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Whole Foods

Eating more organically grown and raised products is better for our health and people are catching onto that, I think they'll continue to do well. Whole Foods also buy from local farmers whenever possible so anyone who is able to do so financially, should consider supporting that. For example it's criminal that our shelves are crammed with cheap California strawberries which are picked & shipped before ripening but tasty Ontario grown strawberries are rarely found in the average supermarket when they are in season.
 
CDL.TO said:
The Sobey's Express on Yonge seems to have about the same selection as that Yonge & Lawrence Dominion.

I love the idea of small grocers in the downtown core. It's so convenient and combines serving lunchtime commuters as well as locals needing groceries. They also seem to be a great source of urban activity. We've come a long way downtown in the past few years when it comes to grocers but I still think there's still lot of space in the downtown market for small grocers. It seems quite remarkable that just 10 years ago all the major grocery stores chains seemed to have no comprehension of urban locations that weren't located in strip malls surrounded by parking. Look at London with its Tesco Metros, Tesco Expresses, Sainbury's Centrals, small Marks&Spencers, Waitroses and others all over the place.

That poses a good question. For all you long-term downtowners, what supermarkets were there downtown 15 years ago? Did the Dominions at the Merchandise Building and St. Lawrence replace other locations, or was there simply nothing?
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from what I remember, small grocers were more of a vital part of downtown Toronto before the advent of large chain grocers. It wasn't really small big-business chain type grocers, but more of the mom and pop no-name and pseudo-name grocer varieties of meat and convenience/vegetable stores. The area around the merchandise building I guess had a smaller Loblaws at Temperance St. as Adma mentioned.

The St. Lawrence market was definitely a hot spot for groceries during those times. You had all the mom and pop meat and other type grocers in the market. Before the Dominion at Market Square, a convenience store by the name of Market Place used about 1/3 of that space, it was a fairly good size for a vegetable/convenience type store. The rest of Market Square was a shopping plaza.

Anyway I think it started with the mega Loblaws at Jarvis and Queens Quay and then they started popping up all over the place. This has hurt small mom and pop grocers who are immigrants trying to find a way to get started in Toronto.
 
CDL.TO said:
That poses a good question. For all you long-term downtowners, what supermarkets were there downtown 15 years ago? Did the Dominions at the Merchandise Building and St. Lawrence replace other locations, or was there simply nothing?
Click to expand...

There has been a grocery store in the Manulife Centre as long as I can remember, I think it was a Dominion before being a Valu-Mart. Others were in the small mall at Huntley & Bloor, I think it was a Dominion on Wellesley east of Sherbourne and a Loblaws at Yonge & Yorkville.
 
Ah yeah, the Y+Y Loblaws. A real early 90s artifact. (Oh, and don't forget that the No Frills on Sherbourne S of Bloor was then Loblaws, too.)
 
That was a Loblaws when I moved to Toronto - assuming you mean the one in the basement. I think there is a gym there now.
 
Getting back to Whole(some over-priced)Foods: does anyone other than myself find the Avenue Rd/Hazelton Lanes location disgustingly dirty? I hate the cafe's location--there's always bright sun shining in my face it's awkard and dirty. Plus, the food is blah. I think they should move when their lease is up--to Bay St (Murano?)
 
They have a pretty good selection of cheeses. I sometimes buy their small pastries to serve at afternoon tea. But their tea selection can't compare to specialty shops, such as Tea Emporium, that sell loose estate teas. They carry a decent selection of organic fruits, suitable for making a nice salad.
 
Their produce in general can't be beat. And their organic product selection is the best in the city. And if you are there at the right time on the weekend, you can have lunch on the cheese samples alone. So economical.
 
Not all of us can afford to or like to eat organic food. Besides, knowing an organic farmer I know for a fact the entire process isn't "green." Much organic food comes from far away with exposure to truck pollution, dirt and cheap labour.

I may be strange but in a blind taste test I can't tell the difference between an organic human and a non-organic human;)
 
I made the mistake once of naively waltzing into Whole Foods and asking for foie gras. The grocer sort of looked at me in a horrified way and mumbled something about not having any.

Lately, I've boycotted Dominion (specifically, the one at College Park) completely after repeatedly coming across such poor quality produce (their ads about supporting local farmers is utter nonsense - rarely do I find produce originating closer than half a continent away, even when it should be in season here) and meats. Whole Foods is my staple grocery venue these days - sure, the meat costs an arm and a leg, but in the end I find myself spending the same as before, only on smaller portions of tastier (and presumably healthier) food.

Cumbrae's is pretty sweet as well.
 
Foie Gras at Whole Foods, that's very funny.
I'm at that Dominion once or twice a week for fresh fish and I didn't see Ontario strawberries there at all there this summer so your point is well taken. Their produce isn't bad but it's not all they make it out to be. They win mostly because who is going to take back a bunch of broccoli that is found to be turning a day or two after buying it
 
Spoonman said:
I made the mistake once of naively waltzing into Whole Foods and asking for foie gras. The grocer sort of looked at me in a horrified way and mumbled something about not having any.

Lately, I've boycotted Dominion (specifically, the one at College Park) completely after repeatedly coming across such poor quality produce (their ads about supporting local farmers is utter nonsense - rarely do I find produce originating closer than half a continent away, even when it should be in season here) and meats. Whole Foods is my staple grocery venue these days - sure, the meat costs an arm and a leg, but in the end I find myself spending the same as before, only on smaller portions of tastier (and presumably healthier) food.

Cumbrae's is pretty sweet as well.
Click to expand...


I find the quality and selection of produce going down at Dominion in the Merchandise building, and even though I live right in that area - I find myself shopping more for produce at the St. Lawrence Market. I am very interested in any grocery store opening up that has both quality and selection of produce. When last I visited Halifax, I was taken to Pete's Boutique in the downtown area and it was by far better than I have found in Downtown Toronto. I find the upscale (aka gourmet) produce market to be underserved in Toronto.
 
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