Nipissing First Nation entrepreneurs launch latest venture
By Kelly Anne Smith
NIPISSING FIRST NATION – Two Nipissing First Nation entrepreneurs are excited to offer their latest venture to travellers from local communities and along Highway 17. Punny pickle fun is a planned part of the experience at Pickle’s Pumps.
Across the highway from Duchesnay Falls Trails, Pickle’s Pumps is on Birch Miikan, just off of Highway 17B. The smiling pickle is lighthearted and eye-catching while travelling Highway 17.
Proud owners Douglas Chevrier and Natalie Payette Chevrier have built the new Pickle’s Pumps. Close by in their complex are Niijaansinaanik Child and Family Services, Mukwa Studio, and Golden Harvest. Natalie says inquisitive minds want to know more about the new name.
“We tossed around a bunch of names. Why not Eagle’s Hub or Eagle’s Nest ll? Then, Adam Allard suggested a name, ‘Why not call it Pickle’s Pumps?’ I thought, nah. Pickle’s Pumps? I have to live in the community. They’ll be calling me Miss Pickle Pumps. Adam is part of my management team and I have a lot of respect for that. We threw some more names in the hat and then threw them out, and we started to strategize.”
Months later, Natalie helped create the Pickle’s character and then brought in Karen Jones and her marketing team.
“Instead of doing something more traditional – I’ve done that with all my other places – I said, let’s make it fun for the kids. We played with the character’s look, and I love it. And what do the pickles do? What do we do in the north that’s so different? We started looking at skiing, four-wheeling, and fishing. It’s a reflection of the kids to say, how can we make the character look funny?”
The excitement is to bring them in because there will be a lot of giveaways, says Natalie.
“I want the kids to come in. I want them to say, ‘I want to go to pump 8 because I play hockey, Mom.’ I think that’s going to be the incentive. And then coming in here, it’s going to be a different atmosphere for the kids. I really want to accommodate giving something back to the people. That’s what our focus is.”
There are a couple of ways that Pickle’s Pumps will differentiate from other gas stops, says Douglas Chevrier.
“There’s a couple of ways – services and branding. We kind of discovered that fuels are a very serious industry. There isn’t really anything fun for everybody, so we decided that Pickle’s sounds good and it’s an interesting branding tool. It’s certainly different in the sense that we’re trying to demonstrate a mom-and-pop kind of atmosphere with a higher-end type commercial experience.”
Natalie explains that Pickle’s Pumps will be having a soft opening.
“The soft opening is going to be getting our team and our workers together for getting used to the transition, and then we are going to be getting ready for October 11th, on Thanksgiving weekend, having the people come out to celebrate with us. We have a lot of giveaways. I’ve a hundred of these pins. I want Doug to celebrate. This is one of our last projects. For the next generation, this will create a lot of employment.”
Managing partner Adam Allard says the important thing is having a whole family-type of atmosphere.
“There will be a whole suite of premium beverage dispensers: premium coffee, cappuccinos, lattes. There will be cold brew and an innovative slushy machine. Slushies are good all year round.”
More fun surprises are under wraps until the Pickle’s Pumps Grand Opening Celebration on October 11.