Flin Flon Walmart will stay open, despite owners selling property: Walmart Canada

The Flin Flon Walmart property is currently for sale, but don’t worry - company representatives have said the store itself will not be closing.

A screenshot of a listing of the store from commercial real estate website CPIX made its way around area social media circles last week, causing consternation from local shoppers who were unsure if Flin Flon’s biggest retail store would be shutting up shop. Senior staff from Walmart Canada told The Reminder that the store would not be closing.

“We currently have no plans to close our Flin Flon Walmart store. We've been proudly serving the Flin Flon community for more than 20 years, helping them save money and live better,” said Walmart Canada corporate affairs manager Felicia Fefer in a statement to The Reminder.

Fefer said that while the company operates the store, they do not own the building itself - Walmart Canada is listed as a tenant and the building that contains the store is up for sale by its current owners.

“We do not own the site, which the landlord has put up for sale,” Fefer said.

Despite the change in building ownership, Walmart Canada has no plans to close the store - the sale would amount to a purchaser buying the existing store and continuing on its franchise under the Walmart Canada umbrella.

A pair of commercial real estate companies, Winnipeg-based Capital Commercial Real Estate Service and the national retail investment group side of Chicago-based firm Jones Lang LaSalle, have been contracted to conduct a sale - one that would consist of a 100 per cent freehold interest in the site.

The CPIX listing puts the Flin Flon store price at around $6.25 million as of Jan. 23, sitting on just under six and a half acres of land and a gross leasable area (GLA) of just under 5,900 square metres. The store is listed as in “excellent” property condition and is considered as either a net leased investment or investment property use type.

In an investment package prepared by the companies contracted to sell the building, the sellers describe the property as “a proven ‘AAA’ tenant covenant with predictable cash flow” and say that there are more than five years remaining on the Walmart Canada lease for the store, putting a tentative date for the lease running out as May 2028 at the earliest.

The Flin Flon Walmart first opened in 2002 and has been partially renovated since, including being refaced in 2013. The building also contains the Flin Flon McDonald’s restaurant, located in the building’s northwest corner.