[Richard White]

What ever happened to the Farmboy inside MetroCentre (King St?) that was planned?

I think this would be a good fit inside the old Saks food hall.

Maybe it's just me but I cannot see a Farm Boy working in the Bay.

I know that Marks and Spencer does this in the UK wherein they have a grocery section in their department stores but I can't see it working out to well in the Bay.

 

[bearcat]

What ever happened to the Farmboy inside MetroCentre (King St?) that was planned?

I think this would be a good fit inside the old Saks food hall.

I haven't heard about this Farmboy before, would it be underground?

 

[daptive]

Still not fully confirmed as the renderings are unverified, but a Farm Boy location may potentially be opening up at "The Commons at MetroCentre", which is the Wellington facing tower of Metro Hall.

Downtown Toronto could be getting a new Farm Boy in a surprising location

Farm Boy has become the breakout star of the Ontario grocery scene, operating 40 stores and counting across the province. The growing chain could soo…

www.blogto.com

It was from a few years ago and would've been in the basement. Having walked through that basement though there are only a handful of businesses left that aren't in the foodcourt. Everything else has been boarded up.

 

[Northern Light]

What ever happened to the Farmboy inside MetroCentre (King St?) that was planned?

I think this would be a good fit inside the old Saks food hall.

I don't think I agree. I think if a grocery concept is pursued in the basement of Sak's/Bay, what you'd want is something a bit showy/special and very forward on prepared foods.

Farmboy started prepared foods heavy, but looking at their remodel in Laird they seem to be moving away from it. They have still have some hot foods and a salad bar, but considering this is the largest store to date, they've definitely dialed it back.

At Pusateri's, pre-pandemic, they put up some decent numbers, but it was the prepared foods that really moved, while the conventional grocery and areas like meat and produce performed..... less well.

 

[Towered]

I don't think I agree. I think if a grocery concept is pursued in the basement of Sak's/Bay, what you'd want is something a bit showy/special and very forward on prepared foods.

McKewan's? Is that still a thing even?

 

[Northern Light]

McKewan's? Is that still a thing even?

It is......but after being badly burned by his last venture.............I don't know if his backers want to spend the kind of money required for this space.........it would be their biggest venture ever...

 

[Towered]

Loblaws seems to be pulling back somewhat from hot food offerings as well. The Dupont location got rid of their hot counter entirely, which enraged me because I would frequently stop by and quickly gobble up some pieces of salmon on the spot. And a few days ago I was at the St. Clair location and not only had the offerings shrunk, but what was there looked neglected and unappetizing to the max. Why is this so hard to get right??

 

[Richard White]

Loblaws seems to be pulling back somewhat from hot food offerings as well. The Dupont location got rid of their hot counter entirely, which enraged me because I would frequently stop by and quickly gobble up some pieces of salmon on the spot. And a few days ago I was at the St. Clair location and not only had the offerings shrunk, but what was there looked neglected and unappetizing to the max. Why is this so hard to get right??

Maple Leaf Gardens also had their hot food counter cut back.

It's been awhile but I'm assuming it's still there.

 

[Towered]

Loblaws seems to be pulling back somewhat from hot food offerings as well. The Dupont location got rid of their hot counter entirely, which enraged me because I would frequently stop by and quickly gobble up some pieces of salmon on the spot. And a few days ago I was at the St. Clair location and not only had the offerings shrunk, but what was there looked neglected and unappetizing to the max. Why is this so hard to get right??

To circle back on this, it seems to me like a shrinking (or lost) opportunity to let people sample a variety of hot, cooked PC products on site to drive sales of their house brand. Oh well, what do I know?

 

[evandyk]

The basement of the Bay now has to compete with the new food hall at the south end of the Eaton Centre as well. That place actually has some decent offering, and is well-priced compared to the alternatives in the food courts.

 

[Northern Light]

To circle back on this, it seems to me like a shrinking (or lost) opportunity to let people sample a variety of hot, cooked PC products on site to drive sales of their house brand. Oh well, what do I know?

You're not wrong.

More than one grocery vendor doing business with outside chains has had it suggested to them that they would be better off with their own coffee shop which sold coffee made from their store brands, including beans fresh ground in store, and then selling store-brand cookies, and baked goods and biscotti along side same.

There is resistance to the idea for reasons that baffle me.

****

Extending that logic to a hot table/cold table...... you could have store branded frozen items served as entrees, store branded salad packs filling the salad bar, store-branded salad dressings at the salad bar, and store-branded soups at the hot station.

All with store-branded condiments for garnish.

 

[Richard White]

More than one grocery vendor doing business with outside chains has had it suggested to them that they would be better off with their own coffee shop which sold coffee made from their store bands, including beans fresh ground in store, and then selling store-brand cookies, and baked goods and biscotti along side same.

Their is resistance to the idea for reasons that baffle me.

To be fair if I walked into Loblaws MLG and saw Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies or PC Gourmet Medium Road being brewed I would be a little weirded out. It almost seems cheap like they ran out of actual products and grabbed stuff off the shelf.

 

[Towered]

You're not wrong.

More than one grocery vendor doing business with outside chains has had it suggested to them that they would be better off with their own coffee shop which sold coffee made from their store bands, including beans fresh ground in store, and then selling store-brand cookies, and baked goods and biscotti along side same.

There is resistance to the idea for reasons that baffle me.

****

Extending that logic to a hot table/cold table...... you could have store branded frozen items served as entrees, store branded salad packs filling the salad bar, store-branded salad dressings at the salad bar, and store-branded soups at the hot station.

All with store-branded condiments for garnish.

That's bizarre. If these chains did that, I would actually support it, but as long as a bunch of Loblaws and Metros insist on having Starbucks counters in their stores, I'll continue to ignore them.

 

[Towered]

To be fair if I walked into Loblaws MLG and saw Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies or PC Gourmet Medium Road being brewed I would be a little weirded out. It almost seems cheap like they ran out of actual products and grabbed stuff off the shelf.

That would be much better than Starbucks!

 

[Towered]

Extending that logic to a hot table/cold table...... you could have store branded frozen items served as entrees, store branded salad packs filling the salad bar, store-branded salad dressings at the salad bar, and store-branded soups at the hot station.

All with store-branded condiments for garnish.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I don't understand why that isn't a thing. Seems kind of obvious to me in terms of marketing...