There's no real reason for taking a star away as such. I just can't give 5 stars for a discount grocery store. They never wow me. Let's say 4.5!
This No Frills seems to be pretty new. Everything is bright and shiny and sparkling. The fruit and veg section is pretty large and everything looked appealing and fresh on both occasions I've been in over the past week. Prices were also good. There is a little fresh bread section with bagels etc to take individually but no huge diet-ruining bakery. There is a pharmacy though. Handy!
Great bargains on a wide range of grocery items-everything from dairy to tinned goods to the Woolite that was $3 cheaper than at Shopper's Drug Mart. The President's Choice items didn't seem to be priced much differently to Loblaws or Bloorstreet Market but overall my bags of groceries were much cheaper than usual.
Aisles are wide and it seemed pretty calm in there on a weekday. It will probably get busier as more people find it-there's a good catchment area and I'm sure people living in the area will be more than happy not to pay the crazy prices Metro seem to think they can charge. ($3.59 for a litre of milk. Seriously?!?).
Checkout was quick and pleasant. It seems counterintuitive that the discount arm of the Loblaws family of stores has better service than the supposedly high-end Loblaws and Bloorstreet Market, but that was my experience this week. The girl didn't recognise my parsnip and thought it was bok choi...but at least she was pleasant!
Definitely going back-even if it means having to get one of those old woman shopping trollies to bring everything home. It's worth it!