The Great Canadian Grocery Store Thread

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

I haven't seen a Sobey's in many years, didn't even know it still existed, they're totally absent from Quebec, or at least the parts I'm used to (Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, most of Montreal and its south and north shores).

I don't even recall seeing one in 6+ months in Vancouver, I was doing most of my shopping on foot on Commercial Drive nearby, plus runs to Wal-Mart occasionally for whatever I couldn't find in my 'hood.

In Quebec, the new, nicer IGA stores are de facto Sobeys stores.

[Kilgore Trout]

Yeah, Sobeys owns the IGA brand in Quebec and they are opening more and more corporate stores (eg the new IGA Duke that just opened near Old Montreal). That's also the IGA Express brand which has a lot of potential. It reminds me of Tesco Express or Carrefour City in scale in selection.

Most IGAs are still franchised, though, which means there are large variations in price and selection between different franchisees. Louise Ménard IGAs tend to be very expensive whereas the Barcelo Family ones are better, probably because they're located in neighbourhoods with more competition.

[esquire]

Winnipeg is not that great for independent greengrocers and that sort of thing.

It seems to me that for the most part you have the supermarket chains (Safeway/Sobeys/Co-op/Walmart/Save-On Foods/FreshCo), the smaller neighbourhood grocers which are basically pale imitations of the bigger supermarkets that take advantage of captive inner-city markets (IGA, Family Foods, Food Fare) and then convenience stores where you go for chips, Coke and cigarettes. There are some more upscale specialty grocers scattered around town but they are pretty small and niche.

This type of greengrocer barely exists here:

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Having lived in various neighbourhoods in both Toronto and Vancouver, I'd still stand by my comment that Vancouver is a cut above Toronto when it comes to the distribution and quality of local independent greengrocers.

Vancouver is definitely very strong in this regard. I think Main Street in Mount Pleasant is the only commercial strip that lacks a good greengrocer. Otherwise there's always one around.

I can't speak for most of Toronto, but when I visit I stay with friends near Bloor/Lansdowne and I'm always surprised that the only grocery options nearby are in suburban-style big box stores with surface parking lots. There aren't any greengrocers around.

[Kilgore Trout]

T&T is finally expanding to Montreal:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/t-t-expanding-to-quebec-1.6289254

No word yet on where it will be located but many people are speculating that it will be housed in the former Provigo near Vanier College in VSL. It's a convenient location near the 15/40 junction and there is a large Asian population in that part of town. A few census tracts in VSL are majority Chinese.

Another brand I would love to see in Quebec is Farm Boy. I doubt it will ever happen, since they seem focused on consolidating their presence in Ontario, but I always notice a ton of Quebec plates in the parking lot when I go to the various Farm Boy locations in Ottawa.

[Kilgore Trout]

Just putting this out there: I think the Canadian city that punches above its weight in terms of urban-format supermarkets is Quebec City. It's very unusual for a North American city of its size. Not having to trudge through a big surface parking lot to get groceries goes a long way to making a neighbourhood feel more urban.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

I can't speak for most of Toronto, but when I visit I stay with friends near Bloor/Lansdowne and I'm always surprised that the only grocery options nearby are in suburban-style big box stores with surface parking lots. There aren't any greengrocers around.

My wife and I lived at College and Lansdowne until the pandemic necessitated a larger place - It's not the best part of the city for this but there's quite a few greengrocers and other small convenience stores selling groceries in the area. During the early part of COVID I did the majority of my shopping up on Bloor. Easy Health (1276 Bloor) has a good selection of produce and staples, and further East there's Family Fruit and Flower and Economy Fruit for more traditional convenience store greengrocers. You can also get a decent selection of Latin ingredients at Latin World, Kibo Sushi at Bloor/Sterling has a lot of Korean frozen and dry goods and there's an Indian convenience store that mostly has spices.

The No Frills south of Dundas happens to be one of the best in the city (quality of No Frills varies wildly) so lots of people shop there, but the lines during the early part of COVID were out of control.

[SignalHillHiker]

Failed to anticipate surface parking would be a consideration. Just want to note the obvious that I cropped it out of the screenshots I posted from here - but all of them except the superettes have parking lots. Even little Belbin’s has a surface lot across the street.

[someone123]

Vancouver is good for cheap produce shops, like people say, although it's only so-so for higher end grocery stores. I kind of like hunting around for deals at the produce places. I also liked how they'd stock niche items that you don't find much in the big stores (e.g. local green figs that probably just come from a tree on the property of somebody the owner knows). I used to like a place that was cash only and had a "soup nazi" feel; its prices were in many cases 1/2 or less of the full-sized grocery store nearby.

Part of the problem is that as you go upmarket you get more health stuff mixed in, and Vancouver might be particularly bad for this. Instead of just carrying nicer and more exotic produce, the high-end places have 8 aisles of homeopathic BS and shelf-stable spelt-quinoa concoctions.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Just putting this out there: I think the Canadian city that punches above its weight in terms of urban-format supermarkets is Quebec City. It's very unusual for a North American city of its size. Not having to trudge through a big surface parking lot to get groceries goes a long way to making a neighbourhood feel more urban.

There was some discussion of the Halifax grocery situation in the streetview thread.

I think this is an area where the city has grown up a lot. There are now 3 modern urban format stores including a full-size one (Pete's; the others are Arthur's and Noggins Farm). There is also a 70's complex on Quinpool Road that has a street-facing Superstore with parking in behind. Though Sobeys is based in NS, it has no urban format stores in Halifax, and in fact the urban ones are a quite old and cramped standalone format with surface parking (they might be from the 50's). There used to be a Sobeys in Scotia Square, and I think one day something like that might come back once enough residential construction happens around there.

Halifax is also getting more and more ethnic grocery stores. While part of North End Halifax has no mainstream urban format store, it's had small Lebanese and Korean grocery stores for years. The Dutch Village Rd area supposedly has about a dozen different grocery stores covering many different styles of cuisine now, concentrated in an area of a couple blocks.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Failed to anticipate surface parking would be a consideration. Just want to note the obvious that I cropped it out of the screenshots I posted from here - but all of them except the superettes have parking lots. Even little Belbin’s has a surface lot across the street.

Yeah, same here. The only full-service grocer I can think of without a parking lot here in Winnipeg is the downtown Family Foods. (This road construction pic just happened to have it in the background...)



There are some smaller shops without parking lots but I would consider them to be more specialty stores to pick up a few specific items rather than places where you'd go for your weekly shop.

When the Osborne Village Safeway was redeveloped 15 or so years ago I thought we might actually see a true urban-format supermarket but unsurprisingly they stuck with the tried and true suburban parking lot formula.

[Airboy]

Have the usual. Sobey/Saveway/Freshco. Super Store(Loblaws), Save-on, Coop (usually the lowest priced gas).

But we have Frenson Brother, which started as a Rural store and is now gain in popularity. They push locally sourced and produced products. Prices are about the same as the big boys but it feels like a better experience.https://www.freson.com/

Another one my wife and I found for produce is H&W produce about 1/2 the price of the big stores. Find these in areas that have a higher new Canadian population.and in areas of lower income. almost always near a Tiger discount store. A couple of locations bring in fruit that is quite rare.
https://handwproduce.com/

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Vancouver is definitely very strong in this regard. I think Main Street in Mount Pleasant is the only commercial strip that lacks a good greengrocer. Otherwise there's always one around.

I can't speak for most of Toronto, but when I visit I stay with friends near Bloor/Lansdowne and I'm always surprised that the only grocery options nearby are in suburban-style big box stores with surface parking lots. There aren't any greengrocers around.

That's surprising - I live just a bit further down Bloor and have a couple greengrocers to choose from (as well as multiple butchers and bakeries), namely Gold City Fruit Market:
https://goo.gl/maps/f9ZQuhqroKQoikLa8

And Bloorcourt Market: (I swear it's bigger than it looks!)
https://goo.gl/maps/zXGGyjVYwkmVBwjU7

There are also a bunch of smaller-format grocery stores around. Nosso Talho in particular is a good one:
https://goo.gl/maps/FEj6RQZNmaU2y5uY7

Never really paid attention to how other cities compare in this regard, but I've also never lived somewhere that didn't have a nearby market or two. But as some others have mentioned, I also seem to recall the Toronto of my youth as having a lot more of those classic neighbourhood grocers with the fruit & vegetable displays spilling out onto the sidewalk than we do now. The flip side of that though is that there are now a lot more full-service supermarkets in the inner city.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Just putting this out there: I think the Canadian city that punches above its weight in terms of urban-format supermarkets is Quebec City. It's very unusual for a North American city of its size. Not having to trudge through a big surface parking lot to get groceries goes a long way to making a neighbourhood feel more urban.

Parts of inner city Quebec City really feel like a mini-Montreal. You don't really get that feel if you only do the heavily touristy parts of the city that are along the main boulevard leading in from the bridges (Boul. Laurier) which is at first suburban hotels and malls, and then gives way to more "official Quebec City" before spilling onto Grande-Allée and then through the gates into the old town. That doesn't feel like Montreal much at all.

But north and northwest of the old town, the older neighbourhoods have a Montreal-ish feel for sure. I only discovered them later in life - when a relative moved there.

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by Airboy

Have the usual. Sobey/Saveway/Freshco. Super Store(Loblaws), Save-on, Coop (usually the lowest priced gas).

But we have Frenson Brother, which started as a Rural store and is now gain in popularity. They push locally sourced and produced products. Prices are about the same as the big boys but it feels like a better experience.https://www.freson.com/

Another one my wife and I found for produce is H&W produce about 1/2 the price of the big stores. Find these in areas that have a higher new Canadian population.and in areas of lower income. almost always near a Tiger discount store. A couple of locations bring in fruit that is quite rare.
https://handwproduce.com/

Edmonton also has two T&T Superarkets, a Lucky 97, at least three Italian Centre shops, a Loblaws (not superstore) and farmer's markets in various locations throughout the city.

[Kilgore Trout]

Limoilou definitely feels like a neighbourhood in Montreal. There are some small differences in scale and architecture but generally it has a very Montreal feel.

What I love most though are neighbourhoods like St-Roch, St-Sauveur and St-Jean-Baptiste. They're dense, the streets are narrow and the scale is very intimate. Montreal has a few streets here and there that have a similar feel, but all the equivalent neighbourhoods (namely Faubourg à M'lasse, Goose Village and the original Griffintown) were demolished in the 60s.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

That's surprising - I live just a bit further down Bloor and have a couple greengrocers to choose from (as well as multiple butchers and bakeries), namely Gold City Fruit Market:
https://goo.gl/maps/f9ZQuhqroKQoikLa8

And Bloorcourt Market: (I swear it's bigger than it looks!)
https://goo.gl/maps/zXGGyjVYwkmVBwjU7

There are also a bunch of smaller-format grocery stores around. Nosso Talho in particular is a good one:
https://goo.gl/maps/FEj6RQZNmaU2y5uY7

Never really paid attention to how other cities compare in this regard, but I've also never lived somewhere that didn't have a nearby market or two. But as some others have mentioned, I also seem to recall the Toronto of my youth as having a lot more of those classic neighbourhood grocers with the fruit & vegetable displays spilling out onto the sidewalk than we do now. The flip side of that though is that there are now a lot more full-service supermarkets in the inner city.

Nosso Talho looks great. It was featured in some COVID segment on The National and I made a mental note to visit next time I'm in Toronto.

[casper]

Originally Posted by lio45

I haven't seen a Sobey's in many years, didn't even know it still existed, they're totally absent from Quebec, or at least the parts I'm used to (Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, most of Montreal and its south and north shores).

I don't even recall seeing one in 6+ months in Vancouver, I was doing most of my shopping on foot on Commercial Drive nearby, plus runs to Wal-Mart occasionally for whatever I couldn't find in my 'hood.

Sobey's uses the Safeway and Thrifty Foods banner in BC. They did start to convert some of the Safeway stores to FreshCo.

On the prairies Sobey's uses both the Sobey's and Safeway banner and some of their franchise stores use IGA.

IGA is a weird brand. In BC it is owned by H. Y. Louie (same people who own London Drugs and Fresh St. Market). In the rest of Canada IGA is owned by Sobey's.

[casper]

Originally Posted by someone123

Vancouver is good for cheap produce shops, like people say, although it's only so-so for higher end grocery stores. I kind of like hunting around for deals at the produce places. I also liked how they'd stock niche items that you don't find much in the big stores (e.g. local green figs that probably just come from a tree on the property of somebody the owner knows). I used to like a place that was cash only and had a "soup nazi" feel; its prices were in many cases 1/2 or less of the full-sized grocery store nearby.

Part of the problem is that as you go upmarket you get more health stuff mixed in, and Vancouver might be particularly bad for this. Instead of just carrying nicer and more exotic produce, the high-end places have 8 aisles of homeopathic BS and shelf-stable spelt-quinoa concoctions.

You want to look at Stongs Market in Vancouver and North Vancouver.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by casper

You want to look at Stongs Market in Vancouver and North Vancouver.

True. Meinhardt is also "fancy without being dominated by weird health stuff". Sadly I don't live near any of those anymore.