With plans for a new store to replace the aging Porter Creek Super A, Sam Jurovich has sold the Riverdale Super A to a lifelong Yukoner and former management employee.

Scott and Erin McCarthy took ownership of the Riverdale location on Aug. 25, while Jurovich retains ownership of the Porter Creek location and the Bigway Foods store in Copper Ridge.

'Between the three stores, I had about 130 employees and I wanted to lessen the load a little bit,' Jurovich said in an interview today.

'I wanted to free up some time because I want to concentrate on the design of our new store in Porter Creek.'

Jurovich said he plans to build the new store next to the old store on a lot he owns.

He will, however, require some space on the old lot, which is owned by his wholesaler, the Grocery People.

The Grocery People and Jurovich will work hand-in-hand to design a development for the remaining portion of the old lot, which is likely to include a mix of residential and commercial space, he said.

Jurovich said there are a couple of reasons to go ahead with a new store now, including the age of the old store, and a desire to prepare for the expected influx of clientele with the upcoming residential development of the Lower Porter Creek Bench.

'The building itself is almost 30 years old and it is not a very efficient building,' he said. 'The operating cost would be significantly higher than in a newly-design building.'

He said the new store will be built with leading technology, in the same way the Bigway store was built, a building that Jurovich said is a national leader in efficiency.

The current Super A is 19,000 square feet, he said, adding the new store will be approximately 20,000 sq. ft. but will feel like 30,000, given new designs and floor plans, and efficiencies of new equipment.

Plans for the new store include an area to serve lunches, he said.

Jurovich said he wants to break ground early next spring. Construction is expected to take eight months, with plans to open in early 2009, he said.

He said the existing Super A will be closed the day the new store opens, and will then be demolished.

Though unwilling to disclose the purchase price of the Riverdale Super A, Jurovich did describe the investment as significant.

Scott McCarthy said this morning from his new store that it was a natural fit for him and his wife.

The 35-year-old Yukoner has been working in the grocery business since 1989 when he was attending F.H. Collins High School.

He acknowledges the $1 million he and his family won in a lottery two years ago helped with the decision, but so too did his years of experience in the business.

'It's an art,' McCarthy said of managing a grocery store.

He managed the Bigway store for Jurovich for a little more than a year when it first opened, until deciding to try his hand at something different for a change. That's when he went to work building cabinets for Cinderwood Kitchens Ltd.

But when opportunity to take ownership of the Riverdale Super A came along, it was one he and his wife did not want to pass up, McCarthy said.

'I like Riverdale,' he said. 'I grew up in Riverdale. Erin grew up in Riverdale and her parents still live there.

'We are looking forward to serving our customers, and we enjoy being part of Riverdale.'