Discount grocer opens first Vancouver store

Vancouver is getting its first FreshCo discount supermarket next week. The new location will open on November 12 at West Broadway and Alder Street in the Fairview and South Granville neighbourhood.

The store occupies a 29,000-square-foot retail space that previously housed a Toys 'R' Us store for nearly twenty years. Sobeys selected the site to bring a major discount grocery option to local shoppers in an increasingly dense urban corridor. An opening ceremony for invited guests and media will start at 7:30 a.m., followed immediately by the official public opening at 8:00 a.m.

As part of the opening morning events, company representatives will present a $2,500 cheque to the local food bank. The building itself preserves a prominent piece of local retail history through the retention of the historic BowMac neon sign built in 1958. Protected under a heritage revitalization agreement, the eighty-foot-tall landmark has been retrofitted with illuminated white lettering over a fresh neon-green steel mesh background.

The Fairview neighbourhood recently welcomed a Loblaws City Market nearby at Granville and Broadway. The addition of FreshCo gives residents a second large grocery option focused on budget-friendly staples and everyday household items. The parent company operates seventeen other locations across British Columbia, including specialized Chalo FreshCo stores.

Store operating hours will run daily to serve residents in the surrounding community and accommodate high foot traffic. Customers can access rooftop parking that maintains the existing layout of the commercial building. Official ribbon-cutting proceedings will take place on Thursday morning before doors open to the general public for regular shopping.