Downtown grocer closes after 3 decades amid series of legal, financial troubles

Sunterra's Jasper Avenue location closed Friday after more than 30 years in business.

The sun has set on a healthy grocer and eatery that called the downtown core home for more than 30 years.

Sunterra’s Jasper Avenue location saw a quiet turnout for its final day of operations on Friday. It first opened its doors in 1994.

Sunterra is an Alberta-based market and farm model that offers healthier prepared foods and locally sourced groceries.

The eight – now seven – locations across the province house meat products largely raised and processed by the company’s farms.

The Sunterra Food Corporation and affiliated companies filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in April last year. The group cited months of financial strain amid rising food and labour costs.

Prior to that filing, in 2024, a Sunterra-owned meat processing plant in Trochu, Alta., was lost in a fire.

The company’s U.S. affiliates were also facing allegations of cheque-kiting south of the border – fraud that involves writing a cheque drawn from a bank account that doesn’t have enough money.

An Alberta judge later ruled the grocer company was liable to U.S. agricultural lender Compeer Financial for around $35 million.

The downtown Commerce Place designation is one of two Edmonton Sunterra locations. The Lendrum market will remain open, through which Sunterra catering services will continue.