A Liquidation Inc. is on the move again. The store has moved down the street to 139 Mississaga St. E.
Owner Andy Ward and his wife started the store in the former Orillia train station on Front Street. It eventually outgrew the location and its next location at 61 Mississaga St. E.
“It wasn’t a success right off the bat,” Ward said. “It was sustainable at first, but it’s now grown to the point where we can sustain this storefront on the main street.”
Wards, 44, says the store's new location has made it a "big hit" already since opening unofficially last week.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I believe with the cottagers and boaters, this location is going to do really well for us.”
The grand opening of the new location is Saturday (June 3). Ward invites the community to stop in to check out their wide-ranging inventory of goods which changes weekly.
“We have kids' toys, home products, makeup, electronics, and $5 clothing,” he said. “My wife and I want this to be a store where anybody can come in and purchase something.”
Ward, a Twin Lakes Secondary School graduate, says many Orillians are enduring tough financial times right now and he wants his store to give folks a bit of a break.
“We know a lot of people need some help,” he said. “That’s why we want to make sure our prices are lower than anybody else’s.”
The store isn’t intended to make money for Ward, who is the full-time operations manager at Orillia Mazda, nor for his wife, who works for a local school board.
“Our regular jobs feed our families,” he said. “This is to help out the community.”
Whatever products don’t sell at the store, Ward donates to The Lighthouse and local animal shelters. All the products are new and come from a supplier in Toronto.
“A lot of it is overstocked items from Amazon,” Ward explained. “Stuff that isn’t selling for them, they just package it up, and we buy it.”
Ward says eight out of ten customers coming in off the street now didn’t know the business existed before.
“Being between two well-established restaurants in PICNIC and Rustica Pizza Vino has really helped,” he said. “When we were up the block it wasn’t as busy.”
Also attracting people to the store is its partnership with We Fix Mobile which operates out of the new location.
“Rocky Rajan, the owner, has been with us since the train station days,” Ward explained. “He also has a full-time job and does this as more of a hobby, too.”
Ward hopes the business will continue to grow and maybe one day, there will be multiple locations in town.
The business is also open for online shoppers as there is always a 24-hour auction happening, said Ward.
For more information on the store, click here.
