Grocery store to open in downtown Saskatoon
Renovations are already underway on the main level of the 2nd Avenue Lofts in downtown Saskatoon. According to a media release issued by The Partnership yesterday, the retail space located at the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 23rd Street East will be home to the Uptown Market, a full service independent grocery store which will also house a deli and a coffee shop.
A British Columbia businessman, Rexy Silva and his daughter, Tabitha will operate the Uptown Market and offer a full selection of fresh produce, meats, eggs, dairy products and other essentials. They hope to have the 5,200 square foot grocery store open by Christmas of this year.
Saskatoon’s Central Business District has been without a grocery store since late 2004 when the Extra Foods on 3rd Avenue North closed its doors.
Learn more about the Central Business District.
If you live in Saskatoon we’d sure appreciate hearing your comments about your neighbourhood. Please visit our “Saskatoon neighbourhoods” page and let us know what you love about your community.
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
8 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:58 PM
I know people used to live upstairs from their small market on the main level, but I’m not sure how I would feel living upstairs with a supermarket below, probably would have to try it to know for sure.
October 27th, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Rick,
The nice thing about that building is that it’s constructed of solid concrete and I believe each floor is about a foot thick. I don’t expect you could hear much from one floor to the next. A grocery store will be a real plus for residents that live close by.
October 27th, 2009 at 7:22 PM
Norm,
Agreed, The noise would not be a issue, however the foot traffic might be a touch much, however with already living across from the bus mall perhaps anything goes and anything is ok.
Did you moderate my previous blog for political correctness
If so thanks I missed that.
October 27th, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Lol. I wasn’t going to bring it up, but yes, I did make a small adjustment. Thanks Rick.
Street traffic, pedestrian and auto, is just part of downtown living. Some can take it and others can’t. Years ago, I lived in one of our downtown high rises. I loved being close to everything but the days always started early and went late. Cars, horns, sirens, people yelling back and forth; all part of the drill. I managed to get used to it to the extent that it didn’t drive me nuts but it was seldom really quiet. The place I lived in had crappy aluminum slider windows that could hardly keep the wind out. Maybe if you had a good quality triple pane window in a concrete building, it might not be so bad.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:10 AM
It’s great that a downtown grocery store is opening up, but I wonder how long it will last in that neighbourhood.
It seems like the businesses near the adjacent transit hub are always dealing with higher theft and vandalism issues than would be the case in other areas of the city. Just recently a pharmacy at the same location shut down (I have no idea why, but suspect it was tough to keep the store profitable in that area)
Security will have to be on the payroll from day one for such an operation to succeed. As a downtown resident, I will support them as often as I can.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:42 AM
2nd Avenue Lofts is somewhat a “European” concept (although not quite the same), so I suspect anyone living in the area looking for this type of lifestyle (ie: where they can walk to most places for any products or services they need) will have no problem with it. In fact, I suspect most will probably welcome the convenience.
Jeff, my understanding is that they’re completely redesigning the transit hub, in-part I believe due to the aforementioned concerns from merchants that you alluded to. With the King George recently renovated across the street (and also featuring two floors of commercial and retail tenants), that should also go a long way towards improving the locale.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:54 AM
The gentlemans name who is opening the Uptown Market is Rexy Silva not smith as you said in your intro Norm. I do think this will be a valuable asset to our Downtown
January 19th, 2010 at 1:56 PM
Thanks for the correction, Terry. Taken care of!