By Mike Harris – Special to The Alpine Mountaineer

Returning some grocery service to Crestline customers and deciding on a two-pronged approach to rebuilding Goodwin’s Market were decisions made last week by the Goodwin family’s management and architectural team.

“We are working on setting up an online ordering system for our Crestline area customers, using our smaller Redlands location as the base,” said Mike Johnstone, VP and manager for Goodwin’s Market.

“It will be all online ordering,” he added, “and we may be able to do phone orders as well.”

The plan is for customers to order online at the Goodwin and Son’s Market website, www.goodwinsmarket.com, and have their grocery order delivered the following day.

“We are also looking at getting a bigger van so we can bring more orders up to Crestline,” he explained. “And we will be using our existing fleet of delivery vans to deliver orders to the customer’s home.”

Johnstone said he expects the team should be able to roll that out in about two weeks.

It also means adding more grocery inventory at the Redlands store. “We may be adding some inventory on the mountain as well, but that’s still in the works,” he added.

Johnstone also had an update for The Alpine Mountaineer’s readers on how rebuilding plans are moving along. He said the team has decided to take a two-pronged approach.

“We will be looking at seeking two building permits, beginning with a permit to rebuild the roof,” he said. “That will follow with seeking a building permit for the inside of the store.”

Working with the architectural team of WSCS Design of Ontario, the plan is for a simple, but sturdy, roof design, he said.

“They are doing the engineering now, making sure the footings are big enough and the roof beams are strong enough,” he said. “They are calculating all that right now.”

Focusing on the new roof first means maybe within four weeks they can begin working with the county to get initial permits.

The main market layout will remain much the same because of the existing floor sinks, plumbing and refrigeration lines but Johnstone expects to make small changes to improve work flow and customer service efficiency, he said.

One of the interior design ideas they are considering is adding coffee service and a juice bar to the center area where customers could again find ice cream floats, malts and splits, and hand-made candy offerings.

The goal remains to reopen Goodwin’s Market is spring 2024, he stressed.

“As always, we are beyond grateful for all the love and support we have been shown from our mountain community,” Johnstone said. “We are humbled by the messages, e-mails, posts and personal stories we continue to receive.”