Food Basics opens new North York store
Food Basics has opened its newest location in Toronto’s North York community. The modern 18,000-sq.-ft. store is located on the second floor of Emerald Park, a mixed-use development with two condominium towers near the intersection of Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave.
John Manax, vice president operations at Food Basics, says Food Basics previously had a store in the area (three kilometres away from the new store), but it closed three years ago because the landlord wanted to develop the site as a new condominium.
“We were looking in the area and [Emerald Park] was a really good fit for us,” he says. “We’re at Yonge and Poyntz Avenue, right in the heart of the action and just north of the 401. It’s a great neighbourhood and one of the things that makes it great for us is we’re the only discounter in the neighbourhood.”
Emerald Park has direct access to the Sheppard subway station and also includes a mix of restaurants, a Tim Hortons and an LCBO location. The new Food Basics is the discount banner’s 140th store and second foray into a condo location, having opened a store in a condo building in Toronto’s west end in 2017.
The Emerald Park store features a wide range of Asian products to meet the needs of the surrounding community, as well as an expanded seafood offering, a fresh barbecue chicken program, fresh meat and produce, self-checkout, and free-parking validation.
To promote the new location, Food Basics has created an in-store flyer that’s unique to the store, with offers geared to the community. “We want people to introduce people to the store and we want them to get value out of the store,” says Manax.
In terms of expansion plans, Manax says Food Basics is always looking to grow. “This is store is number 140, which is a big number for us,” he says. “We’re going to continue to look for opportunities in our communities where we feel we can meet those needs.”
