Posted Dec 13, 2010, 1:59 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
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Sobey's it is. The competition downtown is heating up...
Quote:
Sobeys confirms plans for Centretown store
Grocery store to occupy new condo complex on Metcalfe
By Jennifer Campbell, Ottawa Citizen December 13, 2010
Centretown is getting a Sobeys grocery store.
The national grocery chain confirmed this week it will fill the proposed grocery store space in the new 27-storey Claridge Homes condominium complex being built in the block between Lisgar and Nepean streets, on Metcalfe Street.
Residents had been hoping a new store would open since the Goldstein's supermarket, which was located on Elgin Street between Cooper and Somerset streets and had a popular lunch deli counter, closed more than two years ago. And now they're getting their wish, but they'll have to be patient. It's more than a year away from opening.
Tracy Chisholm, director of communications for Sobeys Ontario, confirmed this week that there would be a Sobeys store in the new complex and that it was slated to open in 2012, but she couldn't say how big it will be nor when, precisely, neighbours would be able to start shopping. She said it wouldn't necessarily coincide with the opening of the condominiums.
"Once the building is complete, then we have to get into the space and set up our store," she said. "That will take some time."
Four blocks away, at the corner of Bank and Somerset streets, there is a sizable grocery store called Hartman's, but for the many seniors who live in highrise buildings off Elgin Street and in the Golden Triangle, it's too far a walk. "If my little old ladies, who have a hard time walking, can get their groceries closer, I'm happy," said Pat Caven, who manages Perfect Books on Elgin Street.
Stanley Devine, who runs Dunn's Famous Deli on Elgin Street, is delighted. "It's not good, it's great," Devine said. "There's no one to give anyone a break on groceries."
Hartman's owner Larry Hartman said he "chose not to" return the Citizen's calls for comment on next year's arrival of competition in the large grocery store market and his general manager, Robert St. Amour, also refused to comment. Although they didn't speak to it, their store does offer a weekly bus service for seniors in the Centretown area. The service is provided in conjunction with Good Companions, a not-for-profit organization that helps seniors remain independent.
Sobeys has existing stores in Kanata and Orleans and has 1,300 stores in 10 provinces across the country.
The Nova Scotia-based chain's retail banners also include IGA, Foodland, Fresh-Co, Price Chopper and Thrifty Foods.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Sobeys+...#ixzz1804Hhfw9
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