Winnipeg’s mayor says a new full-service Red River Co-op grocery store and pharmacy set to open as part of the redevelopment of the former Portage Place mall will make “downtown feel more complete.”
The grocery store will span 22,500 square feet, alongside a 6,500-square-foot pharmacy, True North Real Estate Development said in a news release. It’s expected to open in 2029 and create 57 local jobs, the developer said.
“For people who live and work here, having easy access to fresh food and household essentials and pharmacy services matters because it helps downtown feel more complete,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said at a news conference at the former mall on Wednesday.
“It’s one important part of a much larger effort to renew and reshape the downtown of Winnipeg,” he said.
True North’s $650-million redevelopment project will turn the existing downtown mall into a mixed-use complex with a health-care centre and housing.
A tower with health-care services will rise above the east side of Portage Place, while a residential tower is being built on the west side. The centre of the old mall will eventually house a mix of commercial and social services.
The city approved permits for more than 1,000 new residential units in the downtown in 2025 — a record number for the city, Gillingham said.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham says a full-service grocery store is ‘one of the missing pieces in the puzzle of downtown.’ (Justin Fraser/CBC)
“Downtown is not just an office district or an entertainment district anymore. It’s a neighbourhood, a series of neighbourhoods, and they’re growing quickly,” he said, adding he has seen proposals for “incredibly exciting” projects that could revamp entire downtown blocks.
True North president Jim Ludlow said the company entered a memorandum of understanding with Red River Co-op in February and binding leases were signed this week.
Craig Gilpin, CEO of Red River Co-op, said the company is committed to serving downtown residents.
Craig Gilpin, CEO of Red River Co-op, says the newly announced location set to open at the former mall in 2029 will bring essential services back to downtown. (Justin Fraser/CBC)
“For us, this is more than opening another location. This is about bringing something essential back to the heart of our city. Access to fresh food, access to pharmacy care, access to services people rely on every day,” he said.
“[The] Portage Place redevelopment represents something bigger than the redevelopment itself. It’s health care, it’s housing, it’s neighbourhood services, it’s economic reconciliation. It is helping create a thriving, resilient downtown community,” Gilpin said.
Gillingham said a full-service grocery in the city’s core is “one of the missing pieces in the puzzle of downtown.
Community organizations have been calling for an affordable, full-service grocery store to open up in the city’s downtown, where food desert concerns persist. Access to healthy food and affordability are “recurring themes” in the local area, according to provincial grocery price study released earlier this week.
That study said the redevelopment of Portage Place and Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn — the Southern Chiefs’ Organization’s redevelopment of the former Hudson’s Bay building across the street — will bring more people downtown and create a business case for the city’s core to get a new full-service grocery store.
Southern Chiefs’ Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn will include hundreds of homes and affordable housing for First Nations people in the heart of downtown.
But that “housing cannot stand alone,” he said at Wednesday’s news conference.
“For many years, people have spoken about the need for better access to food, household essentials and pharmacy services in the downtown core,” Daniels said.
“When fresh food and pharmacy services are not close by, people are forced to travel far, pay more or go without the supports they need. This announcement closes that gap.”
‘There wasn’t much of a grocery store around here’
Befekadu Abitew, who works at the Bee Wow convenience store at the corner of Portage Avenue and Furby Street, a few blocks away from Portage Place, said though the new Co-op will likely affect his store’s business, the area needs more grocery options.
“There wasn’t much of a grocery store around here, and we’re happy to serve the community here. Another grocery store coming to this community will certainly help,” he said.
Befekadu Abitew, who works at the Bee Wow at the corner of Portage Avenue and Furby Street, says the convenience store believes in ‘fair competition.’ (Justin Fraser/CBC)
The convenience store plans to stay competitive to keep customers and will adjust prices if necessary after the Co-op opens, Abitew said, adding the shop believes in “fair competition.”
Food Fare owner Munther Zeid, who spoke to CBC News on Monday, before Co-op’s announcement, questioned whether opening a grocery store downtown made good business sense.
He was reacting to the grocery price study, which recommended opening a grocery store in the city’s core.
“If there was money to be made downtown in Winnipeg, you don’t think one of the Big 5 [grocery chains] would be there already?” Zeid said. “There’s no money downtown, no money to be made downtown. Nothing, zero.”
He said there is a “major shoplifting issue” at downtown stores and thinks any grocery store that opens there would need additional security or police on-site.
WATCH | Grocery store coming as part of Portage Place redevelopment:
Grocery store coming as part of Portage Place redevelopment
Red River Co-op plans to open a full-service grocery store and pharmacy in the redeveloped Portage Place mall space in downtown Winnipeg in 2029. While people living in the area are glad to see an essential service coming to the heart of the city, some local grocers worry about security and what the competition will do to their livelihoods.