A grocery dilemma in central Kitchener
Does downtown Kitchener need a conventional grocery store? James Howe thinks so. A community advocate (you can read his blog at www.fredandlanc.ca), Howe recently offered his opinion that, with all the new homes being built downtown, an “urban format, chain grocery store” is not far behind.
“People want more choices than are currently available,” Howe told me. “It will happen, it’s just a question of when and where.”
Howe suggests the former Stantec office, in Market Square at Duke and Frederick streets, is an ideal location. (The Record is in the same building.)
Howe was surprised to see how controversial this topic was. There was less interest in the location than in whether downtown Kitchener even needs another grocery store.
Some people thought a fullservice store is unnecessary, and could threaten the small specialty stores that are now thriving, such as Legacy Greens and Golden Hearth Bakery.
Others said Howe was not taking enough notice of two grocery stores on King Street East, New City and B&T, which cater primarily to Asian customers.
For me, a full-service grocery store is a place where you ought to be able to buy everything you need for the week in one stop. Some people will want to do that.
I decided that a proper grocery store should be a place where you can buy both fresh produce and laundry detergent. Parking for customers is nice, too.
With those criteria in mind, I checked out the stores downtown to see what’s up:
J&P Grocery (8 Queen St. N. No parking)
You have to go down an alleyway to get there, but it is made welcoming with tubs of flowers and brightly coloured paint on the asphalt. There’s a coffee bar upstairs, and beautiful produce for sale, with lots of other highend food choices. It’s bright and pleasant but pricey, and there is no laundry detergent.
Full Circle Foods (3 Charles St. W. Small parking lot)
This is a small health food store, and items are chosen with the environment and fair trade in mind, so they’re more expensive. A small can of tuna costs more than $5, for example, because it’s caught sustainably with a line, not a net. Full Circle has a limited amount of produce, a huge and varied bulk food section, and environmentally friendly laundry detergent.
Shoppers Drug Mart (King Street at Kitchener City Hall. Parking at back)
Technically it’s not a grocery store, but you’d be surprised how many groceries you can get here. There’s milk, eggs, cheese, juice, frozen meat and vegetables, and dry goods from flour to candy. Lots of laundry detergent, but no fresh produce. There was a deli area with takeout fare such as salads, but it’s being dismantled.
B&T (Ben Thanh) Supermarket, (470 King St. E., parking at side of store)
One of two food stores on King Street East offering mostly Asian fare, B&T has a wide and inexpensive array of fresh fruits and vegetables. There are some Western foods including milk and spaghetti sauce. But the store’s heart is in its Asian foods: coconut gel in syrup, tiny dried fish, and spiky rosy-coloured rambutan fruit. No laundry detergent.
New City Supermarket (236 King St, E., parking lot in back)
Like B&T, there are some Western foods, including Portuguese custard tarts, but the variety is very limited. There’s takeout barbecue and a huge array of Asian foods including bitter melon leaves, black sesame sorbet and tofu prepared many different ways. No laundry detergent.