Traditionally, in the week of the CPMA trade show, a retail tour is organized in the hosting city. On April 24, the popular and sold-out event took participants to three different retail concepts that all serve a niche in the city of Vancouver.
Two trolley buses departed the convention centre at 8:00 am in the morning and took participants for a nice drive through the city to the first stop; a City Market from Loblaw’s. The store, that was opened in November 2015, appeals to an urban city demographic. Despite its smaller footprint, it has a large selection of local as well as imported fresh produce. “I really like the lay-out of this store,” said Rob Johnson with Country Grocer from Vancouver Island. “In most stores, the fresh produce department is on one end and the bakery and deli are on the other end. In this store, it’s all situated on the same side.”
Click here for the photo report.
The second stop of the morning was at Granville Island Market. The public market has many different independent stores under one roof. From fresh produce vendors, to bakeries and art & gift shops. “People come here for the experience,” said Johnson. “For many families, it is an all-day outing on the weekend.” The fresh produce stalls all had a large produce offering and differentiate themselves with unique produce items as well as beautiful displays.
The last stop of the morning was at T&T Supermarket on Keefer Street. T&T is the largest Asian supermarket chain in Canada, operating 23 stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Vancouver has the second largest Chinatown in North America, after San Francisco, driving the demand for Asian produce items. The store has a giant selection of exotic produce items with many of them being imported from Asia.
Take a look at the photo report to see in more detail what each store has to offer.