GETTING BIGGER

Healthy grocer The Big Carrot will open a new store in a Kingston Rd. condominium development,

Danforth Ave. healthy grocer the Big Carrot is expanding to the Upper Beach where it will be the flagship retailer in a Kingston Rd. condo development.

A new 6,300-square-foot store is going into the six-storey Southwood project by Streetcar Developments, east of Woodbine Ave.

After looking all over the city for expansion opportunities, the location came as something of a surprise, said Big Carrot spokeswoman Sarah Dobec.

A mainstay of the Danforth for 33 years, “it was just time for us to expand outside this community. The east end is just a perfect distance from where we are now in a really thriving community. The Beach is growing all the time. Kingston Rd. in particular is really growing.”

The Big Carrot Natural Food Market specializes in vegetarian and vegan organic, gluten-free and non-GMO foods.

The new shop will be smaller — about half the size — of the original, so it will have a smaller product selection. It will combine the grocery, holistic dispensary and the juice bar, which are housed in three separate spaces on Carrot Common on the Danforth.

The new location will feature a similar courtyard experience with some seating and a waiting area for dogs along Southwood Ave., Dobec said.

It will also operate under the same worker-owner structure as the original Big Carrot that gives some workers shares in the business and a voice in how it is run.

The Southwood, a family-style condo, will have 45 one- to three-bedroom units, ranging from about 600 square feet to about 1,700.