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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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Giant Tiger is closing its downtown location. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The store was busy Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Picking up his twice-weekly grocery haul, shopper Glen Sims says he may need to move from the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really the only place in the area to get groceries, and I don\u2019t plan on buying a car,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Prices at Downtown Family Foods, several blocks south at Broadway and Donald Street, are significantly higher than Giant Tiger and he can\u2019t stay within his monthly budget there, he said.<\/p>\n
Kyle Mason, the executive director of food security advocacy organization Food Matters Manitoba, said the loss of the store means residents in the area who can\u2019t travel to other parts of the city may have to resort to relying on food banks and community organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe core of Winnipeg is already struggling with access to good, healthy food. And so having one of the very few options removed, it just makes things that much more difficult,\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really the only place in the area to get groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Convenience stores scattered throughout the area sell food items that may not be affordable or of high nutritional quality, he said.<\/p>\n
There are several ethnic grocers in the area, including Dino\u2019s Grocery, Young\u2019s Trading and Sun Wah Supermarket.<\/p>\n
Sims said it\u2019s likely rampant theft is behind the decision to close the Giant Tiger.<\/p>\n
He said he frequently sees people stealing but doesn\u2019t report the shoplifting to management because \u201cI don\u2019t want to be beat up on the way home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wendy Sutherland, another shopper, said she has witnessed theft in the store, both in person and online.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see videos of it all over social media, on Facebook,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople have no shame when they do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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The company shuttered its locations at 1441 Main St. and 305 McPhillips St. in 2024. The stores were in locations \u201cchallenging for our business model,\u201d spokesperson Alison Scarlett said at the time, adding theft wasn\u2019t the sole reason for the closures.<\/p>\n
The Canadian discount retail chain has eight locations in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Charbonneau did not respond to questions about the reason behind the downtown store\u2019s planned closure.<\/p>\n
That location is in city councillor Cindy Gilroy\u2019s Daniel McIntyre ward. She said Winnipeg\u2019s mental-health and addictions crisis is having a trickle-down effect on retailers.<\/p>\n
A representative from Giant Tiger told her several months ago that theft had become a big issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not big stores and they don\u2019t always have access to the security that they may need,\u201d Gilroy said. \u201cAnd when it\u2019s happening people don\u2019t want to (shop there), so there\u2019s the impact there, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not big stores and they don\u2019t always have access to the security that they may need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Police Service data for the year ending in March shows 106 reported shoplifting incidents on the downtown block that includes the Giant Tiger store, down from the total 170 the previous year.<\/p>\n
Last month, Red River Co-Op announced plans to build a 22,500-square-foot store and pharmacy inside True North\u2019s redevelopment of Portage Place mall, but that store isn\u2019t expected to open until 2029.<\/p>\n
The province\u2019s grocery price study, released last month, said evidence suggests between nine and 15 per cent of Winnipeg residents live in neighbourhoods that experience characteristics consistent with food deserts.<\/p>\n
Even in areas where grocery stores are present, affordability pressures limit lower-income households\u2019 access to nutritious food, the report said.<\/p>\n
Sims and Sutherland both said the downtown Giant Tiger is vital for them and their neighbours.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great location and it has everything you need,\u201d Sims said.<\/p>\n
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Nicole Buffie Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College\u2019s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Multimedia producer
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