Tuesday, August 17, 2010

FreshCo Grocery Store Review

a. This post is not about my house.
b. What else is new?
c. We all eat - so it's still relevant right?

I have heard the radio commercials for weeks, probably even months. "Discount done right." Honestly though, until the flyer showed up in my mailbox last week announcing the newly opened FreshCo in town, I had not paid much attention.

Lamely, I admit, the coupon for a free grocery bag drove me to the store. I have to admit though, as a discount shopper, I was a little intrigued by the thought of an abundant selection of fresh fruits & veggies, a bakery and deli. This didn't sound like your everyday No Frills.

New FreshCo Store



The newest grocery banner under the Sobey's empire replaced the Price Chopper in my town. I shopped at Price Chopper once and decided not to ever again, so I was a little speculative entering the store. This was even before my Google research verified what I experienced firsthand- this is not a re-launched discount brand. FreshCo is a spanking new brand, and in my opinion, they're positioned to give all grocery stores a run for their money.



Buying Ontario and Canadian grown fruits and veggies is most important to me. Bins full of wonderful, Ontario watermelons and cabbages greeted me at the front door. Just inside, I was met with more bins of  potatos, onions, peaches and more, all grown proudly in Ontario. Impressive, I thought. Furthermore, as I walked the remainder of the aisles, I was surprised amazed at how much domestic produce and meat was available for customers to purchase. Their selection might even send Galen Weston back to the countryside for more locally grown food.

You might be asking right about now- "But wait! How can you say you care about getting cheap food AND buying local. You're a bit of a hypocrite." I guess I don't disagree. I buy local/domestic to support our farmers, but I also have to mind my budget. I put Ontario/Canadian first and regardless of price, but if I can have both, why wouldn't I?

I steered pretty clear of the 'value items', which is grocery store code for the processed-high-margin-not-necessarily-healthy foods. I rarely go down these aisles anyway, unless for canned food or cereal, but I could see the bulk pallets proclaiming cheaper prices.

All-in-all, I was impressed. The store was clean. The associates friendly, although I didn't have any questions to really test out their service. The selection, pretty good. As Arnold put it "I will be back."

And if there are more people out there like me, I think they will be too.

Check out FreshCo's handy Pack-Your-Panty, Savvy Shopping Tips and Meet Their Growers on their 
website.

8 comments:

  1. The store has fresh vegetables, and the prices are not that expensive.
    I went to the store in Malton, to pick up some fruit on my way to visit.
    Experience with fruits and price, good!!
    However, there is this cashier who is very rude, her name Nadira. I bought a bunch of fruit, one grapefruit among those. She charged for two grapefruits. I realized the mistake when I was about to leave the store. So I went back and patiently wait until she finishes with a customer. Then, She turned to me and said "what". I explained her what happened, she took my bill and didn't said a word. Once she was done with the customer, she took the money from the drawer and gave it to me, without even looking at my face. There was not any intention of an apology. I was very disappointed with the customer service. Even though it was a very small amount of money, what got me mad is the way she treated me.
    It's too bad that big stores that offer fresh products, good prices had to deal with customers not coming back because of this. Honestly, i don't want to go back.
    Thanks for posting this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow, i too have decided not to shop at freshco due to rude cashiers. the rest of the staff were polite and helpful, but5 the cashiers... wow.

    terrible store policy, suffers from tim hortons syndrome - cashiers are rude because from their perspective "why should i have to take crap for minimum wage..."

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  3. We went to Gerard Victoria Park yesterday
    and 2 cashiers are totally sucks and rude.

    They said we don't need you here..sucks
    without customers how can you survive..
    Show some politeness..Its not
    being a good Canadian Citizens.

    Hope the owner notice this...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just left the Freshco store on Dundas west above Bloor in Toronto. I walked out of the check out line when both cashiers and one supervising girl were all working on getting the correct item number for tangerines. This was the second hold up on the same order and both lines had more than three customers waiting. There were only the two check outs open so no customers were being serviced. I told the girl there were customers waiting and was shushed. I am proud that I simply left and did not make a scene. I shall tell everyone I know in the area of this experience.

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  5. I liked the article itself but i take issue with the comments that people are making. Look everybody has bad days and unless you work there you have no idea what they have to deal with all day. Aww muffin! what is that? You are upset because you couldn`t find a particular item? well guess what? chances you are not the only person. Do you have any idea how many times in a day they have to stand there and get yelled at for something which is ultimately not their fault? People get progressively angrier as they go through the store & can`t get the items they came for & they take it out on the staff (typically the ones who don`t have anything to do with ordering the shipment).
    They are just victims of circumstance. Occasionally there is not enough product to cover the order that was placed, different shipment come on different days, some products have to be imported & as for meat animals have to be raised & killed. Those are things people never consider.

    You can`t always expect sunshine and rainbows. if your job was to take the brunt of people`s bullshit all day you would become a little rough around the edges as well. I implore you people to show some common decency & maybe take the time to treat workers like a human being. You know maybe say hello before you start demanding things, is that too much to ask?Always remember respect is a two way street. they are people not servants.
    My theory is that people love to look down on people but i`m sure you all had to work some demeaning service job for minimum wage at some point in your life, everybody has to start somewhere right? If you can relate to that then i`m sure you also have had some really negative experiences as a result. Next time a worker seems, unfriendly, disinterested or maybe rude just don`t take it personally. Maybe someone is just having a bad day. We have all been there.

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  6. I agree to some point, customers sonetimes need to be polite to begin with, but no matter how bad your day is going tgere is never an excuse for taking your frustration out on essentially the people tgat are paying your wages. It's customer service, having to deal with rude and ignorant people is part of the job unfortunatly, but I learned a long time ago that it is pointless to let it get to you. "Kill them with kindness" is what I think every day. If someone is being rude to me on tge job tge quickest way I get them to shut up is by being friendly and those rude and ignorant people often walk away with a smile. Crap happens to everyone every day, no sense taking it out on the next uperson. I'm not saying never get upset or angry, just never,misplace it. I have still yet to try a Freshco and one just openned near my house that i plan to visit today.

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  7. 680 Peter Robertson Blvd, Brampton

    Cashier : AMMANDA or so called supervisor
    Rude attitude lacks Professionalizum.
    She tells a customer to leave the store
    Does a Casheir has this authority or is it with MR MIKE.
    NEEDS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fresco is a brand of Abber Foods Company. We provide everything with nutrition at affordable prices.

    For More Information Visit Here -- freshco

    ReplyDelete