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St Lawrence Market

According to blogTO, the No Frills store at King and Princess is going to be demolished. If this is true, it's an absolute disaster for the neighbourhood and surrounding areas. All the other grocery options in the downtown east are either already way too busy, too far to realistically walk, or much more expensive. What I recall reading about this redevelopment a few years ago emphasized that the plan would ensure the store stayed intact, as it was crucial to the area. What changed, I wonder? There are 3000 people about to move into the giant new condo on that same corner. The timing could not be worse.

www.blogto.com

No Frills store to be demolished in Toronto as part of major redevelopment

The rezoning of a No Frills at the intersection of Front Street and Princess Street has been approved by the City. The store will be replaced by a 37…
www.blogto.com www.blogto.com
 
The nearby Rabba's will enjoy an uptick in business! Metro is somewhat far to walk with heavy groceries, but not so bad if you have those shopping trolleys(?) - would still suck in the rain/snow though.
 
tripwire said:
The nearby Rabba's will enjoy an uptick in business! Metro is somewhat far to walk with heavy groceries, but not so bad if you have those shopping trolleys(?) - would still suck in the rain/snow though.
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Probably, but just look at the thousands of people that visit No Frills daily: how is Rabba going to accommodate even a fraction of them, with 3 cash registers, no conveyor belts, and nowhere to stand? Metro is already a crowded nightmare at some times of day, and they already keep running out of stock on things. The St. Lawrence Market is great for produce and some specialties, but not for stocking up on toilet paper or cleaning supplies or similar staples. The Loblaws and new Farm Boy down at Jarvis/Queen's Quay are okay for occasional trips but much more expensive, it's an unpleasant and dangerous walk under the Gardiner to get there and back.
 
No Frills has consistently said publicly that they're going to stay open in the neighbourhood. I admit to being skeptical, but there's no new information in the BlogTO article.
 
evandyk said:
No Frills has consistently said publicly that they're going to stay open in the neighbourhood. I admit to being skeptical, but there's no new information in the BlogTO article.
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Yes, everyone (developer, City and Loblaws) keeps saying it's not closing but it will surely need to shrink during construction - which is not imminent. I tend to disregard 'predictions' on BlogTO
 
DSC said:
Yes, everyone (developer, City and Loblaws) keeps saying it's not closing but it will surely need to shrink during construction - which is not imminent. I tend to disregard 'predictions' on BlogTO
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This is reassuring, and I hope it is true. BlogTO has always been notoriously unreliable but this feels like a new low even for them, if it's incorrect.

Service the community aside, this store is almost always busy and can barely keep staple products in stock -- surely there must be valid business reasons to stay open.
 
CityPainter said:
This is reassuring, and I hope it is true. BlogTO has always been notoriously unreliable but this feels like a new low even for them, if it's incorrect.

Service the community aside, this store is almost always busy and can barely keep staple products in stock -- surely there must be valid business reasons to stay open.
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Do any of the new (or existing) buildings in the area have a retail space that would be suitable? We used to have the Sobey's on the south side of Front before they started redeveloping that site between Princess and Sherbourne.
 
toonderly said:
Do any of the new (or existing) buildings in the area have a retail space that would be suitable? We used to have the Sobey's on the south side of Front before they started redeveloping that site between Princess and Sherbourne.
Click to expand...
There is plenty of vacant retail in the base of the new condo buildings in this area, but to my eye none of it has a remotely similar square footage to the current No Frills, which fills a very large windowless area where the the Toronto Sun printing presses used to operate. There was talk of a Farm Boy in the new condo at Parliament/Adealide/Power a year or two ago, but that seems to have fallen through. I do hope we get some more smaller grocery stores sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood, but ideally this No Frills would remain. The population is only growing in this area, and quickly.
 
Does anyone think this development is really going ahead anytime soon though ? I'd highly doubt it. I suspect no frills is safe for some time.
 
CityPainter said:
There is plenty of vacant retail in the base of the new condo buildings in this area, but to my eye none of it has a remotely similar square footage to the current No Frills, which fills a very large windowless area where the the Toronto Sun printing presses used to operate. There was talk of a Farm Boy in the new condo at Parliament/Adealide/Power a year or two ago, but that seems to have fallen through. I do hope we get some more smaller grocery stores sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood, but ideally this No Frills would remain. The population is only growing in this area, and quickly.
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A supermarket is contemplated in the not yet under construction development at Queen/Parliament (current Shoppers Drug)

There is a very large space available under 20 King W that would likely be suitable. (not currently leased)

There is new (large'ish) Marche Leo coming to the East Bayfront.

Rather far west, but the opening of the new Nature's Emporium at One York is imminent (next few weeks).

There's one or two more coming up, but those ones are all publicly known.
 
And isn’t there a Marche Leo’s being built in the West Don Lands? Besides there are always Metro and St. Lawrence Market.
 
rdaner said:
And isn’t there a Marche Leo’s being built in the West Don Lands? Besides there are always Metro and St. Lawrence Market.
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That No Frills opened about 10-12 years ago and there were already the Loblaws, the Metro and the (now closed) Sobeys. As noted by others, it's a very busy store and these remaining stores and the new Farm Boy and the new smaller ones noted above really do not replace it. I bet it makes Loblaw lots of money! (It's actually a pretty good store, except their produce.)
 
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