Downtown Grocery Stores

[Ozabald]

Vancouver does very well with a robust retail grocery sector on the D/T peninsula. There are 3 Urban Fare (Save-On Foods upscale brand), 2 Safeway (Davie; Robson - both recently renovated and expanded), 2 IGA (Burrard; Robson), T&T in Chinatown's International Village, Whole Foods (Robson), YIG on Davie, No Frills on Denman, 2 Nesters Market (Seymour; Abbott), Choices Market on Richards; plus Costco on Expo Blvd. There will be a Loblaws City Market going into the Canada Post redevelopment (ie: Amazon) on W. Georgia. Plus, there are numerous SDM and London Drugs with their grocery sections.

Just over the Cambie Bridge from downtown, there's Save-On-Foods and Whole Foods across from each other on Cambie; Urban Fare in Olympic Village and a No Frills on Broadway @ Yukon. Just over the Granville St. Bridge, there's a No Frills on W. 4th.

Ironically, the one area of Vancouver which was a food desert until recently was Kerrisdale; which is an upscale neighbourhood on Vancouver's Westside. There is now a Save-on-Foods on W. 49th and W. Blvd. Though in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood, it is eight blocks from the retail centre of the neighbourhood on W. 41st @ W. Blvd.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by haljackey

*Cries in downtown London*

I think it's the mid-sized cities of about 250,000 to 1,000,000 that generally fare the worst in this regard. (I know I know, there are exceptions.)

The biggest cities have the population to support downtown supermarkets, and in smaller cities they tend to be downtown since that's where most things typically are, e.g. Brandon has a Superstore a couple blocks from downtown Brandon, while in Winnipeg you have go a few km to Polo Park to get to the closest Superstore. It's the cities in the middle that are neither here nor there.

[north 42]

There is a full sized Food Basics just two blocks from the Windsor/Detroit Tunnel, which is right downtown.
There are also some other smaller ethnic grocery stores in the core as well.

[Chadillaccc]

Downtown Calgary has...

- 5 full-sized grocery stores (Safeway, Sunterra, Co-Op, Urban Fare, and Superstore)
- 6+ specialty grocery stores (Amaranth Whole Foods Market, Community Natural Foods, H-Mart Asian Grocery, A-Mart Korean Grocery, Kay's Market, East Village Grocery, Chinatown Groceries)
- 5 Pharmacy/Food Options (3 Shoppers Drug Mart, 2 London Drugs)

Really well served for only 4 km2 with 50,000 people.

The inner ring neighbourhoods surrounding downtown each have a grocery store too except for Inglewood. Kensington (circled), Crescent Heights, Bankview/Marda Loop, and Mission each have Safeway, Bridgeland has Blush Lane (circled).

The biggest downtown food desert we have is Eau Claire, but even they're only a 5 - 15 minute walk over the Peace Bridge to the Kensington Safeway. No one in the CBD, West End, Chinatown, East Village, or Beltline is more than 8 blocks from a full service option. Additionally, the East Village Superstore is only 1 block from City Hall Station on the Downtown Free-Fare Ctrain Zone.


Red = Full-sized | Green = Specialty | Blue = Pharmacy/Food

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Vancouver does very well with a robust retail grocery sector on the D/T peninsula. There are 3 Urban Fare (Save-On Foods upscale brand), 2 Safeway (Davie; Robson - both recently renovated and expanded), 2 IGA (Burrard; Robson), T&T in Chinatown's International Village, Whole Foods (Robson), YIG on Davie, No Frills on Denman, 2 Nesters Market (Seymour; Abbott), Choices Market on Richards; plus Costco on Expo Blvd. There will be a Loblaws City Market going into the Canada Post redevelopment (ie: Amazon) on W. Georgia. Plus, there are numerous SDM and London Drugs with their grocery sections.

Just over the Cambie Bridge from downtown, there's Save-On-Foods and Whole Foods across from each other on Cambie; Urban Fare in Olympic Village and a No Frills on Broadway @ Yukon. Just over the Granville St. Bridge, there's a No Frills on W. 4th.

Ironically, the one area of Vancouver which was a food desert until recently was Kerrisdale; which is an upscale neighbourhood on Vancouver's Westside. There is now a Save-on-Foods on W. 49th and W. Blvd. Though in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood, it is eight blocks from the retail centre of the neighbourhood on W. 41st @ W. Blvd.

Wow that's lots!

[someone123]

Halifax is pretty good. There is a local upscale grocery chain called Pete's that operates an urban format full sized grocery store downtown and then a second similar place called Arthur's Urban Market just opened. Then there's a Superstore and a Sobeys on the edge of downtown. The Superstore is a full on suburban type store but it's a 15 minute walk from the middle of downtown so it's very practical.

There's a main farmers' market and then I think still a secondary one and then there are some smaller grocery type places, usually targeting some specific ethnic market (e.g. Chinese or Lebanese), scattered around. Quinpool Road has a quasi-urban format Superstore built into a 70's complex that has a storefront entrance and parking in the back. Again unattractive but practical. It's got a Canadian Tire too.

Part of the cause or symptom of the decline of Gottingen Street in Halifax was when the Sobeys there closed (circa 1990? earlier?). That neighbourhood still has the Windsor Street Sobeys so it's not quite a food desert but it is/was the poorer part of town and it has less convenient grocery stores.


Source

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Downtown Calgary has...

- 5 full-sized grocery stores (Safeway, Sunterra, Co-Op, Urban Fare, and Superstore)
- 4 specialty grocery stores (Amaranth Whole Foods Market, Community Natural Foods, H-Mart Asian Grocery, A-Mart Korean Grocery)
- 5 Pharmacy/Food Options (3 Shoppers Drug Mart, 2 London Drugs)

Really well served for only 4 km2 with 50,000 people.

The inner ring neighbourhoods surrounding downtown each have a grocery store too except for Inglewood. Kensington (circled), Crescent Heights, Bankview/Marda Loop, and Mission each have Safeway, Bridgeland has Blush Lane (circled).

The biggest downtown food desert we have is Eau Claire, but even they're only a 5 - 15 minute walk over the Peace Bridge to the Kensington Safeway.


Red = Full-sized | Green = Specialty | Blue = Pharmacy/Food

There are small grocer options in Chinatown, no?

And is the small grocer in 6th Avenue and 8th Street still operating?

[Chadillaccc]

Oh shit, you're right. I forgot Kay's Market (6th and 8th), and East Village Grocery. Chinatown has a ton of specialty options.

I'm gonna add those two to the map.


Updated that post!

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Vancouver does very well with a robust retail grocery sector on the D/T peninsula. There are 3 Urban Fare (Save-On Foods upscale brand), 2 Safeway (Davie; Robson - both recently renovated and expanded), 2 IGA (Burrard; Robson), T&T in Chinatown's International Village, Whole Foods (Robson), YIG on Davie, No Frills on Denman, 2 Nesters Market (Seymour; Abbott), Choices Market on Richards; plus Costco on Expo Blvd. There will be a Loblaws City Market going into the Canada Post redevelopment (ie: Amazon) on W. Georgia. Plus, there are numerous SDM and London Drugs with their grocery sections.

Just over the Cambie Bridge from downtown, there's Save-On-Foods and Whole Foods across from each other on Cambie; Urban Fare in Olympic Village and a No Frills on Broadway @ Yukon. Just over the Granville St. Bridge, there's a No Frills on W. 4th.

Ironically, the one area of Vancouver which was a food desert until recently was Kerrisdale; which is an upscale neighbourhood on Vancouver's Westside. There is now a Save-on-Foods on W. 49th and W. Blvd. Though in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood, it is eight blocks from the retail centre of the neighbourhood on W. 41st @ W. Blvd.

there is also Fresh St Market in Vancouver House next to a London Drugs.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

there is also Fresh St Market in Vancouver House next to a London Drugs.

Wow even more in Downtown Vancouver!

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Downtown Calgary has...

- 5 full-sized grocery stores (Safeway, Sunterra, Co-Op, Urban Fare, and Superstore)
- 6+ specialty grocery stores (Amaranth Whole Foods Market, Community Natural Foods, H-Mart Asian Grocery, A-Mart Korean Grocery, Kay's Market, East Village Grocery, Chinatown Groceries)
- 5 Pharmacy/Food Options (3 Shoppers Drug Mart, 2 London Drugs)

Really well served for only 4 km2 with 50,000 people.

The inner ring neighbourhoods surrounding downtown each have a grocery store too except for Inglewood. Kensington (circled), Crescent Heights, Bankview/Marda Loop, and Mission each have Safeway, Bridgeland has Blush Lane (circled).

The biggest downtown food desert we have is Eau Claire, but even they're only a 5 - 15 minute walk over the Peace Bridge to the Kensington Safeway. No one in the CBD, West End, Chinatown, East Village, or Beltline is more than 8 blocks from a full service option. Additionally, the East Village Superstore is only 1 block from City Hall Station on the Downtown Free-Fare Ctrain Zone.


Red = Full-sized | Green = Specialty | Blue = Pharmacy/Food

Not to be picky, but that is a pretty wide radius for Downtown Calgary.

If we did the same, we would include Chinatown, 107ave and Oliver and then have about 5 smaller African, Asian, Indian grocers, a City Market, a Safeway, a large Asian with Lucky 97 and a few other specialty BBQ/meat/halal stores.

What does Downtown Downtown have?

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by haljackey

*Cries in downtown London*

I think London will get one fairly soon. The downtown population is soaring but it's currently certainly not a food desert as the Market is there.

As far as the suburban areas having a lot in terms of their populations and the downtowns not, it's not a fair analogy. Remember that the suburbs tend to home to a lot more kids and hence money sensitive parents.

Families are much smaller in the downtown with many single people or just couples who are far more likely to eat out than suburbanites. There are also many older downsizers who again shop far less.

It's not so much the raw population numbers as it is the demographic makeup of the area. This means you need more people to support the store than you would in the suburbs made even more pronounced when you consider the cost of the land to build the store will be far higher than in the suburbs.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Is there a grocery store in the old port area now? I used to live down there and hated the cold walk to the IGA through Old Mtl/Chinatown.

I don't believe so. There is that IGA which is in Complexe Desjardins and also a Marché Adonis in Griffintown to the west. Adonis is a full supermarket, with a Middle Eastern twist.

Both are about 1 km from the old town's heart.

The old town has lots of dépanneurs and a number of specialized groceries. The Marché Bonsecours building has a marketplace of sorts as well.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Not to be picky, but that is a pretty wide radius for Downtown Calgary.

If we did the same, we would include Chinatown, 107ave and Oliver and then have about 5 smaller African, Asian, Indian grocers, a City Market, a Safeway, a large Asian with Lucky 97 and a few other specialty BBQ/meat/halal stores.

What does Downtown Downtown have?

Ya looks like Downtown Calgary has 1 or 2 grocery stores according to the map.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I don't believe so. There is that IGA which is in Complexe Desjardins and also a Marché Adonis in Griffintown to the west. Adonis is a full supermarket, with a Middle Eastern twist.

Both are about 1 km from the old town's heart.

The old town has lots of dépanneurs and a number of specialized groceries. The Marché Bonsecours building has a marketplace of sorts as well.

There will be an IGA on the ground floor of Le Duke, almost finished on Boul. Robert-Bourassa at the edge of Old Montreal.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Not to be picky, but that is a pretty wide radius for Downtown Calgary.

If we did the same, we would include Chinatown, 107ave and Oliver and then have about 5 smaller African, Asian, Indian grocers, a City Market, a Safeway, a large Asian with Lucky 97 and a few other specialty BBQ/meat/halal stores.

What does Downtown Downtown have?

It only includes Downtown and Beltline. As my post says, it's only 4 km2.

Even if you did include all of what you mentioned (which why would anyone give a shit? I provided a map showing how compact the area is [17 blocks by 17 blocks minus the river curve, with 50,000 people]), you still only mentioned half of the number of options we have in the same area. If we only included downtown (1.8 km2, 20,000+ people), we'd still have Superstore, Kay's Grocery, East Village Grocery, Chinatown, London Drugs, and Shoppers.

Everything doesn't have to be an competition, I literally provided a map delineating what is considered by all Calgarians to be downtown. The title of the thread says "Downtown Grocery Stores," not "CBD Grocery Stores".

Originally Posted by Denscity

Ya looks like Downtown Calgary has 1 or 2 grocery stores according to the map.

There isn't a major city downtown in the world that only considers its downtown to be a 3 block by 3 block radius The CBD is centred on where that map says "Stephen Avenue Walk" and is 6 blocks by 10 blocks, the other four downtown neighbourhoods are clearly labeled in place, and the Beltline for some reason has several names on it (the "design district" doesn't even exist), and Victoria Park was merged into the Beltline 15 years ago.

[YOWflier]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

In the five full service grocery stores within the Central Area, I counted Whole Foods, Metro and Loblwas on Isabella in the Glebe, Hartman's (now Massine's) in Centretown and Loblaws on Rideau. I don't consider Farm Boy full service because they don't carry cleaning products, toiletries or soft drinks.

Are you referring to the Centertown location specifically (I've never been)? Farm boy most definitely sells that stuff (the big brands plus some more "exotic" stuff) in general.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

It only includes Downtown and Beltline. As my post says, it's only 4 km2.

Even if you did include all of what you mentioned (which why would anyone give a shit? I provided a map showing how compact the area is [17 blocks by 17 blocks minus the river curve, with 50,000 people]), you still only mentioned half of the number of options we have in the same area. If we only included downtown (1.8 km2, 20,000+ people), we'd still have Superstore, Kay's Grocery, East Village Grocery, Chinatown, London Drugs, and Shoppers.

Everything doesn't have to be an competition, I literally provided a map delineating what is considered by all Calgarians to be downtown. The title of the thread says "Downtown Grocery Stores," not "CBD Grocery Stores".

Not a competition or measuring contest, genuinely curious.

Relax.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Not to be picky, but that is a pretty wide radius for Downtown Calgary.

If we did the same, we would include Chinatown, 107ave and Oliver and then have about 5 smaller African, Asian, Indian grocers, a City Market, a Safeway, a large Asian with Lucky 97 and a few other specialty BBQ/meat/halal stores.

What does Downtown Downtown have?

On quick glance, all 5 of the full size grocery stores that Chad listed are as close or closer to the CBD than the United and SaveOn stores that you included in you list for downtown Edmonton.

Anyway, defining "downtown" is hardly a science. And it's great to see both of Alberta's two big downtown areas becoming fully functional residential areas (with multiple functional neighborhoods). That was not the case 25 years ago.

[zahav]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Wow even more in Downtown Vancouver!

There's also an HMart on Robson and Seymour, and Hannam Supermarket (also Korean) on Robson and Jervis. There are numerous other small ones too, the ones Ozabald mentioned are just the biggies