General Retail News

[Joedelay Highhoe]

I'm a big fan of Freshco, and this location is between work and home... so I hope this is true!

[panamaniac]

2500 sq ft would be way too small for FreshCo or any other full supermarket.

[neonjoe]

Looks to be around 2500 sqft, bit on the small side but still serviceable. As for parking, there's additional spots at the side; and a lot of their customers (Conestoga students) will be on foot.

I think you mean around 25000sqft. When Westmount opened as a Price Chopper it was the biggest in the chain at 31000sqft of floor space, that store was renovated during the subsequent years by removing storage space.

[KevinL]

Sorry, yes, I had a metric conversion in there from the map measurement I took and lost an order of magnitude.

[razzie13]

The company appears to be opening more small-format stores, including a new one at Hespeler Road and Sheldon in Cambridge that feels like it could fit inside most Shoppers Drug Mart locations with six aisles that are only 36' long. Don't let the size fool you - you can do a full shop in that location. It'll be a welcome change in the Doon area.

[panamaniac]

Looks to be around 2500 sqft, bit on the small side but still serviceable. As for parking, there's additional spots at the side; and a lot of their customers (Conestoga students) will be on foot.

I think you mean around 25000sqft. When Westmount opened as a Price Chopper it was the biggest in the chain at 31000sqft of floor space, that store was renovated during the subsequent years by removing storage space.

That would be more like it.

[neonjoe]

The company appears to be opening more small-format stores, including a new one at Hespeler Road and Sheldon in Cambridge that feels like it could fit inside most Shoppers Drug Mart locations with six aisles that are only 36' long. Don't let the size fool you - you can do a full shop in that location. It'll be a welcome change in the Doon area.

This actually brings to mind that in the late 90s or early 2000s Sobeys had a small format discount grocery store on Hespeler Road Called 'Price Check Foods' it was located in what is now the Dollarama across Sheldon from this current FreshCo. History is repeating itself.

[bravado]

If only there was a way to reduce the costs of opening more neighbourhood-sized stores so that they could be more feasible and profitable... Perhaps addressing parking minimums would be a great way to help local businesses thrive but to many in the region that's the most radical proposal possible.

[tomh009]

The big challenge for the independents is that they have no purchasing power compared to the big chains, so their costs are significantly higher. That's something that the Loblaws "independent" grocers are at least partially addressing by having Loblaws supply much of their product.

Marche Leo is a real independent and they are taking a different path by addressing a niche not occupied by the big chains, offering some premium and local products that people wouldn't find elsewhere--and the convenience of a downtown location (for DTK people). It's much the same concept as Vincenzo's, but a very different store from a Zehrs or a Freshco.

[KevinL]

The long-vacant segment on the south side of the Laurentian Zehrs building has had some active work recently, and finally a 'coming soon' sign for... Value Village. Not what I expected, but could be useful.

[neonjoe]

The long-vacant segment on the south side of the Laurentian Zehrs building has had some active work recently, and finally a 'coming soon' sign for... Value Village. Not what I expected, but could be useful.

Now just need something in the former Target/Zellers which has been vacant for a decade!

[Acitta]

From Reddit