Co-op Cardlock is coming to Westlock
Pembina West Co-op is excited to announce that we have broken ground on a new cardlock fuel location on Hwy 18 in Westlock!
Read more below, and get your cardlock account ready to fuel up when our pumps open this November! Your lifetime membership is only a one-time cost of $10, which buys you a share of the ownership of our co-operative business!
Become a Pembina West Co-op member today!
Complete a credit and cardlock application. | Learn more about what makes Co-op a different kind of business.
Pictured: Director of Operations, Energy & Ag, Garry Poelzer; Petroleum Manager, Mark Henderson; CEO, Holly Lingel; Director of Retail Operations, Doug Hanlan
We look forward to returning the Co-op banner to a community that we served for over 11 years from 1979 to 1992, having recently re-entered the Westlock market with our Tempo gas bar. This will be Pembina West Co-op’s fourth cardlock facility, a part of Western Canada's largest cardlock fuel network with more than 390 Co-op Cardlock locations.
This eleven lane, nine pump state of the art facility will boast our first pay-at-the-pump site, accepting Visa and MasterCard while still serving Co-op Cardlock cardholders both locally and system wide. This will be our first location to dispense premium gasoline, and will offer a fully enclosed all weather DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) dispensing station.
All of this on a spacious 3.7 acre parcel which allows for very easy vehicle access and navigation as well as allowing space for possible future development. The site is located at 11320 100 Street, conveniently located along Highway 18 on the east side of town, next to Rocky Mountain Equipment and across from Tim Hortons.
The Town of Westlock has been very accommodating and great to work with, in particular Danielle Pougher and Simone Wiley, and we thank them for all their cooperation and assistance. As well, we thank Federated Co-op’s West Zone Operations team as well as their Facilities Design & Development team for all their help with this project. We also thank our Board of Directors, for their trust and support in our continued efforts to ensure our Co-op’s growth.
Pembina West Co-op's Directors Walter Preugschas and Ivan Kusal turn the sod on this momentous occasion.
Pictured L to R: Westlock Mayor, Jon Kramer; Pembina West Co-op CEO, Holly Lingel; Pembina West Co-op Directors Walter Preugschas and Ivan Kusal; Town of Westlock representatives Danielle Pougher and Simone Wiley.
We're Excited to Become a Bigger Part of the Westlock Community!
As a member-owned co-operative, our profits stay in our communities. Not only do we share our profits with our members, Pembina West Co-op is deeply invested in local events and programs. We have a variety of sponsorship and donation programs to support community organizations, we host and participate in community events for all ages, and we have our own Co-op Kids Club that hosts some great events and contests for our future Co-op members.
Learn more about our community programs here. and register your kids to join our Co-op Kids Club today!
Our History in Westlock
Excerpt below from our 50th anniversary history book. Photo from our Westlock location in June, 1987 featuring General Manager Gerry St. Pierre.
In 1974 word came via FCL to Co-op general manager Ernie Kulmatyski that the Lindahl store in Westlock was for sale. With that information the manager and some of the board members went to have a look at it. There were some people in the Westlock area that would have liked to see a Co-op store located there, but were unable to get into a venture of this sort by themselves and without assistance.
FCL strongly proposed a branch of Barrhead Co-op be established and that a complete shopping centre be built there.
In the meantime manager Ernie Kulmatyski passed away in 1975, and Barrhead was without a manager for a time until Larry Rupert was hired.
In 1976 a feasibility study was done on the shopping area of Westlock which showed it to be a very viable area of operations.
A number of meetings were held in Westlock and an interim board was set up consisting Louie Paquette and Gilbert Pollard, also a steering committee with the following members: Mike Myziuk, Don Lang, Andy Wynnychuk, Albert Calkins, Sardin Semeniuk, Dorine Scott, Joe Moreau, Lawrence Rimmer, Joe Fuchs, Wally Foid, and Jim Edwards for the Westlock area.
Financing had to be set up and a debenture drive was undertaken with board members from Westlock and Barrhead working in pairs to canvas the Westlock area. With the goal being reached in debenture sales, the next step was that FCL had a private developer that would build the shopping centre and this co-op would rent this facility with an option to purchase. The rental rates were tied to the inflation rates of those years and started at $4.50 per sq.ft.
The Westlock Mall had its grand opening in March of 1979 with a total area of nearly 66,000 sq.ft. The Co-op rented 40,000 sq.ft. of the mall area, Then, in June of 1990, after about 1l years of operation, it was found to be an uneconomical venture with rental rates having nearly doubled at $8.50 per sq.ft., and the high interest rates prime plus two per cent. The board and management saw fit to close this operation.
There was a fair response and loyalty to the Co-op by the Westlock area people, but not quite up to what the feasibility study had suggested. In the late 1970's and the early eighties we were told that if you were not expanding you were standing still and if you were standing still you were actually going backwards.