The familiar faces of the owners of the Millarville general store have decided to move on after operating the store for 23 years.
The Millarville general store has been sold to a new family who will take their place in running the store.
Mike Patterson and his wife Leslie bought the store from the Kinsman family when they moved to Millarville from Calgary in 1992 with three young children.
At the time, Patterson had just been laid off from his engineering job in the oil business.
“Having been at the mercy of an employer, I wanted to try my hand at being my own employer,” he said.
Over the years Patterson has added amenities to the store like postal and banking services and a liquor sales.
After 23 years Patterson says that it just felt like it was time to move on.
“Our kids moved on and now it’s time for us to do the same,” he said.
The store isn’t going anywhere though.
The new owners, Hamid and Mazima Nausingani and their son-in-law Irfanali Moledina as well as his wife, Naureen, took over for the Patterson’s April 1.
The Nausingani’s have had over 10 years of retail experience in India and New Zealand and, after moving to Canada around five years ago, are ready to start running the general store, they say.
“It’s a fantastic lifestyle we’ve found in Millarville,” said Moledina.
Not much will change under their ownership, he added.
“We want to keep it how Mike and Leslie have been operating,” he said.
Moledina says that they’re looking forward to joining the community and meeting them.
Lorretta Stabler has been living in Millarville for 33 years and is a regular at the general store.
Stabler has known the Patterson’s for 23 years and taught two of their children. She described the store as a meeting place for the hamlet, where the Patterson’s and their store would be the center of the community.
“I was very happy Mike and Leslie were able to sell it,” she said.
With all the different services available at the store, residents of the hamlet would come for their mail, groceries, banking and other needs.
“It gives you that community feel to it,” she said.
Patterson now plans to take some time off after he’s settled in their new home in Okotoks but says that Millarville was a wonderful place to raise a family and remains a great place to live.
Stabler says that it’s sad to see them leave Millarville but is happy that they’ve found success.
“Hopefully they’ll still come to community events here,” she said.
