KaleMart24 opens fresh convenience concept in Montreal
KaleMart24 celebrated the grand opening of its first store in Montreal on March 8. The growth concept c-store chain unveiled a lineup of natural and organic brands in every category – from beverage to confectionary – a better-for-you fresh food menu, generous loyalty initiatives and a clean, modern sustainable store design.
Launching with the slogan “Where Wellness Meets Convenience,” the first KaleMart24 is in Berri-UQAM Metro station in the city centre borough of Ville-Marie, which is home to major shopping arteries like Sainte-Catherine Street.
Berri-UQAM is also a main transfer hub of Montreal’s transit system, connecting three of the city’s four metro lines, Green, Orange and Yellow. According to transit operator Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Berri-UQAM, which underwent a $87 million refurbishment mostly completed in late 2020, is the busiest station in the system, with 12.6 million commuters passing through its turnstiles each year.
Bright and inviting, KaleMart24 features LED lighting and eco-friendly building materials and furnishings, such as recycled and reclaimed wood and steel.
READ: The Innovators: KaleMart24 looks to become the ‘Whole Foods of convenience stores’
Entrepreneur Sam Saoudi, who is CEO, director and founder of KaleMart24 – a venture he first announced in January 2023 with the promise of it becoming the “Whole Foods of Convenience Stores” and disrupting the c-store category with healthier choices catering to a younger, on-the-go customer base – said an emphasis on sustainability with the store design is reflected in the natural sustainable products on offer to customers, too.
“KaleMart24 prioritizes suppliers that align with its commitment to healthier choices and environmental sustainability,” Saoudi said during an interview earlier this week with Convenience Store News Canada. He says that means brands dedicated to “sustainable sourcing, eco-friendly packaging and ethical standards.”
“Local sourcing and transparency in practices are also emphasized,” he added.
According to the KaleMart24 website, which includes online shopping capability through Shopify’s Shop Pay mobile checkout service, the food menu includes vegan rice bowls (like a Tempeh Buddha Bowl and Beyond @Chili Bowl), power snacks, sandwiches, hot ciabattas and self-serve hot drinks, like Matcha Tea and Americano.
Lunch options include freshly prepared “organic superfood meals” by Canadian-based organic meal delivery company Bio Raw, which KaleMart24 recently promoted on its Instagram feed. KaleMart24 has also promoted on the social media platform the Toronto-based raw nut brand Handfuel and Frankie’s Organic Snacks, which is a Quebec-based brand.
Confectionery brands on offer include Alter Ego organic chocolate bars, Simply Gum Fennel Natural Chewing Gum, Healthy Hippo low-sugar gummies and Hardbite handcrafted all-natural potato chips and root vegetable chips.
In the jerky category, KaleMart24 carries Raincoast Trading Wild Salmon Jerky, non-GMO vegan jerky made from soy protein from the Canadian brand Noble, and Thrive Provisions meat bars in unique flavours like “maple apple and blueberry” and “honey lime and black pepper.”
Beverage brands include Guayaki Yerba Mate in flavours like bluephoria and grapefruit ginger, Montreal-based organic energy drink brand Guru, La Croix sparkling water and organic kombucha brand, Remedy. The store is also carrying Toro, a brand of sugar-free energy beverages infused with matcha that Saoudi launched in 2019.
KaleMart24 has also introduced loyalty initiatives. For $29.99 per month, customers can sign up for “Club Kale” and enjoy unlimited 12 oz coffee or tea daily and 15% off food menu items. Club Kale is being promoted with the first month free. Consumers can also sign up to Kale Perks to collect points (500 points = $15 redemption), including 100 free points on their birthday, and includes a tiered system for improved discounts based on shopping basket sizes and frequency,
“The more you Kale, the more you get!” the Kale Perks copy promises.
Open 24/7, the store offers multiple payment options, including self-checkout, contactless and mobile.
Previously, KaleMart24 revealed plans for a 450 sq. ft. location inside Montreal’s Jarry Metro station to be its first store in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. However, it will now be the second store to open (later this month). A 2,055-sq.-ft. store at
1055 Rue de la Montagne (next to the the Bell Centre) is slated to open in late April.
Saoudi told Convenience Store News Canada last year that the company plans to have five locations in Montreal by the end of 2024, and “to reach over 30 locations by the end of 2025” in major markets, including Toronto and Vancouver. His vision, he said, is to disrupt the “increasingly outdated idea of c-stores associated with junk food by offering healthier choices that cater to a mobile-savvy younger generation” looking for good food on the go.
This article first appeared on sister publication Convenience Store News Canada
