Toronto Ryerson's Mattamy Athletics Centre + Loblaws at the Gardens | ?m | ?s | Ryerson University | Turner Fleischer

^^^

Jarvis and Carlton, just around the corner from MLG.
 
Well the announcement sounds more like an attempt to buy time to not make an announcement. Maybe this is a good thing in that the flimsy plans - for what is arguably a very important landmark in this city - will fall through. I hope the owners will eventually sell and somebody else will see the potential at this site.
 
The store won't really be all that useful to area residents, and I don't think it's locals that the store is targetted at in the first place. There's already a grocery glut in the area (I'm within easy walking distance of two Dominions, a Sobey's, Cumbrae's, Reither's, Pusateri's, the ever reliable Super Fresh Mart, a No Frills, and a Food Basics), and if they were catering to locals they wouldn't need two floors of parking.
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I wouldn't say that.

The local Sobey's is an Express store, and is more akin to a convenience store than it is to a full-range supermarket. Cumbrae's is great, but it is a butcher shop, not a grocery store. Reither's, Pusateri's (not the version of Avenue Road and Yorkville fame) and Super Fresh Mart are very handy (and I am quite fond of Reither's), but again, they are very small stores. When I lived in the area (until recently), I shopped at all of them, but they did not replace my regular supermarket visits to Loblaws or Dominion.

It never used to occur to me to head east to No Frills or Food Basics. In any event, they are a different type of supermarket.

That leaves the two Dominion stores, on Gould and at College Park. I would say that adding a direct competitor in the middle of those two stores would benefit the locals.

It could be, as you suggest, that the MLG store is not targeted to locals. I don't know. I am not privy to any marketing plans or strategies over at Loblaws H.Q.

Ironically, though, had I not moved out of the area, I suspect I would still shop at Dominion, even if the MLG Real Canadian Superstore opened. With Loblaws busy reducing the number of sku's it stocks, not to mention the problems it has keeping goods on the shelves, I am increasingly finding that Dominion has a better selection of food products than a Loblaws store twice the size.
 
The interesting thing I find is that in "Downtown East", there's a very distinct cultural/social/income gap between those who shop at No Frills/Food Basics and those who don't--out in the west end, said gap flattens out a lot, and you find all sorts shopping at, say, the Dundas + Lansdowne No Frills because, well, it's the thrifty thing to do. (Though it helps that it's a "new" mega-No Frills, as opposed to the clapped-out Downtown East leftovers...)
 
I hope part of the roof or a wall doesn't "fall-down-go-boom" due to negligent maintenance while supposedly waiting for this project to begin. The Carlton Street marquee has been leaking pretty badly for at least a year. So did the Revue theatre's marquee....
 
That's an interesting point, adma. A lot of the grocery stores in the east end seem to be quite run down and don't come close to matching the standards set by the same companies' suburban stores. With the area seeing ever-rising incomes, I wouldn't be surprised to see some renovations.
 
I think it's more than "renovations" that're needed re these Downtown East No Frills/Food Basics; after all, these plainly belong to the "downgraded Loblaws/Dominion" school of discount grocers--the cramped shabbiness is in the blood. (And it's not just a discount-grocer thing; after all, the Bloor-Spadina Dominion and the Manulife Valu-Mart are pretty tired, too.)

If I'm not wrong (and correct me if I'm wrong), the geographically closest example of a modern-day mega-No-Frills (i.e. with full pharmaceutical sections and that sort of stuff) is the ex-Knob Hills at Carlaw + Gerrard...
 
I completely agree. Valumart is a very puzzling brand for Loblaws, because some of their newer and newly-renovated stores are very attractive, but their old downgraded Loblaws outlets are often in pretty terrible shape. It's especially bizarre in places like Bloor and Spadina and especially Manulife Centre where the incomes in the surrounding area are quite astronomical. That Manulife Valumart is always packed with people, but they've nevertheless let it reach a very shabby state. I don't think a mega-Loblaws with general merchandise like the ones out in the suburbs or the Queens Quay/St. Clair markets would be appropriate for those locations, but I don't see why the full line-up of food and a high-quality butcher/fish counter/bakery wouldn't be successful.

I haven't been inside the new Gerrard/Carlaw No Frills, but it looks quite nicely renovated from outside.
 
I know that many, if not all, Valu-Marts are independently-owned franchises.
 
Well, VM is sort of a Loblaw version of IGA in that regard--and how many VMs are left in Toronto, anyway? It seems like a lot of them have gone No Frills when they haven't gone to seed. (Indeed, No Frills is often an improvement--heck, they might as well turn the Manulife VM into NF, despite the neighbourhood demos. Students would shop there, and if Dollarama can be nearby, why not...)
 
The Manulife Valumart is definitely popular with students, but I think the current brand is the most appropriate for the area. The space definitely isn't big enough for a full-size Loblaws, or No Frills for that matter.

I simply can't understand MLSE's intransigence on the issue. Nobody's proposing to maintain it as an 15,000+ seat arena which would compete with the Air Canada Centre for concerts. It would be stripped down to at most eight or nine thousand seats, making it more in the market of the Ricoh Coliseum and maybe the Molson Amphitheatre. I'm sure the ACC is so busy that they're turning away concerts anyway.
 
Any updates? Living on campus at Ryerson, I'm surrounded by Dominions. I just want President's choice!!!
 
They were to begin cleaning this summer followed by two years of construction which would put it at opening approximately Sept. of 2009.

As I recall the stands support the walls, which of course support the roof so this is going to be quite a feat of engineering to convert all that valuable space into usable space. I sure hope it's being heated and maintained, it would be a crime to see a similar repeat of Walnut Hall.
 
I emailed Loblaws yesterday inquiring about their Maple Leaf Gardens Superstore and they responded with "Thank you for taking the time to email us. Unfortunately we do not have any updates on this project nor do we have a tentative opening date."

This does not sound promising at all.
 
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