Is downtown Summerside 'prime' for a new grocery store?
'I think you have a win-win'
Downtown Summerside has been without a grocery store for more than a year and some residents are wondering if and when they'll see one again.
The void became apparent when Foodland closed last summer. A spokesperson for Sobeys said at the time that a reason had to do with the lack of traffic in the store.
To me that would be a huge success as a grocery store in downtown.— Lydia Potter
More than a year later, Summerside councillors Cory Snow and Norma McColeman — who represent the downtown — say it is something they heard throughout the 2018 municipal election and it's been a persistent issue ever since.
"They just found it was a large inconvenience ever since it had closed, that was the main concern. They really missed having that option," Snow said.
"Since then it's just a continuation of the same thing: people wondering when or if we're going to secure another grocery store in the downtown area."
Summerside has taken strides to revive its downtown recently. A new brewery has opened, the city has a couple of interactive initiatives including trivia signs and inanimate objects you can text, a hotel proposed for Credit Union Place and a 70-unit apartment building currently under construction.
"I think we're getting to a point where the opportunity is probably prime for something to happen in this area," Snow said.
In an emailed statement, McColeman said "it is a question I've been asked constantly since Foodland closed."
To date there is no firm plan that she's aware of for a grocery store for downtown, but she said a new grocery store "would be a natural viable business to see re-established."
'They always went downtown'
Lydia Potter is the executive director of Downtown Summerside, a group of business owners and others who work to promote and enhance the city's core. Potter says she too has heard many concerns from people in the downtown core, especially from seniors and tourists, about the lack of a grocery store.
"They always went downtown to do their grocery shopping for years and years and years before the commercial uptown even happened," she said.
"I think part of it is the pattern in the way of living that has changed for them and for historic downtown."
Another voice she often hears is from the restaurants in downtown who need to run up town to stock up when their inventory is low or even when they need something quickly.
With the focus on rejuvenating the downtown area, Potter said the area is now ripe for a grocery store.
Masstown Market copy?
Potter's pitch for a grocery store would be something similar to Masstown Market in Nova Scotia — a familiar stop for people en route to Halifax.
"To me that would be a huge success as a grocery store in downtown," she said.
Masstown marries ideas from a farmer's market and a grocery store as it includes a deli, bakery, a restaurant, groceries, local flavours and more.
"When you look at that it is always jam-packed with locals, it's not just tourists there … they're going there because it's something very unique," she said.
"To me if we can provide that, and also we can make it convenient for people here, then I think you have a win-win."
A "niche" grocery store like that, Potter said, would add value to the downtown as a potentially popular spot for tourists and it would simultaneously fill a gap that's been missing in Summerside since Foodland closed.