After landing a Home Hardware store, the owner of the Altona Mall says there's more to come.

The national hardware store set up shop in the mall late last month, which mall owner Jake Rempel calls a "big coup" for them. Rempel, who heads up Remco Realty in Winnipeg, says bringing in a national name like Home Hardware opens up the possibility for other national stores to locate in the Mall.

"We are talking to a large national chain with the hope of bringing in a Dollar Store, and we are also dealing with a ladies clothing store. So, if we bring those two in, then we are basically full."

There is approximately 12,000 square feet of vacant space remaining in the mall. Rempel points out that when it comes to attracting national chain stores, the wheels of approval move slowly, so it's going to take a little time.

"A lot of these chains, like Dollar Tree and Dollar Store, have gone public and once they go public they need to grow, so they're now going into more smaller communities than they used to. The big cities have become saturated with these stores, so now they're looking at smaller centres like Altona."

Some residents have suggested a Tim Hortons Restaurant would be a sure fire way of drawing people into the mall. Rempel says they've looked into that option as well.

"Tim Hortons did come and have a look, but the problem is they need to have a drive-through option. They sell half of their coffee through the drive-through outlet, and we just can't figure out how to make that happen there, based on the mall's configuration. It just doesn't seem to work."

Nonetheless, Rempel is encouraged by the progress being made at the mall and remains optimistic the building will be full in a short period of time.

"I've kind of made this my own personal project and have focused heavily on it, and it seems to be working. I just love the town, and driving out from Winnipeg one or twice a week is no hardship at all."