pat12

Is there any shop remotely like M & S' food market in Vancouver? i.e. select quality, good ready meals etc. Although the supermarkets here are huge e.g. Superstore, they seem to lack something.

ClareBC

remotely like it could be the IGA stores. Bit more upmarket, a bit pricey, but still not the full range of ready meals you might be used to.

Superstore is foul (BAD customer service for starters) and I avoid shopping there.

Clare

pat12

Thank you for the info, I thought my bad experiences at Superstore were unique! I heard that Canadians were meant to be friendly before I got here, clearly that excludes those working at Superstore!

dbd33

They're converting Maple Leaf Gardens (an old hockey rink near here) into a Superstore. The team that played there stank for the last thirty years or so they were there. Can I expect the produce to be any better ?

hot wasabi peas

Wow. This I did not know. Are the Leafs fans crying?



m_pather, ready meals are not as popular on the west coast as they're are in Britain. Besides, for the price of a ready meal, you can get excellent take-away.

I'm not from Vancouver and don't know the shops there but generally the 'ready meals' that exist in BC are generally frozen and so in the freezer section of grocery stores. But you can find a lot of convenience food in local delis or the deli section of a decent grocery store (ready made sushi, lasagnas, cabbage rolls, etc). If you are near one of the few "Thrifty Foods" on the mainland their deli section and frozen food selection is great, IMO (if the mainland ones are similar to the ones on the Island).

Souvenir

IGA is a funny beast. It's a franchise operation (the stores are all independently owned and operated) and are thus variable in quality. The ones in Quebec are supplied by Sobeys, a major grocery chain that just happens to own IGA.

They're not the only ones at it. You've got Loblaws/Fortino/Provigo, Metro/Loeb etc etc. No wonder they all look the same.

dbd33

Not that I know of, I just saw the signs on the building announcing that the store's coming.

sysclp

There was a movement to try and save it which flopped, so yes a certain group of old guard fans are not very happy about it at all. The property downtown is just too valuable to leave empty as a shrine basically.