Winnipeg | Downtown Developments & Discussions

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Downtown Winnipeg's only grocery store to close in November



A spokeswoman for Giant Tiger confirms that their downtown Winnipeg store will close this year. The grocery store is the only department store offering fresh food in the neighborhood.

The Giant Tiger store at 345 Donald St. in Winnipeg will close on Nov. 7, 2026, a company spokesperson said in an email to CBC/Radio-Canada.

The decision to close one of our stores is not taken lightly; it is the result of careful consideration and analysis. Our priority is to provide support to our staff and customers, and we are working closely with the employees concerned," explains the spokesperson.

The spokesman did not however indicate the reasons for this closure.

The company closed two of its Winnipeg stores in the summer of 2024.

A succession of closures
The closure comes less than a month after the announcement of a new grocery store in downtown Winnipeg. This Co-op store is expected to open in 2029, on the site of the new Place Portage. The full-line grocery store will help fill the food desert that exists in downtown Manitoba's capital.

Natalie Riediger, an assistant professor in the Department of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition at the University of Manitoba, says the closure is a significant loss to the neighbourhood.

This is undoubtedly very unfortunate for the neighborhood. It makes it harder for people to shop for groceries, she said in an interview Thursday.

She fears that another supermarket will not replace the one that is leaving, since the merchants do not want to set up in such low-income places.

It is difficult for supermarkets, such as Giant Tiger or convenience stores, to survive when the poverty rate is so high in the region, because they are unable to generate the revenue needed to sustain their business.

Local merchants have raised concerns about the neighbourhood's security needs.

Munther Zeid, owner of the Winnipeg-based grocery chain Food Fare, says the big supermarket chains don't see the business value in setting up shop in downtown Winnipeg.

He said downtown stores face a serious problem of shoplifting and believes that any supermarket that sets up shop there would need security reinforcements or a police presence on site.

Several small stores and convenience stores have closed their doors in recent months, including two 7-ELEVEN stores. In the past, the company has said it loses hundreds of dollars a day to shoplifting.

CBC/Radio-Canada