‘A bit of a bombshell:’ Community association reacts to store’s closing

Residents of a Saskatoon neighbourhood that is losing a grocery store are finding the news hard to swallow.

The Extra Foods on Broadway Avenue is to close April 23, leaving people in the area without one of their convenient shopping locations.

Some people didn’t know the store was closing until they attended a Nutana Community Association board meeting Wednesday night.

“It hit as a bit of a bombshell,” said Robert Clipperton, the association’s civics co-ordinator. “Some people hadn’t heard until that hit. (There was) universal concern (and) disappointment. People really have relied on that grocery store as sort of a hub in the community and felt it was an integral part of the services that have been available to us.

“I know over the years, a project would come up — be it a multi-family residential building or that kind of thing — and always in the back of people’s minds was, ‘Oh good! We get this in here, there will be more people living here, a higher (population) density, and this will make sure that we keep our grocery store.’ So I think people were pretty blindsided by this happening.”

In a statement to 650 CKOM earlier this week, parent company Loblaws said the Extra Foods store was closing because it “has been unprofitable and we don’t expect that to turn around.”

Clipperton wasn’t buying what Loblaws was selling, saying he has seen smaller supermarket-type operations manage just fine in high-density areas in cities like Victoria and Ottawa.

He also wasn’t sure if the move was made to replace the aging Extra Foods building with a newer edifice.

“We haven’t heard of any project that’s particularly planned for that,” Clipperton said. “I don’t think that’s what’s driving this. I think what’s driving it is you’ve got a large grocery chain that has made a massive amount of excess profits during the pandemic.

“That’s true across the country, as people were eating far fewer meals in restaurants. The grocery business was way up and I don’t know why the Extra Foods on Broadway would be any different. It’s not a case, I don’t think, of making money, it’s called not making enough money.”

Clipperton said a new rental building was constructed right across the street from the store, a seven-storey condo opened in the neighbourhood last year, and a 15-storey rental building is going up nearby. With the infill housing that also has gone into the area, the population has been increasing.

“It seems to me shortsighted of a grocery operation to say, ‘Hey, this is a neighbourhood that is becoming depopulated and we need to close our business,’ ” he said.

Clipperton noted seniors and people who don’t have vehicles relied on the store. Some folks moved into the area specifically because it had conveniences like a grocery store, bakeries, barber shops, hair salons, restaurants and entertainment venues, all within walking distances.

“For somebody who was any kind of mobility issues, isn’t able or not feeling comfortable with driving, (the store) has been great,” he said. “There are a lot of people around the neighbourhood in those situations, so it’s a shame to see it go.”

Clipperton believes there’s a business opportunity for some kind of a grocery store on Broadway, but he doesn’t think Loblaws will change its mind.

As a result, people in the area will likely have to drive or take a bus to another neighbourhood to get their groceries instead of relying on the store that was right down the street.

“When you’re cooking at the stove and all of a sudden you realize you don’t have any vinegar and that’s called for in the recipe, I’ve been known to turn down my stove and go to Extra Foods and I’m back home within eight minutes with whatever I’ve needed,” Clipperton said.

“That convenience is lost, the ability to say, ‘Hey, gee, we’re short of milk. I’ll run out before breakfast in the morning at 8:02 and pick up a gallon of milk at Extra Foods.’ ”

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Lara Fominoff