Grocery stores set to reopen

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This article was published 03/12/2014 (4138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two older neighbourhoods are getting back something they lost roughly two years ago — a grocery store.

A Loblaw Cos. Ltd. official has confirmed the former Extra Foods stores at 600 Notre Dame Ave. and 1445 Main St. will reopen in the new year as No Frills discount grocery outlets.

Dates for the openings have not yet been set. The company is only saying it will be during the first half of 2015.

Like Extra Foods, No Frills outlets carry a lot of Loblaws no-name and President’s Choice products, as well as national brands.

One of the main differences between the two formats is that No Frills stores are owned and operated by franchisees, rather than Loblaw or one of its subsidiaries. Another is that, according to Loblaw, “No Frills takes a hard-discount approach, providing value above all else.”

Although the Ontario-based food giant has No Frills stores in every other province — roughly 225 in total — these will be its first two in Manitoba. And by the sound of it, they won’t be the only two.

“At this point our plan is to launch these two locations and to see how the No Frills banner appeals to local customers,” Kevin Groh, Loblaw vice-president of corporate affairs and communication, said in a written statement.

“We suspect, given our success coast to coast in other provinces, the format will be a hit. If so, other locations will likely follow.”

Groh said it’s premature to say whether those would be conversions of existing Extra Foods stores — it has eight others in the province — or new locations.

The executive director of the Spence Neighbourhood Association said opening a discount grocery store at the Notre Dame Avenue site is great news for area residents.

Jamil Mahmood said there are a lot of low-income families, seniors and people without vehicles who live in the area.

When the Extra Foods store closed in late 2012, the next closest full-line grocery store was the Canada Safeway at the corner of Sargent Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

“There is a real lack of choice (in the neighbourhood),” he said.

“They only have the Safeway, and for a heck of a lot of the residents, the prices at Safeway are a little too high, especially for fresh produce and things like that. So I think people will be really excited to hear it (a discount grocery store) is coming back.”

Jino Distasio, director of the University of Winnipeg’s Institute of Urban Studies, said it’s positive news for residents of both neighbourhoods.

“It strikes a blow to the psyche of a neighbourhood when a grocery store closes,” he said.

“So to have a store reopen certainly is important.”

Distasio said while there’s a wide range of smaller ethnic grocery stores in the inner city, there also needs to be larger-format outlets to provide residents with more choice.

He said it’s interesting the two new stores will be owned by local franchisees.

“Hopefully it’s someone who has an interest in the community” and can match the stores’ product offering with the needs of the area’s residents, he said.

Loblaw was able to bring its No Frills format to Manitoba after reaching a labour agreement with Local 832 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents Loblaw employees in the province.

“I think it’s a very good-news story that the company and the union actually were able to work together to get this done,” Local 832 president Jeff Traeger said.

“These are core area grocery stores, and when you look at the core area of Winnipeg, there are very few grocery offerings for people that are discount outlets.”

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca