Cranberry Rose, located at 316 Main St. North, has been a part of Moose Jaw’s shopping scene for over 20 years — and hopefully for another 20 more with its new owner, Christine Keck.
Current owner Liz Craigen is set to retire at the end of April, now that she’s found someone to take over her business, and is feeling nostalgic about the change.
“This has been, I think, the best location on Main Street. The corner of Main and Fairford is the busiest intersection along Main Street,” said Craigen. “It's going to be different, not being here every day. I'm going to miss the place, but I am ready to retire.”
Craigen sold Cranberry Rose to Keck, who has moved from Calgary to Moose Jaw for her venture into the retail business and will be shadowing Craigen for the remainder of April until she formally takes over at the end of the month.
Keck said she had been looking to get into retail for some time, as well as looking to move back to Saskatchewan. She thought this was a great fit for her and her husband.
“I saw Cranberry Rose online and we went to check it out in January. I met Liz and everything and kind of fell in love with the store,” said Keck. “We were just looking for a smaller centre [in Saskatchewan] and Moose Jaw just seems like such a great city, and we have some family there, close by.”
Keck made the decision to buy Cranberry Rose in February and has been preparing for her new entrepreneurial role since.
“[Christine] has already gone to a market and we've met her there, and she loved it and loved going to market. So she's done a few markets on her own now,” said Craigen. “And you know, she'll have her own ideas, so I'm excited to see the changes and help her through the transition.”
“It's all been happening very, very quickly, but I'm looking forward to it for sure,” said Keck. “Liz has been super awesome through this whole process. It's great having her and kind of getting an opportunity to learn a little bit from her before I step into it.”
The future of Cranberry Rose doesn’t seem to have any turbulence on the horizon, as Keck appreciates the work Craigen has already done to build her business — although she does want to put her own flair into it as well.
“I don't want to change it too much. I think [Liz] has a really great thing going on there and she's been in business for 25 years, so I don't want to just come in and bulldoze or anything,” said Keck. “But, yeah, definitely I have some plans to put my own spin on things, in the near future for sure.”
Cranberry Rose will be hosting a joint retirement and welcome event for Craigen and Keck on April 26, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the store, featuring cupcakes, cranberry punch — naturally — and a chance to meet the new owner and celebrate Craigen’s accomplishments.
