‘Beyond needed’: Two new discount grocery stores open in Nova Scotia

As food prices continue to squeeze household budgets, more Maritimers are turning to discount grocery stores.

Two discount grocery stores opened in the Halifax area Thursday and were quickly filled with shoppers.

FreshCo, a Canadi.an chain of discount grocery stores owned by Sobeys, now has locations in Bedford and Lower Sackville.

“It’s a very exciting day for all of us. At FreshCo, our mission is to help Canadians make every dollar count, lowering prices for Canadians is our tag line so we are really excited to bring that here. We know customers here want value too,” says Sarah Joyce, senior vice president of discount at Empire.

Joyce says the team is looking forward to providing Martimers with choice.

“We have three guarantees that we offer, one of them is a fresh guarantee, so it’s fresh or its free. One of them is a price match, where we make sure we match on ad items and one of then is a rain check, so if we are out of stock of the product we will give that product with a 10 percent off the next time you come in,” she says.

The high cost of food continues to contribute to an ongoing affordability crisis in Canada, which has Maritime shoppers looking for bargains.

“We need the discount, we need every break in pricing that we can possibly find,” said Peter Ledwinka, who was shopping at the FreshCo in Bedford, N.S.

“Beyond needed, I never in my life thought I would pay six bucks for a loaf of bread,” said Valerie Macdonald.

“Very expensive, for even $50 you get nothing – your plain bread, milk and water basically,” says Pam Osborne who was shopping at the FreshCo in Lower Sackville.

Wayne Lacroix, the owner of the FreshCo Bedford, recently moved back from the West Coast where there is greater choice for consumers. He says he’s pleased to be able to bring affordable options to Maritimers.

“They are liking the variety in the multiculturalism is probably the biggest one I have heard today and the prices,” he says.

FreshCo is not the only new discount grocery store to come to Nova Scotia. Loblaws is also expanding its low-cost option, opening a new location of its No Frills in Dartmouth Crossing.

Some customers say they are less concerned about the brand of store and more focused on the prices.

“It is very valuable to price compare and go to that trouble, I do find that,” says shopper Peter Ledwinka.

“My wife and I are both discount shoppers. We go to Giant Tiger, we will go to Walmart and then the Giant Tiger to check certain things. We will buy certain things at certain places. We used to be full-time Sobeys shoppers, not anymore. And the best way to keep prices down for the general population is competition,” adds Deveaux.

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