“Retailers don’t understand the scale of the
north,” he said. “They don’t realize that
people will drive a much bigger distance in
the north because there’s just no other
option. It’s not unusual to be at the Costco
here in town and see license plates from the
Northwest Territories, and lots and lots of
B.C. license plates, because we don’t have
the (provincial) sales tax here.
“To people from Toronto, anything north
of Toronto is far north. Then they come up
here and they’re like ‘Wow, I never would
have imagined you’d have this many
amenities and thismany services.’”
Once they are pleasantly surprised by
choices, King said, the surroundings sell
themselves.
“It’s pretty country,” he said. “For most of
the county, you have a good view of the
Rocky Mountains. There’s a blend of
agricultural lands and hills and forests. So
it’s quite a variety of terrain as well, which is
Grande Prairie No. 1
| BusinessWorld-
Magazine
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