SunriseChampion
Senior Member
Maybe Melbourne/Oslo standards are also weak or not what they used to be? I don't know. I just know that it was....nothing special.
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Maybe Melbourne/Oslo standards are also weak or not what they used to be? I don't know. I just know that it was....nothing special.
grey
Senior Member
Sorry, I didn't flesh out that thought. The Longos location is new and probably staffed by a less experienced barista compared to the others. Anyway, I think Arvo might be reopening in one of the new office buildings on Atlantic some time in the future.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
What's an Arvo? Sounds vaguely Oslo-related.
Maybe it's me who is the problem eh? hahahaaaaa...maybe I'm just not coffe conoisseur enough....no, but seriously, the espresso was underwhelming. It was good enough, just nothing to write home about.
Richard White
Senior Member
Northern Light
Superstar
Ok, so I got around to checking out Longo's Liberty Village location on Sunday..........I've been meaning to for awhile to see if @SunriseChampion 's excoriating review was merited. LOL
While I might not be quite as mean, I'm not going to be much kinder.
So, first off, when you walk in off King, the ass-end of the cash lanes are to one's right, and customer service and floral to one's left, with produce straight ahead.
Nothing intrinsically wrong w/that.
Except, Longo's went and got the store licensed (as in the entire store) so one could walk around the store with a drink in one's hand. I don't know that this is my particular thing.......but w/e, I can see some people going for it.
So what does this mean intuitively? That maybe, I should be able to clearly see where I can get a drink right as I walk in the store???? Just sayin. It's not impossible to see, but you have to know what you're looking for to see it from the front door; and you'd have to wander through or around the cash lanes, 2 rows of them, to get to the seating, with the actual bar at the rear of said space on the dead opposite end of the store.
That makes less than no sense to me as a layout choice if you want the whole store licensed. For that matter, forget that idea, you just want someone to grab a drink at the bar, sip it there, then go shop; you still need the bar to be visible and easy to access as customers enter.
No one should be stopping for drinks once they have perishable items in bags w/them; the person who thought up this layout had at least one too many.
Now.......next item.....produce is the first section in the layout.
Its fine'ish, as produce sections go.....though for an LV location, it seems remarkably insensitive to the idea of bulk purchases, there's way too many portions, larger portions of produce in plastic.
On top of which the entire produce area is covered by absolutely harsh lighting that is entirely unflattering to all of the product and would give anyone having a drink a serious headache.
They actually have nice warm lighting over the hot bar section and salad bar area as well as the alcohol-bar, all of which are the tail end of the layout.
I have no idea what possessed them to install such awful lighting over the produce area. Even perfectly fresh stuff looks palid and off-colour.
They chose not to offer a butcher counter and instead go all-in on packaged meat. I get that it's a small space and choices have to be made; not sure I agree w/this one though.
In the deli, everything is showcased covered in plastic, very few meats were uncovered, on a Sunday afternoon; makes some premium product look straight out of a Walmart.....
The Bakery was respectable, as Longo's usually is; though a bit small by their standards w/reduced selection.
Layout of product is less than intuitive.
The grab n'go and Hot Bar/Cold Bar options are among their better efforts, though someone please explain to me how anyone passes off that green pudding as cole slaw? Really, come on, slaw is suppose to have crunch.
If there was one clear upside, it was their fresh pasta bar; they had perhaps 10 offerings (I didn't count)....including two meat-stuff pastas, both with braised short-rib, one in a small ravioli and one in a large angliotti.
I sampled those. Not brilliant, but above-average and priced well for the quality delivered.
Overall, the market is fine'ish, its not a total fail; but for Longo's, with a much-hyped, long-planned, Liberty Village location; not their best showing.......
While I might not be quite as mean, I'm not going to be much kinder.
So, first off, when you walk in off King, the ass-end of the cash lanes are to one's right, and customer service and floral to one's left, with produce straight ahead.
Nothing intrinsically wrong w/that.
Except, Longo's went and got the store licensed (as in the entire store) so one could walk around the store with a drink in one's hand. I don't know that this is my particular thing.......but w/e, I can see some people going for it.
So what does this mean intuitively? That maybe, I should be able to clearly see where I can get a drink right as I walk in the store???? Just sayin. It's not impossible to see, but you have to know what you're looking for to see it from the front door; and you'd have to wander through or around the cash lanes, 2 rows of them, to get to the seating, with the actual bar at the rear of said space on the dead opposite end of the store.
That makes less than no sense to me as a layout choice if you want the whole store licensed. For that matter, forget that idea, you just want someone to grab a drink at the bar, sip it there, then go shop; you still need the bar to be visible and easy to access as customers enter.
No one should be stopping for drinks once they have perishable items in bags w/them; the person who thought up this layout had at least one too many.
Now.......next item.....produce is the first section in the layout.
Its fine'ish, as produce sections go.....though for an LV location, it seems remarkably insensitive to the idea of bulk purchases, there's way too many portions, larger portions of produce in plastic.
On top of which the entire produce area is covered by absolutely harsh lighting that is entirely unflattering to all of the product and would give anyone having a drink a serious headache.
They actually have nice warm lighting over the hot bar section and salad bar area as well as the alcohol-bar, all of which are the tail end of the layout.
I have no idea what possessed them to install such awful lighting over the produce area. Even perfectly fresh stuff looks palid and off-colour.
They chose not to offer a butcher counter and instead go all-in on packaged meat. I get that it's a small space and choices have to be made; not sure I agree w/this one though.
In the deli, everything is showcased covered in plastic, very few meats were uncovered, on a Sunday afternoon; makes some premium product look straight out of a Walmart.....
The Bakery was respectable, as Longo's usually is; though a bit small by their standards w/reduced selection.
Layout of product is less than intuitive.
The grab n'go and Hot Bar/Cold Bar options are among their better efforts, though someone please explain to me how anyone passes off that green pudding as cole slaw? Really, come on, slaw is suppose to have crunch.
If there was one clear upside, it was their fresh pasta bar; they had perhaps 10 offerings (I didn't count)....including two meat-stuff pastas, both with braised short-rib, one in a small ravioli and one in a large angliotti.
I sampled those. Not brilliant, but above-average and priced well for the quality delivered.
Overall, the market is fine'ish, its not a total fail; but for Longo's, with a much-hyped, long-planned, Liberty Village location; not their best showing.......
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SunriseChampion
Senior Member
I wasn't being mean....I was being honest. I know a lot of people confuse the two in our eggshell-walking, bubble boy, offended by the wind and all else culture....but make no mistake.
I shop there regularly.
I can't believe you rate the bakery. It's pretty shallow with the the whole grain offerings.
I shop there regularly.
I can't believe you rate the bakery. It's pretty shallow with the the whole grain offerings.
Northern Light
Superstar
This concept, which I brought to UT's attention in posting about Quebec based grocer Avril has taken off faster than I anticipated.........
progressivegrocer.com
Look for vertical farming technology in Sobeys stores in the GTA by late 2020/early 2021
I expect this will spread.
The advantages are really substantial from an environmental, freshness/quality and product variety perspective.
Where I expect differentiation, and I'm not sure how Sobeys is tackling this yet, is whether the farming system itself will be accessible to the public (pick your own) or only to staff who put product out once a day.
Either way, lots of potential.
I'm inclined towards a public-facing model (it looks cool), but having either staff-only, or staff-supervised access, but I'm open to seeing what works.
Sobeys, Safeway, Thrifty Foods Adding In-Store Hydroponic Farms
Infarm partners with Empire's family of brands in Canada
progressivegrocer.com
Look for vertical farming technology in Sobeys stores in the GTA by late 2020/early 2021
I expect this will spread.
The advantages are really substantial from an environmental, freshness/quality and product variety perspective.
Where I expect differentiation, and I'm not sure how Sobeys is tackling this yet, is whether the farming system itself will be accessible to the public (pick your own) or only to staff who put product out once a day.
Either way, lots of potential.
I'm inclined towards a public-facing model (it looks cool), but having either staff-only, or staff-supervised access, but I'm open to seeing what works.
AlbertC
Superstar
Fresh City at the Livmore (Bay & Gerrard) is now open:
innsertnamehere
Superstar
what a terrible time to open new retail.
If you’re in retail, be in groceries. People always need to eat.
AlbertC
Superstar
The south end of the Fresh City store looks open as well now:
AlbertC
Superstar
The Fox Market, a new contact-less online grocery pick up store is now open at 17 Fort York in Cityplace:
www.blogto.com
Downtown Toronto just got a new store for online grocery shopping that also sells wine and liquor
Online grocery shopping in downtown Toronto has another option starting this weekend with a brand new virtual grocery store that sells a lot of the...
www.blogto.com
AlbertC
Superstar
Article and photos of the new Fresh City store:
www.retail-insider.com
Fresh City Farms Grocery Concept Opens 2nd Store Amid Pandemic [Photos]
The fresh-focused grocer opened a 5,500-square-foot store in the heart of downtown Toronto at an unprecedented time, and is helping support FoodShare as well as nearby hospital workers.
www.retail-insider.com
gregv
Active Member
gregv
Active Member
City Market College & Spadina closed November 7. Rumours T&T will replace it.
"We made the difficult decision to close the City Market at College and Spadina, as the store had been underperforming for a number of years," said a PR rep for Loblaw
www.blogto.com
"We made the difficult decision to close the City Market at College and Spadina, as the store had been underperforming for a number of years," said a PR rep for Loblaw
Controversial big box grocery store near Kensington Market abruptly shuts down
Once upon a time, back in 2013, the notoriously gentrification-averse Toronto community of Kensington Market was furious to learn that Loblaws was ...
www.blogto.com