Loblaws out and T&T in at Empress Walk

 

Things are changing fast in North York.   The changes have really sparked a lot of thoughts on where Toronto is going very soon.

There has been a drastic market shift in the past 3 or 4 years in this city.

Some of this may change again, but there's a lot of information on Social Media about the upcoming changes to the grocery store landscape around Yonge and Sheppard.

Another large retail grocery store in North York will be replaced in October.

From a post I read on Urban Toronto, it seems as though the Loblaws at Empress Walk will be closing in October and will be replaced by a T&T Supermarket sometime around 2026.

I saw on Social Media that T&T was going to open on the lower level of North York City Centre, but they seem to have bailed on this  because:

- It would be expensive to repair (water damage), retrofit (light retail/office to supermarket), and transfer goods from loading docks.
- lots of new mid-block retail space coming online (Ellie Condo & 90K-sqft at Pearl Place),...
- Loblaws & Shoppers Drug Mart across the street at Empress Walk - but this has now changed too, but at the time they thought  T&T would reduce market share from the Loblaws,... 

-  Food Basics also opened in October 2021 at Emerald Park, south of Sheppard 

-  Longos in the Yonge Sheppard Centre in July 2019) and 

-Whole Foods Market (Sept 2014) opened at Yonge & Sheppard but closed on August 22nd. 

I went to the opening of the T&T supermarket at Fairview Mall a couple of days after that opened a couple of years ago.  There was a tiny line-up when I went.  It's a massive store. What I like about the T&T markets is the large selection of reasonably priced vegetables and the massive choice of imported products from all over Asia.

The Loblaws Empress Walk is about 75,000-80,000 sq ft plus another 6,000 sq ft in P1 Parking level. 

T&T needs about 50,000sqft, so about 30,000sqft left over to divide/sublet for other retail usage.

I moved into this area in 2011, and at the time, there was the Loblaws, P.A.T. Market, the Metro, which I don't normally go to, and an M2M tiny market.

Galleria Supermarket opened in about 2024 at the Madison Centre.

When I moved here, it seemed there were fewer grocery stores but a more diverse array of restaurants in the area.

Now it seems everything has been changing to Asia North York with the Loblaws and Whole Foods going and being replaced by T&T supermarket.

This is what will be available in a year or so:

• Galleria Supermarket
• Food Basics
• Metro
• H Mart
• P.A.T. Mart
• Longos
• and T&T coming

I support diversity because I love to have different foods, but I am not happy about the area being totally been taken over by all Asian Foods.  

I want to be able to have Italian one day and Thai the next, and Greek after that, and so on.

I am finding the food in the area is mostly sub par with a lot of cheap ingredients, very heavy on the rice and noodles.

I am dying to see the following in this area:

• An Italian Deli/Bakery
• A Jewish Deli restaurant
• A fun Mexican restaurant
• A high-quality Greek restaurant
• A Gelato cafe
• A Montreal Bagel House
• A place to get great Banh Mi's
• A high-quality Chinese restaurant
• A Mediterranean restaurant
• A comfort food restaurant

All of the recent restaurant openings have been Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and lots of bubble tea places.  That's fine, but there's an over-saturation of the same with about 3 or 4 Sushi places within the same block, and similar with some Korean places. 

I would prefer to see 1 or 2 of the highest quality that add value to the area and have this area become a destination to get great food, the way people flock to certain areas downtown just for the food.

Other than Street festivals and the odd concert at Lee Leifson Park and maybe seeing a movie at Empress Walk or some sort of show at Meridien, there's really only restaurants and grocery shopping in the area.  It's not even a fashion district.

I would like to see more great cafes and places to hang out and do fun things, more than just 2 months in the summer.

Don't get me started on the food vendors at some of the Mel Lastman Square festivals..  Some get it right, but some horribly wrong.  But that's a story for another blog post.

Will see if the pendulum swings back to where there was more diversity.  I moved here for the many options in the first place.

Whole Foods Store Closing shopping part 2

 

Whole Foods BIG SALE 

I wasn't planning on shopping at Whole Foods today, but 2 of my friends messaged me about it, and one came from St. Lawrence Market area to go and messaged me when I got back home.  So I decided to go since I changed my mind on what I was going to do today.  Thought we could catch up while in line and talk Tiff things before we run by each other in passing.

I think she was already there almost an hour before I went back.   I had time to pick up some other groceries and go home and do the part 1 post before I headed back.

Because we were just wandering around talking and comparing and looking for interesting things, I spent way more time than I usually do when I go there, and bought more to try since I won't be able to go back to try it another day.  Also, I got things to try before, during, and after TIFF.

Right now I am eating some Chicken Schnitzel that I heated up and put on some white bread I got there.  That's my dinner.  We spent hours looking at food but didn't eat or drink, so I'm hungry, thirsty, and tired. 

So you can see my shopping cart after like half the day spent trying to shop.  I spent under $200 for 4 bags of food at 50% off.  I don't know how much will be left tomorrow, but I don't want to go tomorrow.  It was fun being there with my friend Ada.  We have the same shopping habits it seems.  We have never grocery shopped together before.  Film watching, yes, but not grocery shopping since we live at opposite ends of the city.

You can see beside the 50% off sign the things I consider impulse buys.  Stuff I want to try before TiFF... get rid of the bags under my eyes,  hydrate, sleep better, and stay calm.

I was there when it opened, and I can say I was there just before it closed.   

I feel really bad for the staff who were crazy busy today and will have no job after next week.  They don't deserve that.

Really, is a sign of the times.  But, interestingly, they are building a bigger store at King and Portland and cashing in on the young professionals that live in the condos.

Whole Foods Yonge St. Closing Aug 2025.

 A sign of things to come in the world when it comes to getting your groceries and weekly food.

I was there when it opened and hope to get in one more time before it closes next week.

Whole Foods at Yonge and Sheppard opened on September 14, 2014, and I waited in line with excitement to shop for fresh, healthy foods.  

At the time, my grocery choice was to go to Loblaws, a subway stop away, or to go to a small Korean Market about a block away.  

Before I moved here, there was a strip plaza with a Metro, and then they took it all down, and there was nothing for years.   

Then the Whole foods opened in 2014, but it never seemed to be as busy as the Loblaws was.

Then a few years later, when the Yonge Sheppard Centre was renovated, they switched the existing Movie Theatre into a Longos.   Yeah, I could get groceries in the winter without going outside.  I still couldn't get everything I shopped for, but I could get the majority.

In the past 2 or 3 years, a Food Basics was opened across the street from Whole Foods.  This is because very busy because of the available ethnic products not found at Whole Foods, which catered more to the demographics in this area.

M2M Mart was converted into the popular H Mart chain, although I didn't see much of a change.  I was there today and picked up snacks.  I get some specific Asian products, but it doesn't meet my weekly needs.

And about a year ago, a Galleria opened a few blocks north of Sheppard on Yonge.  Also catering to the many condos in the area, with the demographic of people who actually live in the condos.  It's pretty popular, but I would say Loblaws is the busiest of them all.

I don't like Galleria as much.  I don't like the prepared food that sits in heated plastic, and a lot of the products are high in sodium, so I rarely go there.

Back to Whole Foods.   I am not surprised that it is closing.  Over the past year, when I have been in the store, it has been pretty empty.   I walk out, spending $100 for a bag of groceries.   Mostly, I shop for things I can't get in other stores, like my favourite tea, which isn't at any of the other stores in the area.  I liked the cheese selection, the bread, and they had tiny bags of Tortilla chips with low salt that were my fav thing to grab with salsa or guacamole.

I have been wondering for a while how long it would last.  I'm pretty sure they weren't sustaining the costs of a large high-density area with ever-increasing leasing costs and wages.

I feel bad for the people who work there who are losing their jobs.  I can't imagine they will get the same wages if they try to get jobs at Food Basics.

I have been noticing that the food industry has become so short-lived in these times.

I went downtown and past 2 restaurants that were there only a few months ago, and one was a very long-standing restaurant popular with the late-night people.  I don't even know what it is now, and the other place will become another Asian restaurant.

The food landscape in Toronto has undergone a seismic shift since the pandemic.  I have seen things migrate to more Asian groceries and restaurants, and little mom-and-pop places just can't compete with the skyrocketing cost of food.

I feel like we had the best food scene before the pandemic.  So much choice, so much diversity from low to high-end eats.   Restaurants had time to hone their skills and build their clientele.  I can't count the number of times I have tried to go to a restaurant over the past year that was still listed on Google but is gone now.

It really makes me sad and hungry.   I found it frustrating to find quick food when I did Tiff last year, other than getting street meat or A&W.  I hope it's better this year.  More about that in a coming post.

Here's what the lineup for Whole Foods looked like today.  I didn't bother lining up because it didn't move fast, and I probably would have waited for over an hour.  I didn't need that much stuff.  The line-up went around the block.  I will post the video on my Instagram account.

I also noticed that the people who were lined up were not their regular customers.  I know because I shop there, and it was a very particular shopper.   So this tells me that with the insane cost of food now, people are willing to stand in line for hours to get it cheaper.  I just didn't have the energy for the amount I would have bought.  I only have so much space and won't even be able to eat it all.