FreshCo

Freshco in Richmond Hill, Ontario

A FreshCo store in Aldergrove, British Columbia with the "Lowering Food Prices" slogan

A FreshCo location in Leamington, Ontario with the old branding and "Fresher, Cheaper" slogan.

FreshCo aims to offer customers fresh, high-quality food at discount prices in a modern shopping setting.[5] FreshCo aims to accomplish the look of a "well-appointed fresh-format store" or "market feel", instead of a discounter with a "price-impact banner boasting the cheapest prices in the market", by making the store aisles more spacious.

FreshCo offers a diverse selection of frozen and chilled ethnic products to reflect the community in which they operate.[6] FreshCo also has a "Fresh Hall" product aisle featuring fresh products, daily baked goods made in community bakeries, and a variety of Ontario cheeses and meats. A feature aisle provides with savings opportunities for the customers.[7][8]

Until summer 2019, FreshCo used the slogan, "Fresher, Cheaper."[9] If customers are not satisfied with their product, they are eligible for a refund. In late 2019, FreshCo unveiled a new motto, "Lowering Food Prices," claiming to be the cheapest store. They also unveiled the "Double fresh guarantee," offering a refund and exchange if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

Price Chopper had operated in Ontario in the 1990s under the ownership of Oshawa Group. Oshawa Group, including the Price Chopper chain, was acquired by Sobeys in 1998 as part of the latter's entry into the Ontario market. The 87 Price Chopper stores were scattered around many neighbourhoods in Ontario, particularly low-income communities. [10]

By the late 2000s, Price Chopper was facing increased competition from Loblaw Companies, which was opening more No Frills discount grocery stores in Eastern Canada.

According to an analyst from CIBC World Markets, Price Chopper had been regarded as an unprofitable also-ran for decades, under both Oshawa Group and Sobeys, with no lasting improvements from repeated turnaround efforts. The chain's few private-label offerings hurt its gross margins. Price Chopper was not contributing much to parent Sobeys' bottom line and lagged far behind Loblaw's No Frills and Metro's (formerly A&P Canada's) Food Basics in discount supermarket share, which was particularly significant in the Ontario market where discount grocers held 35 to 40 percent of the food shopping market.[11] Overall, Sobeys was struggling in Ontario, having only made 25% of its profits there despite that province containing 40% of its retail real estate, due to an outdated supply chain and unfavourable locations. [12]

Sobeys closed some Price Chopper stores in the Atlantic provinces, or converted them to its Foodland banner.

Former Price Chopper store on Gladstone Avenue in Toronto, now a FreshCo.

Sobeys hired Rob Adams, who was previously with Loblaw Companies managing its No Frills discount grocery division, to run its discount grocer chain. Adams came up with the idea for FreshCo to carry higher quality goods to differentiate them from other discount supermarkets.

According to parent company Sobeys, FreshCo is considered to be a new brand and not just a replacement for Price Chopper. However, most FreshCo stores were renovated and converted from existing Price Chopper locations, with only a handful of FreshCo stores which were newly built or converted from other retailers, essentially making FreshCo the de facto successor to Price Chopper. The first eight FreshCo stores were launched on May 12, 2010 in Brampton and Mississauga, Ontario. By April 2012, FreshCo expanded to 68 stores in Ontario.[13]

Reportedly, customer reception to FreshCo has been positive, and Sobeys has enjoyed the highest same-store increase in sales among major Canadian supermarket chains over the past few years.[14]

As of September 13, 2019, Sobeys still operates only one store under the Price Chopper brand in Scarborough. One location previously open at Jane and Sheppard in Toronto closed on September 13, 2019.

A Chalo FreshCo location in Malton, Ontario Canada

Sobeys opened its first South Asian–focused FreshCo store in August 2015 in Brampton. Branded as Chalo FreshCo (chalo meaning "let's go" in Indo-Aryan languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Urdu), it is billed as the first grocery store in Canada for "desis" and is designed to attract South Asian shoppers by providing a wider variety of South Asian products under one roof.[15] The store's success inspired the opening of two more Brampton locations in September 2016[16] and March 2019,[17] as well as the conversion of the newly renovated Frescho at Westwood Square Mall in Mississauga to the banner in December 2017.[18] The Chalo brand expanded outside of Ontario for the first time in 2019 with the founding of two supermarkets in Surrey, British Columbia, in the city's Newton and Strawberry Hill neighborhoods, in July.[19] Another Chalo! Freshco location was opened in February of 2020 in Abbotsford, BC. This brings the total number of Chalo locations to seven - 4 in Ontario and 3 in BC.

There are 95 stores operating under the FreshCo banner in Ontario:

Manitoba[20]:

British Columbia[21]:

Future Locations:

• Saskatchewan (4 - Opening Summer 2020 in Saskatoon and Regina)[20]
• Alberta (Edmonton - two locations): Under-performing Sobeys in the Heritage area will close in Fall 2020 to rebrand/reopen in Spring 2021 as a Freshco. The Tararack Freshco is a new building which should open in Spring 2021[20]
• Manitoba (four locations): Under-performing Safeway grocery stores in Niakwa Village, Pembina & McGillivray, and Henderson & Bronx will close in Fall 2020 and rebrand/reopen in Spring 2021 as FreshCo stores[20].
• British Columbia: Two additional locations planned to open in Summer 2021[20]

• List of supermarket chains in Canada

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FreshCo.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Price Chopper (Canada).

• Official website
• Chalo FreshCo official website