Winnipeg Retail

[Danny D Oh]

My best grocery shopping experience is at Co-Op in Portage La Prairie. Can't believe how much cheaper it is than when I lived in Winnipeg. They also purchase a lot of perishables locally, in the summer produce is local and very cheap. The Red River Co-Op grocery stores aren't nearly as good on meat and perishables.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by OTA in Winnipeg

Family Foods is way better. Cook their own roast beef too.

Family foods stores are independent stores that are supplied by the McDonald Consolidated division of Canada Safeway.

That's why they have a lot of the Safeway/Sobey's house brands (complements etc.) in their ads.

I also see that Cantor's has a number of the Complements products featured in their newspaper ads so they must by buying from McDonald Consolidated or Sobey's Wholesale too.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by buzzg

I'm not sure the exact agreement, I'd imagine they do pay some rent... this is normally where Cory has the answers hahaha.

Not sure on that answer but I know the pharmacy and some over the counter drugs can only operate when a licensed pharmacist is on duty. It is partly why a lot of pharmacies will have two pharmacists works at certain times to cover breaks, etc.

I have also seen it said that walk in clinics will try to attract pharmacists to locate there as it brings in business. It could be that the bigger retailers don't charge them rent and basically write off the minimal space used for them as basically a loss leader. Notice how in most places the pharmacy counter makes you walk through most of the store?

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by cllew

I wonder what all the people that have used the parking lot for a free park and ride site are going to do if and when the store opens up.

Hopefully if the Bronx Safeway becomes a FreshCo they do some "courtesy" tickets on vehicles parking there telling them that its changing to a retail store and they need to stop, or even better officially designate and area of the parking lot for park and ride. It could encourage people to stop in to grab groceries on the way home.

Originally Posted by cllew

Also advertising in today's Free Press confirming the date and that Cantor's is providing the meat service

Having Cantor's run the meat departments is an interesting way of mitigating the often highest loss area of the store. Meat theft is a common thing and having it entirely belong to someone else shifts that responsibility. I wonder if it will be all counter service, pay right there like some of the Asian grocery stores.

Originally Posted by ediger

You also tend to pay way less at Food Fare for meat than at a place like Safeway.

True story. Hearing the near constant, at the time, ads on local radio from Food Fare about having FRESH turkeys for Thanksgiving we ordered a FRESH turkey from them and picked it up on the Saturday. Should have done a full stop right there when I realized it was actually a previously FROZEN turkey they had thawed. My bad. That said it was in a commercially sealed plastic package and we take it home. When we opened up the package it was far more than a little passed being fit for human consumption. To be fare, took it back to the store and while the staff really didn't even want to handle that biohazard they did give a full refund. That said being Sunday on the long weekend everything was closed and there was no other turkeys to be found. The most telling part though was when the staff found out why I was there they asked if I was the person that called about this and I was not.

When you can see a thread where the Food Fare people are not having free discussion about them suppressed you see I am not the only person that has had a really bad experience with them. That said they actively patrol online and put pressure on people to remove anything negative about them. Personally I feel that is unfair as if they were running business properly people wouldn't have negative stories about their business practise.

That said, we will never shop at Food Fare regardless of how cheap their prices might be and every chance I get I will tell me story about them.

[bomberjet]

People have been parking at the Bronx Safeway forever.

My mom used to park there daily. One day when I first got my driver's license, I used the car and had to go pick her up. On the way I rear ended a guy after a rain storm... There was oil at the stop sign and sure enough..

[cllew]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

People have been parking at the Bronx Safeway forever.

My mom used to park there daily. One day when I first got my driver's license, I used the car and had to go pick her up. On the way I rear ended a guy after a rain storm... There was oil at the stop sign and sure enough..

But they did not take the whole lot up like they do now. I can't think of the Safeway store managers name but they had one there for a while that kept one of the long gone towing Winnipeg companies busy taking cars off the lot. He would even tow if you parked and went to the CIBC bank across the street first to get money to come in his store (pre ATM in store days),

[ediger]

Originally Posted by buzzg

I find places like Food Fare, Family Foods tend to be a bit on the cheaper side for fresh things and perishables, but packaged goods, sauces, things that sell on shelves – way more.

Yeah, that's pretty accurate. They're great for grabbing the things you need that day to make a meal but not the best for stocking up the pantry. I'm in West Broadway & the FoodFare on Maryland is great for our needs. Every few weeks we can borrow a vehicle and do a Superstore run or something to get all the dry goods we need and then just stop by FoodFare on the way home each day and grab the meat/veggies we need for dinner. They also tend to have smaller packages of meat which is nice when you're not feeding a family of four or something.

[vjose32]

If only they still had a Foodfare on Arlington, we have everything else nearby except them

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by cllew

But they did not take the whole lot up like they do now. I can't think of the Safeway store managers name but they had one there for a while that kept one of the long gone towing Winnipeg companies busy taking cars off the lot. He would even tow if you parked and went to the CIBC bank across the street first to get money to come in his store (pre ATM in store days),

Fair point.

[Biff]

I have heard the Kimberly-Henderson Safeway building will be mothballed for some time to come. Retail is a tricky beast in that things can change in a minute but my source said no plans yet.

[cllew]

I wonder who is the real owner of that store location. It does not show on the Sobey's REIT that owns some of the other store sites in Winnipeg.

I had heard that Safeway had a long term lease from one of the life insurance companies. ( the former Main @ Inkster Safeway / CO-OP was in a GWL Reality Advisors owned building).

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Biff

I have heard the Kimberly-Henderson Safeway building will be mothballed for some time to come. Retail is a tricky beast in that things can change in a minute but my source said no plans yet.

The building is owned by Sobey's, they don't want any direct competition from a competitor, they closed the store for a reason, sincerely doubt they put any one of their branded grocery stores in that location which would detract from the Sobey's just down Henderson.

It's interesting to see how some have no problem with a parking lot left for a closed store in a mostly residential area but any surface downtown lots are verboten!

[cllew]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

The building is owned by Sobey's, they don't want any direct competition from a competitor, they closed the store for a reason, sincerely doubt they put any one of their branded grocery stores in that location which would detract from the Sobey's just down Henderson.

It's interesting to see how some have no problem with a parking lot left for a closed store in a mostly residential area but any surface downtown lots are verboten!

Interesting as its not showing on Crombie REIT like all the other owned Safeway stores in Manitoba.

It could still be owned by somebody else if they have a go dark clause in the lease.

Safeway did that on Portage Ave in Westwood when they closed the store where the Princess Auto now is. They kept paying rent until the end of the lease to protect the new Safeway store they build where the old K-Mart was on Portage ave.

[cllew]

I think there was even a court case years ago on the Westwood go dark as the landlord has a potential tenant for the site but Safeway refused to sublet as the proposed retailer was going to be selling some food related products as well as general merchandise.

The landlord took Safeway to court to break the lease and Safeway won.

[tedtim]

The old Bueno Bros grocery store on Isabel and attached restaurant has signs in the windows for Dino's Food Mart.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by cllew

I wonder who is the real owner of that store location. It does not show on the Sobey's REIT that owns some of the other store sites in Winnipeg.

Sobeys Inc out of Calgary is in control of that site.

[bomberjet]

Didn't someone say a Fresh Co was goin in there. Maybe I dreamt that.

[Riverman]

Was me. A relative that lives nearby told me.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

The building is owned by Sobey's, they don't want any direct competition from a competitor, they closed the store for a reason, sincerely doubt they put any one of their branded grocery stores in that location which would detract from the Sobey's just down Henderson.

Two company owned Extra Foods closed and went dark for sometime only to later reopen under Loblaws as franchise owned No Frills. Both locations were thought to be subject to high rates of theft. By transferring ownership to an independent owner Loblaws is then no longer directly responsible for the loss due to theft and the related security needed to prevent it.

Perhaps there is a similar issue with the Bronx Safeway location. It is notable that both FreshCo openings have essentially franchised out the whole meat department, aka one of the common areas of high losses due to theft.

Along those same lines when Sobey`s was talking to the media about the upcoming FreshCo openings it was specifically identified that there is a currently a very specific plan for one more additional store in western Canada but the exact location has not been publicly announced. That would definitely line up with the Bronx site if it is becoming a FreshCo. That said the site, under its current dressing, is the bones of the 60s era Safeway store. That might be part of the issue with the reuse of the building.

[Biff]

Confirmed two new Costco for Winnipeg.