Meet the man running the new FreshCo
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/12/2021 (1577 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Kevin Mark, the new owner and manager of FreshCo at the corner of Pembina Highway and McGillvray Boulevard is not new to retail. Mark began his career in grocery stores 20years ago as courtesy clerk with Safeway in the same location, where he worked for eight years.
He eventually became assistant store manager and then moved to become store manager of a Sobeys Cash and Carry on Dufferin Street near Arlington Bridge.
When Safeway announced plans to convert some of its stores to FreshCo, and the Pembina/McGillivray location was one of them, Mark knew what he wanted and put in his application. He was very excited when he was successful.
“I love FreshCo. I love the brand. There was definitely a lot of emotion,” Mark says of the store’s grand opening on April 1. What Mark likes about FreshCo is its selection of ethnic foods.
FreshCo boasts three guarantees — it will match prices; if customers are not satisfied with the quality of produce, they can return it, get the cash back and a free replacement product; and, if a flyer item is out of stock, customers get a rain check and 10 per cent off the product when it comes in.
Mark grew up in Richmond West, graduated from Fort Richmond Collegiate, moved out of his home neighbourhood for a while, got a business administration certificate from Red River College, and now lives in Richmond West again.
One of the highlights of his work, Mark says, is making donations to Harvest Manitoba. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Harvest Manitoba’s numbers increased from 60,000 to 80,000 clients per month. In December, FreshCo will once again be raising resources for Harvest Manitoba.
Opening a grocery store during Covid has presented some challenges.
“When we opened, we were at 50 per cent capacity,” Mark says. “Supply issues have also been a challenge.”
Mark says staff and customers have been outstanding about complying with changing public health orders and that there have been very few issues.
Mark doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. He can be seen getting in there and organizing shelves or scanning Ice Melt products for a reorder before the next snowstorm.
Helen Lepp Friesen is a community correspondent for Fort Garry. You can contact her at helenfriesen@hotmail.com