The long-shuttered former Pino’s grocery store on Trunk Road is currently being gutted in preparation for its first new tenant in more than a decade.
The former Pino’s Get Fresh store has been vacant since the new store was opened in 2009 on the site of a former gas station. In the years since the former location has been used for storage, but will soon be the new home of Ideal Drug Mart, currently located at 1416 Wellington St. E.
“It’s going to be brand new, Mr. Pino is doing a brand new build for us,” said Joe Greco Jr., one of the partners of the ownership group that owns four IDA pharmacies in the Sault. “The whole outside is going to look totally different, it’s going to match the building next door, so it will look just like his grocery store.”
Currently, the exterior walls of the former grocery store are being dismantled and the site is fenced off for demolition.
Greco said the new store will be at a better location for customers, who will be able to get their prescriptions and groceries in the same trip.
When complete, the new pharmacy will take up about 8,000 square feet of the totally renovated building, about 1,000 more square feet than its current location, said Greco.
The new pharmacy will also incorporate another Sweet Greetings gift and decor store, which will be the fourth in the Sault. Currently, there is one in the Queenstown Drug Mart downtown, one in the Wellington Square IDA and another in the IDA at the Market Mall in the city’s west end.
Greco said a number of new part-time and full-time positions will be available as part of the expansion to the new store.
Pino is seeking a second tenant for the building, said Greco.
“It’s available and I am sure Mr. Pino would be eager to get a tenant in there,” he said.
A call to Ben Pino for comment was not immediately returned.
Greco said the Ideal Drug Mart name will be retired and a contest will be held to rename the new store.
“If we select their name the winner is going to win $1,000 cash,” said Greco.
Details for the contest will be available on the Instagram and Facebook page for the store