Sunterra Market expands into Red Deer

Sunterra Market is moving into new digs at a Red Deer mall.

The Alberta-based retail and farming company is opening a two-level, 20,000-sq.-ft. store at Bower Place, a regional mall that’s undergone a significant redevelopment over the past few years. The space is a new build with access from both the parking lot and the mall interior.

READ: Sunterra Market transforms downtown Calgary location

Sunterra Market currently has nine locations in Calgary and Edmonton, as well as farming operations in nearby Acme and Trochu.

“We’ve had lots of inquiries over the years about coming to Red Deer, so it’s been largely based on customer requests and demand,” says Glen Price, president of Sunterra Quality Food Markets Inc. “We were approached by the landlord and they were keen to have us in the community at Bower Place. It’s really central in Red Deer, so the more we thought about it, the more we got excited about Red Deer, and how different would be relative to the existing offerings there.”

Among the offerings at the new location are fresh meats and produce, market-baked goods, chef-prepared meals and grocery staples. There’s also a wide selection of hot meals from the store’s fresh pasta, pizza, piadina, breakfast and rotisserie stations. Grab-and-go offerings include three-course feasts, meal kits and seasonal feasts.

The store also features a freshly squeezed juice, smoothie and salad bar, as well as a café with a full Lavazza coffee offering, pastries and local gelato.

“Anytime we open a store, it’s not really a cookie-cutter process for us—we try to customize the offering to the space and to the community,” says Price. “So, there’s a significant focus on prepared foods and staple grocery items as well. But, as we see consumers shift to more fresh foods, the fresh offerings are dominant in the store.”

Shoppers will be able to visit an interactive chef station to learn new cooking methods, simple recipes and cooking techniques, and try new products. The mezzanine level will feature Sunterra’s Community Table, an event space designed for cooking classes and a meeting room for the community. Price says the space will be used for "small internal meetings and training sessions" until COVID restrictions have been lifted and Sunterra is able to open it to shoppers.

Rounding out the new Red Deer offerings are catering, online grocery delivery and curbside pickup.

The store is set to open on March 16.