Giant Tiger Now Open at Stafford

The closure of Price Chopper brought sadness to many when it happened earlier this year. It was a favourite for restaurateurs and those looking for fresh produce in their regular food purchases. It became an orphan in the Sobey's purchase of Safeway when the federal government ordered the divestiture of some stores for the sake of competition. In Winnipeg that meant four Safeways were sold as well Price Chopper. Red River Co-Op bought four stores getting back into the grocery business after decades on the sidelines and the North West Company bought Price Chopper.

For some time Price Chopper continued operations but it was the odd duck in the North West operation. In Canada the historic company dominates the north with Northern stores. In more recent years, it holds the master franchise agreement for Giant Tiger in Western Canada.

Co-Op stores found out just how aggressive North West Company is on expanding Giant Tiger when they went to re-sign the lease on the newly acquired Main Street store. The owner of the building said no thanks and sent them packing with little in the way of explanation. That was kind of bewildering as a grocer is a prime long term tenant to have. Moreover, Co-Op offered to buy the site which could have proved lucrative as well.

In the end it was Giant Tiger who kicked Co-Op to the curb. The new store there is open and while not completely a grocery, it offers a general merchandiser where there was none. It will be up to residents to decide whether they are better served than they were in the past.

It is difficult for some not to think the fix was in for Price Chopper. It is prime property on Pembina Highway at the entryway to suburban neighbourhoods. As the kind of store it was, it was always going to be kind of a niche. It wasn't surprising that an announcement came saying it was closing. But lo and behold, the owners North West Company has Giant Tiger to salve the wounds. This wasn't announced till later though.

This past Saturday Giant Tiger opened to fanfare at 677 Stafford. Expectations are that it should do great business where it is located. At just under 20,000 square feet, it joins 240 other Giant Tigers in Canada with a growing number in the west.

The neverending underpass construction along Pembina Highway still has a long way to go. However, Giant Tiger should be able to weather the long wait and be successful where it is. They occupy a part of the market that Zellers was just able to hold onto and where Walmart, Superstore or Target wanted to go. They have become a Canadian success story.

Save on Foods Open Saturday November 19

The Vancouver-based grocer announced three locations on McPhllips, St. James and Bridgwater Forest.  Along the way, the old Zellers at McPhllips was re-purposed and the old Future Shop was done over. Bridgwater Forest was a new building. Around 1000 people have been hired from the nearly 15,000 who applied.

The popular grocer from the west is likely to trigger a price war in Winnipeg when they open. The biggest target will be Sobey's/Safeway who have struggled since Sobey's purchased the company. Sobey's would probably like to close a few more stores close to each other but they risk Co-Op or Save On Foods just grabbing the space up.

The McPhillips location of Save on Food is adding the work International after its name. It will be the largest location and carry the greatest diversity of products including many ethnic brands. There will also be many local brands at all three stores.

There has probably never been a more competitive time in Manitoba for large grocers going toe to toe than there is now.

Save on Foods also appears ready to announce as many as two downtown stores to capture the increasing population there. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say it the Skycity tower where one store will go.

It is possible the St. James store may sneak open on Friday.

All in all it is terrific news for Winnipeg and another great choice which should help keep prices very competitive.

Main Street Co-Op Closing

The Co-op 1441 Main Street didn't last long. Two years. It isn't closing as a result of poor business. No, Co-op was interested in upgrades, a new lease or outright ownership of the former Safeway on Main.

Instead what has happened is that the landlord has found a new tenant and needs Co-Op out by end of June. The company hasn't taken this lying down. The ran a full page ad in the Free Press expressing their view and indicated that they would be keeping their Co-Op pharmacy in the area in a closed Scotiabank across the street.

Co-Op remains with three grocery stores in Winnipeg. The Red River Co-Op itself has plans for a few more gas stations, convenience stores and car washes in the city.

The former Extra Foods nearby is now a No Frills store run under one of the Loblaw's banners so the new tenant seems to unlikely be from that company. This raises the question of just exactly ranks has a better long term occupant on this section of Main Street. If it is indeed another food store, this is a very bold move on their part.

There continues to be a lot of jockeying around in the Winnipeg grocery business. Sobey's takeover of Safeway continues to have its challenges not the least of which is what to do about redundant stores. Save On Foods or Co-Op seem ready to grab space and there is new news that Walmart may set up a strictly grocery business across Canada.

There likely will more afoot in the coming months and it will continue to alter what was once a fairly static business in the city.

Lucky Supermarket Coming to Maples

Former IGA across from Maples Collegiate

One of the causalities of the Safeway and Sobey's merge was the IGA on Jefferson Avenue across from Maples Collegiate. It was closed in 2014 and has remained shut since then. It will be now the location of the second Lucky Supermarket, an Asian food store.

Lucky Supermarket first opened a 32,000 square foot store in Winnipeg in 2010 and has done well in the market.

The closing of several stores by the big players in mergers has left the market open to others who might have a different approach. There were some justifiable fears that some the sore closures might leave retail holes not just for years but for several years. In locations outside of Winnipeg that might very well still be the case. However, inside the city, new players like Save-On Foods and Co-Op stores have grabbed old grocery locations and are running with them.

The 26,000 square foot Jefferson location of Lucky is in the middle of a residential neighbourhood with a good portion of Asian heritage residents living nearby. A typical store sells around 40% of what you would find in any grocery store in Canada. The rest is a combination of Chinese, Philippines, Vietnamese and other fare from the Pacific.

The new store will employ around 100 people which is welcome in this rather tumultuous time in the Canadian economy.

Sobey's Extra to Open January 29

It took an incredibly long time to replace the Safeway that closed in 2014 in Fort Richmond Plaza. Speculation was rampant and people looked on despair as the ramshackle and outdated shopping center rotted with no plans being put forward.

This comes to an end January 29 when Sobey's Extra opens up. At 58,000 square feet, it will be bigger than a lot of grocery stores out there. It will be much more than what was available previously on the site. That is to be expected with not only Fort Garry but St. Norbert and nearby Bridgwater seeing more people move in.

The Extra in the Sobey's is more staff dedicated to customer service such as in-store chef. There are also specialists called ambassadors who will on hand in various food sections. Cooking classes, sushi bar and noodle bar will mark the location as different from other stores.

The store opens 9 AM Friday and offers $10 gift cards to the first 500 people in the door. There will be also a selection of exotic foods to taste.

The store will employ 100 people which in today's market is welcome news. The refreshing of this particular shopping enclave is likely to attract other merchants after being empty or under-utilized so long. 2016 will be a fairly good year for new grocery stores to open after a number of years of closures.

Save on Foods Coming to Bridgwater Center and St. James Street

Left, Save on Foods location

As reported here, Save on Foods is coming to Winnipeg. Billionaire Jimmy Pattison (who owns the grocer among other holdings) announced three locations and more to come at the former Zellers at Northgate Shopping Centre. Around a thousand people came to hear Pattison and his execs in person talk about the west coast grocer moving into the Winnipeg market with possibly 12 stores.

Any why not? The U.S. owners of Safeway tucked tail and ran back to the U.S, and sold their interests to Sobey's. The government forced a bare minimum of stores to be sold in the interests of competition but did nothing about all of the warehousing and manufacturing that Safeway had in the west. Subsequently, Winnipeg has been hit hard by Safeway lay-offs. The ice cream plant and now the enormous distribution plant on King Edward/Route 90 are being closed and a few hundred employes shown the door.

The only reason that Sobey's has probably not shut down even more Safeway stores is that they were possibly nervous that Co-Op might pick up even more than the four stores they have now.  Now they have even more to contend with now that Save On Foods has come to town.

In addition to the Northgate Shopping Centre where part of the old Zellers will become a store, Save on Foods will be building a store from the ground up in the Bridgwater Centre area of Waverley West and at the old Future Shop location on St. James street opposite Polo Park. All stores should come on street sometime in the fall of this year.

Old Future Shop location, future Save On Foods

The conversion of the old Future Shop on St. James is a brilliant stroke as it comes on the heels of all the roadwork to improve access. A very large Safeway and Real Canadian Superstore are close by but this store will be the closest to Polo Park than any other grocer.

Future Save on Foods at Bridgwater Centre

The move into the Bridgwater Centre is a real coup because it is totally new and the shoppers will be totally new. An entire population is developing around the area and their local store won't be Safeway, Sobey's or Co-Op. It will be a Save on Foods.

All roads lead to Save on Foods

Save on Foods is likely going to need a distribution center of their own as they continue their growth of possibly 20 stores in Manitoba and the same in Saskatchewan.

The site of the new Save on Foods

There will be hundreds of jobs created with the arrival of Save on Foods. The biggest plus though is that competition between grocers will be keen and that can only be good for everyone in Manitoba.

Save On Foods Coming to Northgate Mall

Former Zellers at Northgate Mall

I have gotten reports from several people telling me of a flyer advertising for a Save On Foods coming to the Northgate Mall on McPhillips. This is not unexpected as the company said they would be moving into Winnipeg earlier this year.

Save on Foods is a division of Overwaitea in Vancouver owned by billionaire Jimmy Pattison. The Sobey's takeover of Safeway was an opening for Save on Foods to expand ever further. The federal government forced the sale of some of those location for greater competition. It is interesting to note that even before that Save on Foods was expanding; most notably in Alberta.

The sale of Zellers to Target and the subsequent closure of Target has represented another opportunity for Save on Foods to move into the Manitoba market. Sobey's continues to consolidate its holdings and warehouses and more stores will close. In some cases there remains a Sobey's right across the street from a Safeway even in Winnipeg.

The only reason Sobey's has likely held off closing stores even faster is the threat of Co-Op and Save on Foods grabbing the abandoned locations.

The Northgate Mall on McPhillips is a odd duck. It is home to a few retailers and the last discount move theatre in the city. Zellers was never solely a grocer but it did have groceries. I suspect a Save on Foods at that location will be a very welcome addition to the neighbourhood.

It won't be the only Save on Foods for Winnipeg most certainly. Welcome to the city.

Lucerne Milk Winnipeg Sold

The Lucerne cheese plant gets shut down August 29 throwing 50 workers off the job. Now Sobey's is selling Lucerne's western milk division including the Winnipeg plant.

Lucerne has been announcing job cuts all spring so it is very likely that they were preparing it for sale.

The new owners of the milk division of Safeway are Agropur Cooperative of Quebec. The deal was for $356 million and involves long term supply agreements with Safeway and Sobey's in the west. It should be noted that Lucerne milk is generally what Starbucks uses as well.

It always struck me strange that the Competition Bureau did not force Sobey's to sell off more of the distribution and manufacturing arms of Safeway. We have seen closures of some Safeways rather than seem them sold to others such as Save On Foods or Co-Op.

It appears no jobs from the milk sale will be lost. The dirty work was done before the division changed hands.

Expect to see more fall out from the sale of Safeway to Sobey's in the day ahead.

Changes to Winnipeg's Grocery Landscape Part 2

Price Chopppers on Stafford

In the aftermath of the Sobey's purchase of Safeway, the combined companies were forced to part with five stores in the city, four Safeways and one Sobey's owned location of Price Choppers.

In all the speculation who would pick up the stores few people thought that all five would go to Winnipeg-based businesses. As has been widely reported Red River Co-Op of Winnipeg has taken over the four Safeways that were on offer and will convert them into Co-Ops. We should see sign changeovers before the end of the year.

The question of what would happen to Price Choppers was left till just recently. I had speculated based on evidence in other provinces that Sobey's might convert the store into a Freshco but it never happened in advance of takeover. Some lamented that the store may never find an owner and it would close.

Still, as the shake-up of Safeway being absorbed by Sobey's and Red River Co-op taking over four Safeway locations, rumours floated about what would happen with Price Choppers. In no particular order this is what was heard: An Asian grocery store will buy the place! Deluca's is kicking the tires. Think someone said it will become a Giant Tiger.

Those that said Giant Tiger were not all wrong. In fact what was happening was that Giant Tiger's owner Northwest Company was seriously thinking of adding the store to the nine stores and distribution center already in the city. In the end, the Winnipeg-based Northwest Company decided to keep the Price Choppers brand and make no changes in staff or format. In short, it was a big win for those people who found the store to be unique in the city.

The fall out from Sobey's buying Safeway will result in job losses. It already has in Winnipeg's case. For some reason the Competition Bureau did not make Sobey's divest of some of the manufacturing plants and distribution warehouses. The Lucerne plant for cheese and ice cream closes this summer on Kind Edward putting 50 well paid workers on the unemployment line. One wonders if Co-Op might have bought that as well if it had been offered.

There are a number of Sobey's directly across the street from a Safeway even now. What will become of them? Case in point: Kenaston at McGillivary. There are two stores directly facing one another.

Some keen eyed flyer readers have probably noticed that Safeway's flyer has changed to something looking more like a Sobey's flyer. This coincided with Safeway's Club Card being dropped in favour of the discount given to all shoppers. It was reported that the discount was extended to more products too. It might be hard to notice though as food prices are up everywhere due to poor weather in several areas of the world.

For the time being, Safeway continues to promote Airmiles. Things could get complicated as Sobey's is aligned with Aeroplan. This state of affairs probably won't continue when the Safeway name comes down.

As Spring rolls into summer, we are likely to hear quite a few more changes in terms of grocery stores. There is no doubt though that keeping Price Choppers a Price Choppers serves the interests of Winnipeg shoppers. Having a large Winnipeg corporate patron keeps the store strong. Likewise, Red River Co-Op's re-entry in the grocery market places another strong Winnipeg company in the forefront of serving the city.

Safeway, we miss you. But you turned tail as soon as Target entered the market.

Red River Co-op Takes Over Four Safeways

A newer Co-Op in Alberta

Surprise, surprise.

After the Competition Bureau ordered Sobey's to dispose of 23 store locations before it would approve the takeover of Safeway grocery, I mused that Pattison-owned Save On Foods was the logical buyer. It was no secret that Save-On Food had been pushing eastward from their Vancouver roots and had their eye on locations in the west.

It seemed the only other contender was Metro from eastern Canada finally making a move west. I deemed that that problematic due to supply chain issue since the Competition Bureau allowed Sobey's to hold onto all the Safeway warehouses and manufacturing.

There was one option I thought was a longshot and that was Co-Op moving into grocery again in Manitoba. It was just over 30 years ago that Co-Op tottered on the edge of collapse, partly due to the grocery business.

Co-Op stores in Winnipeg were sold off in 1983 along with everything that was not fuel and gas related. The company hunkered down and licked wounds after for the better part of a decade or more. Slowly, every so slowly, the member owned company crawled back from the brink.

It is hard to say why Red River sank when Calgary Co-Op grocery continued to succeed in the same timeframe. Perhaps it was the resilience of the Alberta economy, better management, better locations...who knows?

The refrain of why we didn't have Co-Op grocery stores like Calgary did was heard more than once over the years.

And yet...was there even a viable way to do it after so many years out of the market? There was a competitive group of private stores already in place and no locations to choose from that were not already served well. It didn't seem to make sense to open one store at a time with tiny margins for profit.

The Sobey's takeover represented that once in a lifetime opportunity to get back in the market and it seems Co-Op ran with it.

And now the company had the strength to do it. Red River Co-Op's membership has soared 70,000 members in the last five years alone to 240,000 members. The multiple locations for the food, carwash and convenience stores has returned over $200 million to members at an average of $200 to $300 a person.

The takeover of the former Safeway locations at 1441 Main St., 77 Vermillion Rd., 850 Dakota St. and 1120 Grant Ave give the Co-Op a good base of already profitable stores in established neighbourhoods. It seems a good bet that Co-Op members will take advantage of buying there but more likely, it seems a whole new group of members will come in as a result of buying there.

It isn't all smooth sailing. The margins on food are so much lower than on fuel. It will be a straight up battle to maintain market share.

The Co-Op in Britain suffered their worst year in 150 years and they have cover grocery, pharmacy and the like. The good results for Red River Co-Op could go off the rails without careful management.

Still, it is hard not to see the positives of this move by Co-Op for the company and for the market.

Save on Foods Coming to Winnipeg?

Save on Foods in B.C and Alberta

The rumour mill has been going strong ever since the Sobey's announcement of taking over Safeway.

The story goes that the Harper government through the Competion Bureau is going to order Sobey's to sell off some Safeway locations before the government approves the sale. This is likely to include warehouses and manufacturing sites.

The government will not take kindly to a massive amount of people being laid off. Safeway and Sobey's practically square off across the street from one another and barring the Competition Bureau intervention, numerous duplicate locations would be shut down. Not only does such a shut down hurt employees but property owners can be left with large holes to fill. Left to its own ends, Sobey's might pay property taxes or rent on a closed store for some time after just to prevent a competitor from moving into the old spot.

The Empire Group which owns Sobey's knows full well how the Competition Bureau operates. Empire sold their movie theatres in part to fund their purchase of Safeway. The government expressed concern about some of the Ontario movie theatres going to Cineplex so Sobey's sought out a second buyer.

And so it goes. Competition is good so it seems unlikely that the closure of so many stores, warehouses and manufacturers is going to stand. And so this is where the rumours start.

As mentioned in this blog, Whole Foods has been sniffing around Winnipeg for locations. Even before the Sobey's purchase of Safeway, the American grocer had a strategy to spread out across Canada. The big problem for Whole Foods is logistics. At present, they use their established store locations to help supply new stores. To move into Winnipeg would create a very long supply chain. To mitigate this problem, the creation of two or three stores would go a long way to bring the costs down. You had better believe that Whole Foods has their eye on the prize which is grab some Safeway locations should they come available.

Sobey's would probably be comfortable selling some locations to Whole Foods and the organic seller caters to a slight different dynamic. However, there is no way Whole Foods will buy all the locations Sobey's will likely have to sell.

This means the likely buyers are Quebec-based Metro and B.C.-based Save on Foods.

Metro is a dominant force in the east but it is still digesting the large purchase of stores in Ontario that include Dominion and A&P. Could they make a play for stores in the west that Sobey's is forced to give up? Most certainly. Will they? It is possible as they will not get this chance again to grab choice locations all across western Canada.

In the case of Save On Foods, there is very little doubt they were moving eastward and the rumour has been for some time that Manitoba and Saskatchewan are on their radar. Just this week Save on Foods moves into the Calgary market for the first time in force. Four stores are planned over the next dozen months. The company already has stores across Alberta.

Save on Foods is owned by one of Canada's richest men Jimmy Pattison of Vancouver. In 1968, he took over the Overwaitea supermarket, a grocer for B.C. since 1915. In 1990, the Save On Foods concept was spun off from the namesake Overwaitea group. Since then, it has been the primary store concept of the company.

The availability of stores, distributions centres and possibly some manufacturing being put on the market by Sobey's would be hard for Save on Foods to ignore. In one fell swoop, they could get great locations and scare Metro out of the market and possibly get the share of consumers that doesn't care for Sobey's as much as they did for Safeway.

It would not be the first time that Jimmy Pattison has rode in to Manitoba to pick up assets in the last while. He has picked up some car dealerships and radio stations in the last year. In some cases, the Competition Bureau has ordered large mergers of radio stations to sell some of their assets and Pattison has been there to scoop them up.

It is likely that the decision on Sobey's takeover of Safeway comes in the next months, possibly the new year.

It could be very possible that Winnipeg sees a few Save on Foods in the 2014 year.

Grant Park Movie Theatres Sold

Empire Theatres at the back of Grant Park

Unloved and unwanted. Or can't have. Grant Park Shopping Mall's Empire Theatres has changed hands again. Built in 1969 as a single Cinerama 720 seat theatre, it was the perfect theatre to see epic movies like 2001 and Star Wars. In 1989, it was split and expanded to four theatres and again in 1998, four more theatres were added for a total of eight and 1600 seats.

As more and more mall theatres close or become stand alone buildings, the Empire continued to defy the odds.

Now comes the news that the Sobey's family through their Empire group have sold their theatres to two other companies: Cineplex Odeon and Landmark.

For many years, the Grant Park Cinema was operated by Cineplex Odeon but the company was forced to sell it in 2005 when Famous Players merged with its main competitor. The competition bureau decided that it was just too much concentration of one company in Winnipeg.

The Sobey's family came to rescue and Empire Theatres in Winnipeg was founded.

Landmark Cinemas from Alberta now becomes owner of the halls. Most people know of Landmark through their ownership of the 1,200 seat Towne Cinema 8 since 1981. This was Canada's first stand alone multiplex.

Landmark also operates the Globe Theatres in Portage Place.

What does this mean for Winnipeg? In the grand scheme of things...probably little. Grant Park will be renamed and jobs will be retained.

But what of the possible movie theatres in St. James and Seasons of Tuxedo? As mentioned earlier in this blog, there are fewer and fewer possible competitors. At one time AMC Theaters was a possible contender but they retreated from the Canadian market as well.

It is very uncertain if the much talked about brand new theatres will ever be built given the dominance of one of the players. Landmark still seems to be a company that has generally stayed away from competing with the really big players. To be sure the purchase of Empire makes then bigger but will we see even greater investment in a super theatre complex in Seasons of Tuxedo?

The remains to be seen.

Canada Safeway Sold to Sobey's

To certain, it looked like something had to change with so many food retailers crowding into the market. It will be Canada Safeway that retreats back across the border with its tail between its legs and $6 billion in its pockets with Sobey's grabbing up all their stores and concerns.

Winnipeg has a long history in Winnipeg as city was the headquarters starting from 1928. Eventually, executive offices moved to Calgary although Winnipeg continues to have as many as 40 back office people based around their Waverley offices. The old Pacific offices have long since been vacated.

I am uncertain when head office functions moved west but the 1980s were unkind to Winnipeg with recession and bruising company closures. This is when Read Canadian Superstore's WestFair Foods noisily exited decrying the NDP's payroll tax. I think Safeway slowly followed suit.

It is uncertain what will happen to office staff given that Sobey's will look to end redundancies. This is more likely to have a huge impact where Calgary has close to 600 head office staff now. The 40 staff in Winnipeg may have a better chance as back office functions for the west might best continue in a less expensive city than Calgary.

The very large distribution center of Safeway set up in 1962 and with about 80 employees is part of the sale to Sobey's. It is difficult to say what will happen there as Sobey's as massive 350,000 square foot warehouse on Inkster. However, a lot of the recent expansion there has been to supply Target with food product.

There are 10 Sobey's in Winnipeg, a Cash and Carry and other associated stores of the company. Safeway has 20+ stores. There is going to be some cross over.

Do we see store merged? Do we see some sold? Do we see some go under a new banner and marketed differently? What about Airmiles and Safeway cards? So many questions.

Safeway has been part of people's lives here for a very long time. It is not hard to see they have been struggling though and there have been pressures on staff along the way. Those pressures are likely to continue.

Sobey's has a pretty good reputation and is a Canadian owned company. Perhaps a sign of good things to come.

A Desperate Plea for Grocery Stores

Urban Fare Yaletown, Vancouver

Sobey's Urban Fresh, Jasper Avenue, Edmonton

Sobey's Express  Roncesvalles, Toronto

A desperate plea is rising from people downtown and immediate surroundings. The closing of three grocery stores even in neighbourhoods that seems to have housing such as Notre Dame and on Main Street is accelerating.

Today's Free Press had a contribution from a resident of a senior's apartment behind Portage Place who sounded the alarm.

Over the last several months, we have lost the Wagon Wheel, the Paddle Wheel, Zellers, including its grocery store, the youth hostel, the NRC Centre, and several and sundry smaller venues within the Portage Place complex.

We are fast becoming inundated with the losses.

Add to that the Winnipeg Film Group and Gio's niteclub in the last day.

Now, some of this is not all negative. The Wagon Wheel makes way for a fairly expansive and innovative mixed use of offices, hotel, parking, restaurants and condos. We can be sad for the end of an era but happy about the possibilities on a boutique hotel and condos might bring.

Gio's appears to be making way for some development...possibly apartments. This is a good thing. Gio's has had a few locations over the years. The takeover of their present location was made possible by the closure of a pizza joint and the fact of so much empty land. Hard times made for a good spot to operate and the gay and lesbian community now find that their efforts to bring people downtown have made their property valuable for other urban reclamation projects.

I suspect that Gio's will find a way to come back, perhaps to some place along Portage Avenue although one blogger suggested the Free Press Cafe.

The Winnipeg Film Group is also looking to move. Part of it is expansion mode but some is not. This is what appeared in The Uniter.

...surveys have shown concerns about parking and night-time safety are preventing Winnipeggers from attending screenings.

Night-time safety. Not good. I don't think theaters goers for screenings downtown are overly sensitive either.

Just one more indication that increasing the feeling of safety and security must continue.

It isn't an impossible task. The Forks is generally considered safe and not part of downtown. We need to increase that envelope of security through better lighting, more patrols and better planning.

It is easy to feel insecure and vulnerable if the lighting is poor, sight-lines are awful and where there is little pedestrian traffic.

But back to grocery stores...

We are seeing more people move downtown. Waterfront Drive now boasts a population where none existed five years ago. Hotels are being converted back to apartments and condo conversions are taking places in warehouse space and offices. New apartments are coming as well.

And yet fewer choices or no choices for grocery stores.

It seems to me that if the government ends up having to take over The Bay downtown, it would do well to go out of their freaking way to make sure that a Sobey's Express, a Safeway or any other grocer out there be located in the basement. They would probably love to be a in large government building.

Moreover, perhaps a few restaurants wouldn't mind being in the building at ground floor as well. If and when The Bay takes flight, the worst thing would be if the whole 600,000 feet becomes government offices and you need to go through security checks just to enter the parkade.

We NEED grocery stores if urban living is to succeed. Osborne Village is partly the success it is today because it has a large Safeway in the center of it.

If downtown condos can get a tax break, maybe a large new grocery store can too.

Otherwise, we are going to have a migration out of the urban areas of the city despite best intentions.

Changes to Winnipeg's Grocery Landscape Part 1

Price Choppers on Stafford Street.



Sobey's.



Urban Fresh store in Edmonton, Alberta.

It sometimes takes a while for things to happen in Winnipeg. Price Choppers could be changing. At present Price Choppers only has one location on Stafford Street but sometime in the new year, the name could change as well as the store format.

There is a conversion taking place at many Price Choppers across Canada to a new store format called FreshCo. It would be a shame if Winnipeg was bypassed during the next year.

FreshCo stores are starting to appear in Ontario. The new stores offer multicultural and ethnic foods.

The present Price Choppers are known for produce. That will not change according to what Sobey's officials are saying. Sobey's is the parent company of Price Choppers and FreshCo.

Customers entering a FreshCo store will first encounter fruit and vegetables in a great hall immediately inside that flows into a deli area, a bakery market, and a local cheese and meat market.

Fingers crossed that the Winnipeg Price Choppers will be converted.

I think more Winnipeg people would be interested if one of Sobey's other store formats came to the city. It is called Urban Fresh. Their format is fresh food and ready-made meals. Some call them mini-Sobey's but for people living downtown, they are a welcome addition.

The grocery war is coming to Winnipeg as Wal-Mart upgrades their stores to sell more grocery items. I expect we'll see even greater changes in store formats in the coming months.



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