.

“Every day is going to have a challenge,” she said. “You have a plan, but that plan might not be able to carry you through simply because something might happen you can’t control and you have to make another plan on short notice.”

A memorable event for Floch was the evacuation of the tri-communities due to wildfires in July 2015. She remained in La Ronge as an essential worker and she camped with her husband, Dave, for two weeks in the parking lot of the store. The store was required to provide food and supplies to the military and fire crews who came to La Ronge to battle the flames.

Floch also talked about how the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on staff with additional cleaning and limiting the number of customers. At one point, she noted hours had to be cut due to a COVID outbreak amongst staff.

“Not everybody was sick,” Floch said. “Some of the departments had a lot of people out who were close contacts to people who were sick. We were down to very few employees for several days.”

After Floch moved to La Ronge, she met her husband, Dave, whom she married in 1997. They have two sons together, and throughout the years, she volunteered and participated in curling, slow-pitch, minor baseball and hockey, as well as with the La Ronge Ice Wolves. Floch added Co-ops are all about being involved in the community.

Floch, who will be busy training her replacement, Adam Luciuk, until she officially retires on June 24, is looking forward to doing more of things she could only do on her days off. That includes boating, golfing and snowmobiling.

“We plan to stay in La Ronge. We have no plans of leaving,” Floch said. “We plan to do some travelling as well. We have campers and boats. We plan to see parts of Saskatchewan and other parts of Canada. Travelling and spending time with family is really what we want to be able to do lots of.”

–

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno