Colin Fraser never expected his family-owned store would win any kind of award.
The local owner of OK Tire, along with his wife, Lisa, has won the national Ok Tire Store of the Year award, beating out over 300 stores nationwide.
The P.A. store is also the first prairie store to win at a national level.
Fraser found out he was shortlisted for an award in December, but he didn’t think he would win – especially not against the top-tier stores from some of the nation’s largest cities.
“There’s five regions across the country, and four stores from each region are nominated for regional and national store of the year,” he explained.
“I thought okay, maybe we have a chance at the regional store. When it passed Saskatchewan I said, ‘ awww shoot.’ It was a great honour to be nominated. We were humbled and proud just to get the nomination.”
That disappointment turned into shock when the national winner was announced.
“When they announced our name, my wife cried, my kids cried, it was pretty emotional,” Fraser said.
“But it was cool. It was probably one of the best things that I’ve experienced in my life, that’s for sure.”
The award is given based on customer service and a community focus.
For more on this story, please see the March 2 edition of the Daily Herald.
