Tim MacDonald
Senior Member
Construction has begun as seen in this December 15th photo..
- Thread starter innsertnamehere
- Start date
Amare
Senior Member
In a way, i'm pretty sad so see this go ahead since it pretty much spells the end to the Kipling and Queensway Sobeys. Which is located in a far more convenient location for someone using transit, compared to this.
That and the fact it would be another Sobeys store gone in Toronto, in favor for a Longos. Between the two, i'd much rather take a Sobeys.
Vminkov
Active Member
Selfishly I'm cheering the arrival of the Longo's because Sobey's aint cheap anyhow and the only grocery stores in the broader area are a bunch of no frills locations and sobeys. Maybe it's my nostalgia talking because I spent so much of my childhood at the "Longo's Plaza" at York Mills/Leslie with mom lol
Northern Light
Superstar
It's not the grocery thread, but this still requires elaboration! The reason Empire is flipping Sobeys to other banners is that other people are voting by not shopping at Sobey's.
Some of that is under-invested in older locations.........but some of it is just not getting the right mix of product/service/style/price for the Toronto customer.
Sobey's isn't a discounter and not much cheaper than Longo's......... why do you prefer them? Just curious.
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Amare
Senior Member
Personally I don't really care for Longo's prepped food sections and kitchen which many people are huge fans of, which is a big part of the Longo's allure and which is what's made it an increasingly popular store. That combined with their frozen prepped food options of course.
When Empire actually invests in their Sobey's stores (ie: Sobey's Urban Fresh at Islington/Bloor and Sobey's at Queensway/Park Lawn) their offerings are on par/better than a standard Metro. As you mentioned, Empire has been underinvesting in the Sobey's brand for years now and the decisions they've made with that brand have been odd. For instance they invested millions in moderninzing the Queensway/Park Lawn store recently and planned on using that as a flagship model to roll out to other stores...then went on to abandon the roll out in Ontario. Then they hammer us with Farm Boy's (overpriced and overated) to replace the Urban Fresh concept.
But back to Longo's, personally i'm not interested in paying the price premium that Longos charges just to support their kitchen and prepped food offerings. Give me a grocery store that has a good array of products for a better price.
One can argue of course that Longo's has a better product array, but I attribute a lot of that to those frozen prepped food offerings.
Anyways i'm getting a bit sidetracked but I think the brand discussion is appropriate for this thread nevertheless, they are building a Longo's here after all.
Towered
Superstar
Longo's hot counter blows away Metro.
torontowest91
Active Member
so it's confirmed the sobeys will close once the longos opens?'
Amare
Senior Member
Not confirmed, but it's pretty much spelled out.
Having 2 major grocers owned by the same company, targeting virtually similar market demographics, within a ~400m radius of each other makes virtually no sense.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
torontowest91
Active Member
and a new lcbo right?
Towered
Superstar
Hopefully - the one across the street is small and hilariously dated.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
ShonTron
Moderator
Isn’t there a long-term development plan for the Queensway-Kipling Mall? It’s one of those Oshawa Group developments that put a Food City on one end and a Towers on the other (like Galleria). That plaza is long past its prime.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
There is, yeah, but it's all extremely vague and noncommittal.
Funny enough, Conservatory Group's website still lists Zellers as a tenant: https://conservatorygroup.ca/commercials/kiplingqueenswaymall
Northern Light
Superstar
You're reminding me........how's the windup going over there?