It’s been a long road back to normal for the team at Hart in Peterborough’s north end, but Store Manager Stephanie Davey and District Manager Nicole Brown say the wait has been worth it.
After six months of active renovations and roughly 10 months of adjusting to a changing store, Hart is celebrating its grand reopening with more room to explore, including the return of its furniture and mattress section, a fresh selection of Christmas merchandise and plenty of reasons to stop by over the next 10 days.
“We were open the whole time,” Brown says. “Rain or shine, whatever hiccups we had to go through, we made sure that we could still service our customers.”
The renovations meant Hart had to downsize by approximately 10,000 square feet to make room for its new neighbours at Pickleplex Social Club. While that created some challenges, the team worked around construction and continued serving customers throughout the process.
Now, they’re looking forward to welcoming people back to see the changes.
“We’re finally happy to have everyone coming back in and seeing everything that we have to offer,” Brown says.
That includes home decor, bedding, bath products, home essentials, kitchen items, toys, fashion and more, along with the newly reintroduced furniture and mattress section.
Brown describes Hart as a home-oriented department store, with a variety of products shoppers might expect to find at larger retailers, while offering something a little different, too.
“There’s always a hidden gem or a surprise that you can come by and see at Hart,” she says.
A Grand Reopening With Plenty of Ways to Save
The grand reopening runs for 10 days, through Sunday, November 8th, giving shoppers two full weekends to take advantage of promotions.
Brown says the store wanted to make the celebration worthwhile for customers, with daily specials on top of its regular flyer offers, contests and free daily giveaways.
Visitors can enter a ballot for a chance to win a $100 gift card. There is no purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be contacted by phone the following morning to learn what they have won.
For shoppers making a purchase during the first weekend, there is another opportunity to save: customers can draw a number at the cash to find out how much they will receive off their purchase, with discounts of up to 50%.
The timing also gives shoppers a chance to get an early start on the holiday season. Hart is introducing its Christmas selection in its flyer for the grand reopening, with one of the daily specials offering an extra 30% off Christmas merchandise.
With Halloween arriving this weekend and Christmas decorations already appearing in stores, it’s an opportunity to browse for seasonal finds while taking advantage of the reopening promotions.
A Familiar Team Ready to Welcome Customers Back
For Davey, one of the most rewarding parts of the renovation has been seeing the reaction from regular customers as the store has gradually come together.
“We are definitely lucky with the amount of incredible loyal customers that we do have,” she says. “We enjoy seeing all of them. Some of them we’re on a first-name basis with.”
Those familiar faces have been part of the experience throughout the construction, with customers stopping in to see the progress and share their reactions.
“People would come in and say, ‘Oh my gosh, so much has changed. You guys have come so much further,’” Davey says. “It’s been really wonderful getting that feedback on the fly as well.”
The store also received help from team members at Hart’s Cobourg and Scarborough locations during the renovation, with as many as 13 to 15 people working at the Peterborough location at a time during the busiest stretches.
Davey says the team’s customer service remains one of the things shoppers can count on, alongside the displays and welcoming atmosphere staff work to create.
“We have really incredible minds working on displays all the time and just really making it kind of a family-oriented place,” she says.
The store is also happy to be part of the Portage Place community, working alongside its neighbours and looking forward to future cross-promotions.
“We have our own little community up here on the North End,” Brown says. “So everyone in Peterborough is welcome to come.”
As part of the community effort, donation bins have also been set up at Hart for anyone who would like to drop off items for Kawartha Food Share while visiting the store.
With the renovations behind them and the grand reopening underway, the Hart team is ready to show shoppers what has changed, what has returned and what unexpected finds might be waiting on the shelves.
