I've been shopping at the Big Carrot since 1990! First the pros:
-They used to be the only bigger organic and natural food store in Toronto and they therefore were trailblazers in this market.
- They were one of the first stores to take a stand against GMO foods (and still one of the very few). They worked hard to eliminate GMOs in their food section.
-They have one of the best selections of organic, non GMO and local foods. It is better than Whole Foods who sell a lot of non-organic foods.
-They financially support organic farmers and other small alternative food businesses.
-Their supplements department has an excellent selection and the prices for supplements are generally reasonable compared to other supplement retailers.
-They are a co-op and therefore the people who work there receive fair compensation and decent working conditions (as far as I can tell).
Now the cons:
-Aside from a few friendly people at the cash, most of the people who work there are not friendly at all. I've been seeing the same faces for over 25 years (a testament of how good the working conditions must be), however some of the people who work there never say hi or even seem to recognize me!
-I hate the new deli. The layout is terrible. It makes the Big Carrot much less inviting as a store because there no longer is any seating close to the deli (the message seems to be that the Big Carrot no longer wants customers to linger in the store unless they are shopping). The deli food is too expensive. I used to eat lunch or a snack at the Big Carrot while doing my shopping, but I refuse to pay close to $20 for a salad and then eat it at that cramped counter on the other side of the cashiers.
-The Big Carrot has relaxed their policy on non-GMO ingredients. However, they did it quietly. Many of the supplements and personal care products do contain GMO ingredients. Apparently it's too difficult to stock the shelves with non-GMO products in these two departments. I shop at the Big Carrot regularly (although a lot less than I used to) and I didn't know about this shift in policy until I asked. More transparency would be nice.
-Prices are too high. I've cut down significantly on how much I shop at the Big Carrot because of the prices. Fortunately there now are more choices of where to shop such as farmers markets and other natural food stores.