It was a Foodbasics. They closed that down but not before having an outrageous sale on all their leftover stock. I loaded up my 2012 survival bunker tight 'n' proper with all manner of jars of pesto and artichoke hearts (http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/JPCQVyk4jLAfUhFKUrCyBQ?select=dqqt_n7O5bfzeaySdZoXkg). Ladies I will make you an awesome salad as we await the retreat of the Mayan sky gods and the invading armies of Nibaru to emerge and repopulate the Earth. Oh. The sweet love we'll make as we claim Scotland for our own.
Anyway, I thought maybe a Marshall's or something was going to go here. Why would anyone close down a clean, modern Foodbasics to open up another grocery store? Well, I guess that's exactly what they did.
A few licks of paint. A few new shopping buggies with the wheels all operational. Behold. Freshco.
Their angle. They serve fresh food, not like those grocery stores that serve unfresh food and somehow remain in business.
Beyond the marketing hype, is this rejigged discount grocery store any better than the Foodbasics that stood there before?
One thing I like is you can bring the shopping carts beyond the store front. The previous store you had to lug your bags back to your car. I hate that. The carts here are of the 25 cent deposit variety. Not the loonie carts they seem to have other places where the locals find 25 cents in exchange for a $200 cart to be a fair trade but $1 is outrageous.
They have a seafood and meat counter. That's a bit different for a discount grocery store. The produce section seems a bit smaller than before.
I wasn't overly blown away by the prices. They carry all the Our Compliments (or I guess it's just Compliments these days) brands. Milk is pricier than Shoppers but cheaper than Loblaws. Being close to the Jewish Bathurst stretch, you'll find a lot of kosher products.
I guess Freshco is some play to bring a more upscale environment to the discount end. I wasn't fully impressed.