Good Friday deal seekers find independant store
The lineup barely let up. All day.
Even in the pouring rain. A few had umbrellas, most didn’t.
The staff at Gateway Meat Market in Westphal earned their money on Good Friday. The place was largely packed from morning till afternoon. Yes, the big grocery stores were mostly closed but there was money to be saved.
“We’re here for the deals,” Joy Grennan said. Raindrenched but smiling, she said she’s been standing in line for 45 minutes. “I’m here for the meat, vegetables, desserts... just everything.”
Who could blame her? With grocery prices out of sight, people need all the help they can get.
Gateway offered that helping hand on this day.
Some of the veggies specials: carrots and sweet potatoes going for 77 cents a pound. Fresh Grade A chickens running for $1.97 a pound. Locally made fish cakes: six bucks for half a dozen.
Judy Gallant and Leonard Leblanc got in on the action. They made the two-hour drive from Riverview to be there. They didn’t mind waiting in line or being sandwiched by deal-savvy shoppers.
“You can buy a whole chicken in there for about six bucks,” said Leblanc. Saltwire investigated. He was right. A three-pound chicken went for $6.95. The couple stuffed about 50 pounds of various meat in a pair of coolers. Pork chops, pork roast and steak. They’d figured they’d pay twice as much for it at Sobeys or Superstore.
Tabetha Macphee showed up ready and willing to put up with the rain. Until prices went sideways she’d budgeted $250 a week to feed her family of six. Then her grocery bill doubled before becoming a Gateway shopper. Macphee’s grocery bill is back to $300 a week because she stocks up on three months of meat at a time here.
“It really is worth it,”
Macphee said. The stuff is really good quality. A man standing next to her agreed. He said he also liked that the place is locally owned. The money is staying in the community, not just going to Ontario, he said.
Gateway’s an independently owned and operated meat market that’s been making a go of it since 2008. The store’s website says it guarantees “one-hundred percent satisfaction, not only in our products but in our customer service as well.” Macphee can’t disagree. “I like coming here, people are getting a great deal.”