AIRDRIE, Alberta, Canada—The Waypoint Convenience Store chain has taken “shop local” to a new level with its “Localicious” initiative, Airdrie Today reports. The program, put in place to help local producers during the coronavirus pandemic, allocates part of each store’s shelf space to local snacks and drinks.

“We know [our stores] were embedded in the neighborhoods and the communities that we live and work in,” said Paul King, consumer marketing manager for Waypoint Convenience. “It definitely seemed logical for us to focus Waypoint Convenience’s differentiating points around being local and being more neighborly. Part of that is bringing in local and regional products from the regions and neighborhoods that we work in.”

With its rebranding in 2019 to Waypoint, the company began the Localicious program. Local products on Alberta Waypoint stores include Twigz Pretzels and rök Glacier Water. “We try to give these guys a chance to get on the shelf,” King told Airdrie Today. “A lot of these local producers are just starting out, and you’ve got to give them space and a chance to go, and some of them have bigger followings than we do. It’s a good partnership to have.”

Troy Kamphuis-Finnigan, CEO and president of rök Glacier Water, said the economic impact of COVID-19 has driven even more consumers to be aware of where the products they’re buying originate. “It’s becoming less attractive for people to blindly send money overseas to companies that are not really environmentally responsible,” he said. “It's good for the economy as a whole. Dollars that stay local tend to support local.”

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