The Great Canadian Grocery Store Thread

[esquire]

Originally Posted by someone123

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

When I think of grocers that are "fancy without being dominated by weird health stuff" I tend to think of ethnic grocers with a focus on:

1) one or more of the countries ringing the Mediterranean, or
2) the UK.

[someone123]

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).

Sobeys owns many different brands. You probably have seen a Sobeys-owned store in Vancouver since they own Safeway in Canada. They just didn't put Sobeys signs up here.

They are the "default" old grocery chain in NS, to the point where a lot of people call grocery bags "Sobeys bags".

[ssiguy]

I live a block from a NO FRILLS and do all my basic shopping shopping there. The difference in price between it and my other local, Save-On is huge and ditto with Safeway.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

T&T is finally expanding to Montreal:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ebec-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.

I miss Marché Frais/Market Fresh, which was a grocery chain quite similar to Farm Boy, founded in 1991 in Gatineau. They had a presence in Ottawa as well. Due to financial difficulties, they ended up closing all Ottawa stores in 2006 and the last Gatineau store closed in 2012. Never understood how they failed while Farm Boy thrived.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I live a block from a NO FRILLS and do all my basic shopping shopping there. The difference in price between it and my other local, Save-On is huge and ditto with Safeway.

I do find Save-On to be on the pricy side, but they have all of the other local supermarkets beat here with an excellent delivery service. I never once had groceries delivered before the pandemic but I've been using Save-On's delivery service extensively over the last two years. It's kind of nice not having to go to the store to get the groceries... I'm sure getting groceries this way will be a bit of a covid legacy for me.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I miss Marché Frais/Market Fresh, which was a grocery chain quite similar to Farm Boy, founded in 1991 in Gatineau. They had a presence in Ottawa as well. Due to financial difficulties, they ended up closing all Ottawa stores in 2006 and the last Gatineau store closed in 2012. Never understood how they failed while Farm Boy thrived.

From what I heard they grew too big too fast.

I liked them too.

The one near my place is now a swimming pool store.

[Airboy]

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.

In 98 when I lived Bloor and Ossington there were quite a few mom and pop groceries in that area. a couple of places I could get fresh fruit and vegs. Near where that indian restaurant is beside Christy pits.

[elly63]

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.

Wikipedia: Sobeys Inc. is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by itom 987

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.

Also Seafood city. Philippine Grocery.

[itom 987]

^ Ah yes, I was trying to remember what that store was called, very much like T&T.

[davidivivid]

Metro and Sobeys (solely with its IGA brand) are the two prevalent grocery chains in Quebec City. A distant third is Loblaws with its Maxi and Provigo brand. Provigo used to be the unconstested leader but it is now a shadow of its former self with aging stores and no new openings. Loblaws really plundered this brand following its acquisition in 1998.


I'd say Metro stores are nice without being fancy. However, recent IGA stores now tend to be rather high end. Here is one built in 2014 (types of stores obviously found in the suburbs)










https://idsdesign.ca/portfolio/projets/


IGA has also been rather agressive with new openings closer to the city Center with these types of stores:





https://blogue.ville.quebec.qc.ca/de...ecture-quebec/

[casper]

Originally Posted by esquire

I do find Save-On to be on the pricy side, but they have all of the other local supermarkets beat here with an excellent delivery service. I never once had groceries delivered before the pandemic but I've been using Save-On's delivery service extensively over the last two years. It's kind of nice not having to go to the store to get the groceries... I'm sure getting groceries this way will be a bit of a covid legacy for me.

I split my time between Vancouver and Victoria. In Vancouver I do the home delivery from Stong's. I find they handle the special requests better than Save-On-Foods. Stongs has been doing online groceries for over 20 years.

Worse one for home delivery in Vancouver is Walmart. No customization and it is an uber like delivery guy. No way of contacting the store if there is an issue.

[Hali87]

Kind of continuing a point from the Streetview thread, but something that could work in the Gottingen/North area is a Canex that sells groceries. North and Windsor is still pretty inconvenient from Stadacona on foot (carrying groceries) and as long as it's easily accessible to civilians it could be a practical way of providing the Gottingen strip with quality non-boutique groceries. Each Canex sort of operates at a different scale but it looks like the one in Petawawa sells groceries. AFAIK the existing ones in Halifax mostly sell appliances and clothes.

[srperrycgy]

For Calgary:

Superstore: Cheapest and busiest.

Safeway/Sobey's: Ok, but quality dropped after Sobey's acquisition in '13.

Calgary Co-op: Most expensive, has a very old demographic. Good quality.

Sunterra Market: Specialty foods, good quality, but pricey. Similar to Stong's.

Save-on-Foods: Relatively new to YYC market, can be above-average pricing but quality is good.

For me, I use the Flipp app to browse the grocery flyers. Food costs more here, so you have to know your prices. Save-on-Foods is my go to for most of my groceries followed by Superstore and Costco. Co-op is good for specific items only, but I buy my fuel there. Co-op provides a patronage rebate based on grocery, liquor, fuel and now cannibis purchases, but you need to spend thousands to get a small cheque.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by davidivivid

Metro and Sobeys (solely with its IGA brand) are the two prevalent grocery chains in Quebec City. A distant third is Loblaws with its Maxi and Provigo brand. Provigo used to be the unconstested leader but it is now a shadow of its former self with aging stores and no new openings. Loblaws really plundered this brand following its acquisition in 1998.

Quite nostalgic for me, the closest grocery store to my house growing up was an IGA until Sobeys bought them out in the 90s (they must have gone to different companies in different provinces). The logo hasn't changed.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Kind of continuing a point from the Streetview thread, but something that could work in the Gottingen/North area is a Canex that sells groceries. North and Windsor is still pretty inconvenient from Stadacona on foot (carrying groceries) and as long as it's easily accessible to civilians it could be a practical way of providing the Gottingen strip with quality non-boutique groceries. Each Canex sort of operates at a different scale but it looks like the one in Petawawa sells groceries. AFAIK the existing ones in Halifax mostly sell appliances and clothes.

I suspect what will happen eventually is the Cogswell area will get a fairly substantial urban format grocery store. The central part of Gottingen will be about mid-way between that and the Windsor Street Sobeys (< 1 km on each side) and doesn't have a lot of possibilities for big storefronts so probably won't get anything. That density is roughly equivalent to say the Broadway corridor in Vancouver.

Maybe there will be another generic grocery store one day farther north, like a small urban format store along Agricola Street. There will probably be more and more specialty food stores in the North End. The sum of all those shops around there is already pretty good, but it's convenient to have one single full service shop close to where you live.

There have been rumours that Sobeys will redevelop the Queen Street store in the South End. Maybe it will become a mixed-use complex with structured parking and a new and improved store.

[Peggerino]

Maybe it's already been mentioned but I was really impressed with Montreal's PA Supermarche when I lived there. They were very cheap and offered a great mix of various meats and products you couldn't find at Metros or Provigos. Their Fort street location was always pretty packed and kind of fun and hectic place to be. They truly felt like a "urban" grocery store in the best sense of the word, being worldly, diverse, un-gentrified and a little crazy but fun.

Another thing I miss about Montreal are the Deps which sold more than smokes and beer (though I bought my fair share of those too). I lived in Mile End for a bit and from my Dep which was a 30 second walk away I could get pretty fresh fruits, vegies, pasta, sauces, good beer and have a nice chat with the owner and pet her cat. Even from Google Streetview you can get a sense of it - https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.52505...7i16384!8i8192.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by Peggerino

Maybe it's already been mentioned but I was really impressed with Montreal's PA Supermarche when I lived there. They were very cheap and offered a great mix of various meats and products you couldn't find at Metros or Provigos. Their Fort street location was always pretty packed and kind of fun and hectic place to be. They truly felt like a "urban" grocery store in the best sense of the word, being worldly, diverse, un-gentrified and a little crazy but fun.

Another thing I miss about Montreal are the Deps which sold more than smokes and beer (though I bought my fair share of those too). I lived in Mile End for a bit and my Dep which was a 30 second walk away I could get pretty fresh fruits, vegies, pasta, sauces, good beer and have a nice chat with the owner and pet her cat. Even from Google Streetview you can get a sense of it - https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.52505...7i16384!8i8192.

I was waiting to post my homage to PA

It's seriously one of the reasons why I moved back to Mile End when I returned to Montreal from Hong Kong. It's such a great grocery store. Everything is well priced and their produce selection is incredible – they have all the Chinese greens you might want, plus any Mediterranean or Latin American staples. On top of that, they manage to have great fish ($1 bycatch shark!) and very specific kinds of meat, like lamb brain and really fatty beef brisket. They have two locations in Mile End (the original plus an expansion), one downtown, one in Chomedey (the "diverse" part of Laval) and a new one in Côte des Neiges.

Dépanneurs are a lesson in why every Canadian province should allow corner stores to sell alcohol. It keeps them alive to begin with, and beyond that it allows for a certain specialization in terms of products. Here in Montreal there are many deps that have a very boutique array of local beer, wine and snacks.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by davidivivid

However, recent IGA stores now tend to be rather high end. Here is one built in 2014 (types of stores obviously found in the suburbs)

I know that particular IGA. So gorgeous, especially with the view over the St. Lawrence. A real palace of food.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I miss Marché Frais/Market Fresh, which was a grocery chain quite similar to Farm Boy, founded in 1991 in Gatineau. They had a presence in Ottawa as well. Due to financial difficulties, they ended up closing all Ottawa stores in 2006 and the last Gatineau store closed in 2012. Never understood how they failed while Farm Boy thrived.

Farm Boy has really good marketing inside the store (displays, packaging, organization, etc).