Grocer 4 Good set to reopen next week

The Grocer 4 Good Ability Development Program will open its doors to the public July 20 after temporarily closing in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Under new summer hours, the grocery store - located at 133 Gore Street - will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

“It’s really humbling to be part of this organization, and I know that we made the right decision to close, and I know that coming back we’ll only be able to be stronger and really serve our community,” said Grocer 4 Good’s founder and president Lisa Vezeau-Allen.

Four part-time employees will return to Grocer 4 Good, which provides employment opportunities to people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual disabilities or who are chronically underemployed. 

A former Grocer 4 Good employee scored a full-time job during the hiatus, while the remaining workers are taking a wait-and-see approach to returning to work. 

“The other few that aren’t coming back right now still want to be involved, but just aren’t comfortable coming back at this time,” Vezeau-Allen said. 

Grocer 4 Good is looking to establish more partnerships with local food growers and producers going forward in an effort to bring quality groceries and other essentials to those living on low or fixed incomes. 

Vezeau-Allen says Grocer 4 Good is looking to expand upon existing partnerships with Hogan’s Homestead and Sweet Change Chocolate by including more locally sourced products from local food producers.   

As part of that expansion, Grocer 4 Good will offer fresh strawberries and other offerings from Thomson Farms, and it’s currently in talks with Big Lake Cabin to bring frozen meal preparation kits to the store. 

“The vast majority of our customer base are seniors, or single people living in the apartments in the surrounding area, so really trying to tailor what would be good for them,” she said. 

When asked about the impact of closing Grocer 4 Good in early May, Vezeau-Allen told SooToday that the closure “definitely affected the neighbourhood.” 

“Over 75 per cent of our customers were repeat customers and regulars, so we do know that it served a definite need in that neighbourhood, and they would’ve had to go elsewhere,” she said. 

Vezeau-Allen says the Grocer 4 Good Ability Development Program has received positive feedback and support from funders, families of staff and the general public leading up to its reopening. 

It also received a number of donated face shields for staff from Maker North, and assistance from Yes You Can Employment Consulting in order to obtain a plexiglass shield for cashiers. 

“We did our soft open in early February, then we had our grand opening March 6th - then a few weeks later, we were dealing with COVID,” said Vezeau-Allen. “So the fact that we’ve been able to sustain, I think, is really a wonderful thing with no sales coming in.”

“The whole idea of the model is a sustainable social enterprise, so we need those revenues from our sales to maintain our operations. It’s a strong model. I know that moving forward, we will be able to achieve that.”