The grand opening of the Red Apple, originally The Bargain Store in Rimbey, was held Saturday with lots of fanfare and a good crowd in attendance.
The day of the opening dawned bright and sunny and the weather seemed in keeping with the toe tapping music, the enthusiastic crowd and the excitement that seemed to hover around the Red Apple.
For Red Apple Stores president and CAO Clinton Wolff, the grand opening was especially poignant as he spent several years in Rimbey as a child.
“I started school here,” he said, adding coming to Rimbey is like coming home.
Wolff is the son of the late Albert and Jean Wolff. The family, which included seven children, lived on a farm south of town in the late ’60s and early ’70s. His father was a heavy duty mechanic who worked at the John Deere dealership in town.
For Wolff and his siblings coming home to Rimbey is always a special time.
“Rimbey has a special place in our hearts,” he said, noting that one of the ceiling tiles in the tavern at the Grand Hotel has his parents’ name on it and the siblings all try to get a table so they can sit under that tile when they return to Rimbey.
The water tower also holds significance for him.
“Whenever I see that water tower I feel like I’m coming home,” he said.
Wolff was pleased that his siblings John, Curt and Ardith had joined him at the grand opening of the Red Apple.
Rimbey’s Bargain Shop was the 69th store in the chain to be converted to Red Apple.
Wolff noted the conversion provides customers with a nice, modern shopping experience. He is pleased to be able to incorporate the candy works selection into the Rimbey store.
“Candy is a small treat that you can give each other,” he said. “Our candy shop is as cool as you would find in any city.’
Wolff is pleased to bring Matt Blum in as store manager, noting he is experienced and very excited to be in Rimbey.
The CAO lives in Ontario and is married to Dom. The couple have two adult children, Bradley, 26 and Cassandra, 23.
