‘Unique shopping experience’: Starsky Fine Foods to double size of flagship store
Tapping into a growing demand for Eastern European food, specialty grocer Starsky Fine Foods will invest about $7 million this year to double the size of one of its stores in Mississauga, Ont.
By taking over a former Staples store next door and retrofitting the existing Starsky at 2040 Dundas St. E., the store will increase from 25,000 to 50,000 square feet, making it the three-store chain’s flagship outlet.
“It’s going to be one of the nicest, newest stores in the country,” says Starsky CEO Patrick Sikorski, who along with his brother Peter, runs the family business that his father and two business partners launched in 2005.
The store will have a 200-foot-long service counter, possibly the largest continuous service counter in North America, says Starsky vice-president Peter Sikorski. It will be staffed with as many as 80 to 100 clerks serving pastries, prepared foods, raw meat, deli and smoked meat, cheese and smoked fish. “That makes it a pretty unique shopping experience,” Peter Sikorski says.
The store will have a simple and clean look with the newest technologies and finishes imported from Europe, Patrick Sikorski says. “We’re really trying to build something that you don’t see in Canada very often.”
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There will be at least 300 varieties of charcuterie to go with 600 types of cheese and a large assortment of smoked fish, almost entirely locally sourced. The store will also have a much stronger assortment of raw pork and fresh veal products than is seen at national grocers, the brothers say.
The expanded location will be home as well to a much larger prepared foods section. “Our customer base 20 years ago cooked at home,” Patrick Sikorski says. “Now, convenience is a big factor, so we’re really investing to grow our hot meal section and our prepared foods section.”
Starsky launched with the goal of having a one-stop shop for Eastern European fare where both immigrants and native-born Canadians would feel at home. It followed the examples set by grocers such as Longo’s for Italian products.
The move paid off. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, Starsky attracts as many as 80,000 shoppers weekly at its two Mississauga stores (the other is at 3115 Dundas St. W.) and one Hamilton store (685 Queenston Rd.). The stores are visited by busloads of shoppers from assisted living and retirement homes and customers from as far afield as London, Ont. and Windsor.
With that traffic, products are fresh, rotate quickly and “never stay in the deli case long. That’s what really attracts a lot of our customers,” Patrick Sikorski says. The brothers note the internet has also made customers more knowledgeable about Eastern European brands.
About 8% to 10% of the Mississauga stores and 5% of the Hamilton store are sub-leased to other businesses that include an Eastern European restaurant, imported books and magazines, jeweler, naturopath, florist, optician, travel agency, currency exchange and credit union.
Starsky offers a loyalty program in which all members save 2% instantly on all regular priced items. In addition, on one Tuesday a month during most months, all regular-priced items are discounted by 10% for all shoppers. The customer appreciation day began for seniors during COVID, but gained traction and was extended to everyone. Traffic almost doubles on the days the promotion is offered.
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In addition to the store expansion, the Sikorskis are eyeing the possibility of new Starsky locations. “We’ll leverage our loyalty program to see where our customers are coming from to see what makes the most sense and what would be the most convenient for our clients,” Patrick Sikorski says.
