Grocery store wars come to North Battleford

Grocery stores in the Battlefords appear ready for the challenge of increased competition from Walmart.

A building plan was presented to City Hall recently outlining details of a 30,209 square foot expansion of the current Walmart location, for a combined area of 138,306 square feet.

In presenting the plan at city council in January, Building Inspector Jerry Wintonyk indicated the expansion will accommodate a grocery store.

On the heels of that news came word that Walmart is expanding across Canada with a $500 million investment. Among their plans is the completion of 35 "supercentre" projects during the fiscal year from Feb. 1, 2014 to Jan. 31, 2015.

Walmart's expansion of its existing grocery store appears to be another salvo fired in the continuing grocery store wars across Canada. Those wars heated up last year when Sobeys acquired Canada Safeway Ltd. in a deal worth $5.8 billion.

That adds a long list of Safeway stores to the Sobeys chain across western Canada, but that deal also requires Sobeys to sell or close existing stores to comply with competition rules. Last week came news the Safeway location at Cumberland Square Mall in Saskatoon will soon be closing as a result of those changes.

Locally, news that Walmart is expanding is the most significant news seen in the grocery sector since the former Real Canadian Wholesale Club closed and was converted into Frazer's No Frills at Frontier Mall three years ago.

That move was part of a nationwide corporate strategy by parent company, Loblaw Companies Ltd. The company has converted many owned-and-operated stores into No Frills "deep discount" locations across Canada, including another former Real Canadian Wholesale Club location in Estevan.

Not to be outdone, Battlefords and District Co-op have been pursuing expansion plans of their own, most noticeably on the gas-station side with a new gas bar and convenience store in North Battleford and a similar gas bar/store planned for Battleford West.

In addition to No Frills, Co-op and Sobeys, the grocery sector in the Battlefords also includes Super A Foods and the 29th Street Market in Battleford.

Rival grocery stores in North Battleford express confidence in their ability to compete with an expanded Walmart.

"We have to remember people like choice,"said Battlefords and District Co-op general manager Mike Nord in a statement.

"They like the ability to compare and choose.This is great as long as we help our customers compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges."

Nord pointed out some of the differences offered by the local Co-op such as the distinct business model it operates under.

"Every Co-op member has lifetime membership benefits with the Battlefords Co-op. Members share in any savings that may be earned by the Co-op. This gives a direct economic benefit to our community, as the money is kept in the hands of the community members."

He also pointed to the quality offered at the Co-op Market Place store including cutting quality meat every day, a full bakery and what he described as the highest-quality produce. He adds expansion is on the way as well.

"There are major expenditures taking place in 2014 that were planned long before the announcement from Walmart. One of which was upgrades to the food store, and this is just one of many projects that are planned for this year," said Nord.

Located across the street from the Co-op, Grace Lang expressed confidence in Sobeys ability to fend off a expanded Walmart grocery operation.

"We're up to the challenge," said Lang. She pointed to her store's large offerings of ready-to-eat meals, as well as their large variety of fresh produce, as differentiating the Sobey's store from the competition.

Lang also pointed to Sobeys deep involvement in the Battlefords community.

"We will just continue to do what we do," Lang said.