Louis Kantor isn’t happy with the news that another core neighbourhood grocery store will soon be closing its doors in Saskatoon.
Shop Easy Foods on the corner of 7th Avenue and Princess Street, in the City Park neighbourhood, will close in November, according to Loblaw Companies Limited.
Kantor has been shopping at the store for decades.
“What am I going to do? I’ve been coming here for 60 years,” Kantor says. “It’s nonsense to close it.”
Loblaws says the store has been unprofitable for years. Residents are hoping a petition will change the company’s mind.
The petition, started by staff at the City Perks coffee shop across the street, has so far collected more than 150 signatures. The group says if they can’t save the store, they may look at starting a community co-operative to replace it.
Saskatoon’s downtown area hasn’t had a grocery store for 11 years.
Brent Penner, with the Downtown Business Improvement District, says grocery store chains argue not enough residents live downtown.
“In conversations I've had with developers and people in that industry it really comes down to having more density in our city centre and downtown specifically,” Penner says.
A number of River Landing building projects that will add more living spaces to the city centre could entice grocers to set up shop, but for now, Kantor is worried about all of Shop Easy’s regular customers.
“It’s a bunch of old timers around here. They are going to have to go pretty far away to buy their groceries.”
Mayor Don Atchison says he is still pushing for tax incentives to bring and keep a grocery store downtown.
