Eight months after the local grocery store was destroyed by fire, Walker’s Independent Grocer in Salisbury will reopen.
“It’s an amazing turnaround in eight months and a bit, what the Loblaw Group was able to do. Your Independent Grocer Group and the builders pulled this off in that short a timeframe, even through the winter, it’s amazing,” Co-owner James Walker expressed.
James and Willow Walker own the Walker’s Independent Grocer on Main Street in Salisbury. They had just taken over six days before the fire broke out in September 2025.
“I still remember the morning when we got up and got the call from the assistant store manager for us to come quickly, because the store was on fire. And I remember saying, ‘Well, was the fire department called?’ I remember driving up, and the smoke was rolling from miles away before we even actually reached the store. I remember my wife saying, ‘It’s not going to be good, is it?’ and I responded, ‘No, not at all,” James explained.
They both had several words to describe how they’re feeling the day before the store reopens.
“Pure excitement and angst, nervous, happy, and emotional, all at the same time,” they expressed.
Over the past eight months, the community, local businesses and Loblaw have come together to help those who didn’t have the means to get their groceries. They helped deliver or transport Salisbury residents to stores located outside the town.
“A lot of folks that live here, it’s a huge travel distance. It’s a 20 to 25-minute drive. Most of the folks shop in this smaller, convenient style store, where it’s only a 10,000 square foot footprint, but when they went to Moncton, they had to shop in a large corporate store that could be up to 100,000 square feet,” James said.
Willow told us that residents have been coming into the store all week, thinking the store was already open. “They’re all very excited.”
All of the staff, except three, will be employed at Walker’s Independent Grocer again. James and Willow said one retired and two others found other full-time jobs. They’ll have a total of 45 people working there.
The store will open at 8 am on Friday, May 15.
“I really just want to say a huge shout out to the Independent Grocer group for looking after my family and the Salisbury colleagues and making sure everybody’s been well looked after over this huge ordeal. It’s unbelievable the support we’ve received,” James noted.
