Only a few days after announcing they would be closing at the end of February, the owners of The Great Haliburton Feed Company have made alternative plans with a local businessman.

 

“Because of the [media] articles and people talking about it, someone came into the store and said, ‘Listen, why don’t you call him? I think there’s been a change in his plans,’” recalled Maureen Adams, co-owner of the business, in an interview. She phoned the man, Glenn Evans, and he quickly called back with some good news.

 

“He said, ‘yes, definitely’ he’ll rent it to us,” said Adams, who operates the business with her partner, Charles McAleaney.

 

Evans is the owner of Cedar Winds Design-Build. Last July, he took possession of a property at 37 Mallard Rd. in Haliburton. It was previously home to Contractors Rental Supply. He originally planned to relocate his business from Highland Street there.

 

“We since have decided to expand at the main street location,” said Evans. “We still had this building [on Mallard Road], but it was more than what we needed for our purposes.”

 

Evans has offered the feed company a five-year lease, which is expected to commence March 1. They will occupy the single-storey section of the building, which is 1,000 sq. ft. Evans will continue to use the two-storey section as a storage and staging area. “I certainly do feel for their situation, and decided this was something we could help them with,” he said.

 

The property is next door to their current location at The Beer Store plaza. Adams and McAleaney have been leasing the space from Jerry Walker since their original location on Industrial Park Road burned down. The temporary arrangement is coming to an end now that another business (yet to be named) will be moving into Walker’s space. Adams is grateful for the community’s outpouring of support and Evans’ offer of a solution.