After months of construction, staffing and stocking, the new Loblaws City Market in downtown Vancouver’s Postville will open on February 2nd.
40,000 Feet Grocery Store (located at 658 Homer St.) is one of Vancouver’s largest specialty food stores. With this much space, co-owner Dave Sherwood said there’s an opportunity to offer customers a variety of foods.
“When we have a facility this large and we currently have 170 employees, we feel like we can offer real value in fresh products,” he told VIA during a pre-opening day tour.
Fresh food doesn’t just mean a cooler with produce shelves and meat trays. This means a lot of food preparation takes place in the building, creating ready-to-eat hot meals as well as options that can be prepared quickly and taken away.
About half of his staff are full-time employees (an oddity in the grocery store industry, Sherwood says, which typically relies on part-time workers), and more than half (94 to be exact). ) is involved in preparing food at a restaurant. Stores as opposed to shelves and cashiers. These range from sushi chefs to chicken fryers to fruit preparers to meat cutters.
That changes to tortilla chips, daily rotisserie turkeys, and pizza prepared in-store (including hand-stretched dough), which are fried just steps away from where customers pick up their bags.
“Currently, we make all our own kebabs and homemade sausages,” he says. “We try to really show that we make our products in-store.”
There is also an eating area with a seating area and tables near the service counter for those purchasing ready-to-eat meals.
Loblaws has recently faced public criticism for its pricing, but Sherwood says it tries to provide value to customers.
“We know things aren’t cheap. And I’d never say, ‘Come here, we’re the cheapest place to shop in the world,’ but we’re the best place to shop.” “We believe we are providing value,” he says.
To that end, customers can enjoy $5 tabs of homemade smoked salmon dip to buy on-the-go, $10 build-your-own pasta bowls, and new featured deal programs (like a box of Canadian Pantry Classic Kraft Dinners). You can expect to find it. They are on sale for 60 cents each. )
The shelves also stock a variety of general grocery items, from the famous yellow label products to premium BC products. There are also many Vancouver-made products, such as Hobbs’ Pickles and Milano’s Coffee.
“BC products aren’t always the cheapest, but they offer good value,” Sherwood says. “And the more we really, really try to support local, the more we can grow local businesses.”
The store will open for the first time on February 2nd. Regular business hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, but on event nights like when Lionel Messi is in town for a soccer game, the Canucks playoffs, or a big concert. has added extended hours (closes at 11 p.m.).
Parking is accessible by elevator from the Hamilton Street side to the store level. Parking is always free for shoppers (subject to cashier verification).
Sherwood launched the store’s Facebook page a few months ago and said she’s looking forward to meeting the people she’s been interacting with online in person.
Video: Take a look inside the huge new grocery store in downtown Vancouver
@forkingawesomevia Take a look at the new giant grocery store in downtown Vancouver (with lots of ready-to-eat items) #forkisamazing #vancouverbc #no sponsor ♬ Early 90’s Jazz Hip Hop (219692) – TOKYO Lonesome Blue
