A Surrey grocery and furniture warehouse store operated by John Volken Academy students, with all proceeds donated to charity, has been sold to Surrey real estate developer the Terra Group.

The John Volken Academy, a long-term drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, will remain open next door but the store itself, at 6911 King George Blvd. in Newton, is having a closing sale until April 30 with a date to vacate on June 27.

The Surrey philanthropist established in 2018 in 91原创, raising bison for meat, milking water buffalo and opening a farm market at 23480 40 Ave. The students are involved in that venture, again with the proceeds going to charity.

鈥淥ne of the things is the people in the program seem to like doing that a lot more than they like to be in and around the store, they want to be outside. Most of them are young people, so they want to do that sort of thing. I think that will help with retention too, you know, people don鈥檛 drop out as easily and that sort of thing,鈥� Bill Kooner, Volken鈥檚 vice-president of legal services, explained.

As for the store, Kooner said, Terra is 鈥渂reaking it up and leasing it鈥� but 鈥渁ll the corner, the gym, all that kind of stuff, we鈥檙e keeping that, still the residents, and all that sort of thing.鈥�

Volken was born in Germany during the Second World War and spent part of his childhood in an orphanage in Soviet-occupied East Germany. At 18, he came to Canada, envisioning a new life as a lumberjack in the great white north. After landing in Halifax, he caught a train to Toronto not knowing anyone in Canada, not knowing English, with no job prospect and only $90 in his pocket.

He was a quick study, with a strong work ethic and possessed of an entrepreneurial spirit that saw him rise from a dishwasher earning 25-cents an hour to building a furniture retail chain empire in North America that featured 150 stores and $200 million in annual sales.

In 2004, Volken sold that business and with its proceeds established a foundation that supports his academy, which provides 鈥渆ffective, long-term, residential addiction treatment for men and women,鈥� as well as supporting other charities.

It has three locations 鈥� a rehab for men in Seattle, one for men and women in Phoenix, Arizona, and a third for men and women here at 6911 KGB, where he also resides.

Ranj Deol, president of Terra Group Investments Inc., shared what鈥檚 in store for the soon-to-be former store.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to retain the building and lease it out,鈥� Deol said, noting it鈥檚 only 15 years old and it 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 make economical sense鈥� to knock it down. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a couple of tenants in there now 鈥� we鈥檝e signed up a storage company and also a daycare is under contract but not finalized yet.

鈥淭he third one is a grocery also that we鈥檙e working with right now that I anticipate that鈥檒l be penned up probably this week. We just working through, again a lot of it鈥檚 design and what we鈥檙e doing with the building and add this wall, move this wall, that type of thing.

鈥淲e鈥檙e landholders, we buy properties, we鈥檙e only interested in the property itself, John decided he wanted to sell,鈥� Deol explained. Terra now owns 6899 King George Boulevard, he noted, 鈥渨hich is the full land sitting in between the Brick and Value Village, so the Value Village and the Brick is one property, then there鈥檚 this property which is 4.5 acres and then next to that is the Volken Academy, which sits on another separate property, so John will retain both of them on either side of us but basically we鈥檙e buying the one building.

鈥淪o the grocery store he wanted to wind up, it鈥檚 been a lot of work for him,鈥� Deol said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just re-leasing it all because the grocery is going to be leaving at the end of June.鈥�