Fernie is a town of 5,000 year-round residents.
You will be able to meet all of your daily needs with the stores in town. There are 2 (really 3) main grocery stores, for instance, each of which are huge and modern. You will be able to completely outfit your home with Fernie stores, though the culture seems to be to leave your big-ticket items to the tax-free haven of Alberta stores that are 1-2 hours away.
To give this some context, I live in downtown Toronto where options are endless and, frankly, I prefer shopping at a few of the cool Fernie shops (like the cool hardware store or the Polar Peak bookstore on 2nd).
The Fernie Chamber of Commerce website (http://www.ferniechamber.com), Fernie.com (http://www.fernie.com), or Fernie eStreet (http://www.fernie-estreet.com) might be able to give you some idea of more specific stores and services.
Good idea moving there.
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