Grocery stores inadequate for students in Jasper Ave. area

Justis Allard will tell you he’s luckier than most when it comes to the weekly grocery store trip.

The fifth-year Faculty of ALES student’s apartment is positioned in between the downtown Save-On-Foods and Safeway locations, so he can walk to either within 20 minutes.

“If you live anywhere else (in downtown), it’s not walkable,” Allard said.

New research from the University of Alberta would agree with Allard, as Craig Patterson, head of Applied Research at the U of A School of Retailing, and his team have authored a examining grocery availability in the downtown cores of major Canadian cities.

“Edmonton isn’t up to the same level in terms of grocery store coverage in the core as places like Toronto and Vancouver,” Patterson said. “I’ve noticed a number of gaps in geography.”

Those gaps are the central to the study, as Patterson said that ideally everyone living in a downtown area should have a grocery store within 500 metres of their doorstep. Though cities like Vancouver often exceed that requirement, Edmonton’s downtown only has a handful of stores, leaving large tracts of real estate without easy access to a grocery store.

Bounded by 124 Street, 107 Avenue, River Valley Road and 97 Street, the downtown area in question has an estimated population of 41,000 people, yet is only served by three grocery stores. In addition to the Safeway and the Save-On, there is a Lucky 97 Supermarket on the northern edge of the area in Chinatown.

The 2014 closure of the Sobeys location on 104th Street is a concern for nearby residents, and Patterson said he chose not to live in that area because of the lack of a grocery store.

Patterson also pointed to Planet Organic at 123rd Street and Jasper Avenue, as well as the introduction of perishables to the Shoppers Drug Mart on Jasper Avenue as two other locations that would meet grocery needs. Even with these additions to grocery shopping in the area, Patterson said that price of goods could be a concern.

“Not everything (at Planet Organic) is that expensive,” Patterson said. “But I was in there at Christmas and saw a $130 turkey. So that was a bit of sticker shock for me.”

Allard agreed, saying that the Real Canadian Superstore just north of downtown is significantly cheaper than the Safeway he usually shops at.

“(Safeway) is expensive,” Allard said, “it’s not the bulk place, you pay about twice as much as you would at No Frills or Superstore.”

Easy access to affordable groceries was “paramount” as a student for Allard, and Patterson also pointed to the income and mobility diversities of the area as even more reason for increased coverage.

“There are people living (downtown) because they can’t afford to drive cars,” Patterson said. “They might be seniors or disabled, and it’s important for them to get their basics, to eat and be healthy.”

Though the new development throughout the downtown core comes with zoning for new grocery stores in Ice District, the Brewery District, the Quarters development, and Rossdale, many of those stores are years away from completion. In terms of putting additional stores in existing downtown locations, Patterson said the cost of doing business could be a turn-off for retailers.

Operating on a slim profit margin, Patterson said downtown grocery stores often have difficulties with shipping and merchandising their goods. This, along with statistically higher shrinkage rates in the downtown core, and many stores may look past these locations.

One area which could be improved, according to Patterson, is city-mandated parking requirements in the areas around Jasper Avenue.

“Oliver is a challenging area, because if you want to put in retail, there is a parking requirement that is arguably way too high,” Patterson said. “If the city can’t do that, I don’t think Oliver is going to see another grocery store at all.”

For Patterson, continued development and beautification of the downtown core would go a long way in improving the area. Citing Chicago as a good example, using benches and way-finding signs to improve the pedestrian experience would be a positive change in Edmonton.

Despite this optimism, Patterson said it would take a concerted effort from planners and developers to improve the city’s core.

“To have a healthy city, you need a healthy downtown, and Edmonton’s is not that at the moment,” Patterson said. “It needs a lot of work, and, for the city’s sake, I hope it goes in that direction.”