Consumers in Altona have another option for shopping local. The Great Canadian Dollar Store is now open for business in the Altona Mall.

Owen Reimer is part of the franchise ownership group that has opened 5 locations across the region in just 15 months. Additional storefronts can be found in Morden, Portage la Prairie, Niverville and Steinbach.

Reimer says an Altona store had been on the group's radar for a while when one of the mall's owners, Jake Rempel, notified them of an opportunity to seize some available space.

"We took a look at it, and it fit our model of community size and the store size that we wanted to put in," said Reimer.

In fact, the Altona store is the biggest that the group has opened to-date, registering an expansive 10,000 square feet.

"It lets us showcase what we all have," noted Reimer. "If we're too small it's really hard to bring in enough product for people to stay local. This enables the community not to have to drive as far for some day-to-day items that they'd like to shop for."

He added the store offers "a lot of everything" ranging from stationary, household goods, cleaning items and a good supply of candy and confections, to name a few. Reimer notes customers will also find a good selection of name-brand stuffed animals and quality toys.

"We try to have some decent quality items, not things that break right away or throw-away items, but things that you can hang on to for a long time and that kids and other people enjoy receiving as gifts or buying for themselves."

One unique item that Reimer says a lot of people don't often associate with dollar/discount-type stores is their 'inspirational aisle' filled with uplifting books and Bibles.

But perhaps what The Great Canadian Dollar Store is best known for is its party section, with a wide selection of decorations, gifts and balloons.

"If you think the balloon might exist, we have it," said Reimer. "We do helium balloons, we do balloon bouquets...we also do balloons that you can fill with items, kind of gift balloons, so you can put things inside of balloon-like stuffed animals and other items."

Jared Barnabe, president of the Altona and District Chamber of Commerce, says people have told him that the store, which has only been open for a week, is an excellent addition to the community.

"They come here, and they see these are all the things they were always trying to find before and they'd have to go other places to find it. Now they can come here and get a good deal on it."

He adds it's good to see a big store come into town and that the owners have confidence in the community.

"Retail has been a struggle pretty much everywhere, so seeing that they have the confidence to start a new store in Altona and our mall shows a lot of confidence in Altona and that the retail sector is still alive."