Construction underway for two new Prince George grocery stores

“There are a lot of people that live out here, and there’s not a lot of places to shop, not a lot of restaurants, so anything would be welcome out here,” said Marypat Wiley, President of the Hart Pioneer Centre.

“I think competition is great, and we are in need of it, and the Hart is growing,” added Pat Rogers, a Hart resident.

“It’ll be good to have one (a grocery store) close by so we don’t have to drive downtown all the time to get things that aren’t in the available in Save On,” added fellow Hart resident Jan Rivers.

Construction is also underway on Recplace Drive for a Freshco.

Frizzell and Wiley both are particularly excited about what increased competition could mean for prices, with Wiley noting many seniors are struggling with the increased cost of living so any relief would be welcome.

“It’s a huge option for them, very valuable to the seniors, I think, because I know a lot that come in here and a lot of them can’t afford food, and they can’t afford the prices at Save On and they can’t even drive so they can’t go downtown to shop. So when you get something local like that, they’re going to be able to get there way easier and shop,” Wiley said.

“If you want good quantity and good pricing, you have to have a really strong market driven, competitive environment. And what this does is drives us more towards a lot of suppliers for a large number of consumers. That’s better for all of us,” Frizzell added.

Frizzell adds he’s especially optimistic about what these two new grocery stores mean for future development and investment, as he says the fact two grocery stores are being built at the same time signals an extraordinary amount of confidence in Prince George as an investable city. Prince George’s recent track record of attracting investment is also positive, as Frizzell says last year saw a record $350 million invested, and a new Acute Care Tower project alone will quadruple that.

“When that acute care tower comes in, that’s $1.6 billion in investment with one building. It also means a thousand new jobs coming in to the community. That means that our economy can easily be projected to grow at least one percent over the next four years for grocery stores. That’s at least a thousand new people coming into the community,” Frizzell said.

Frizzell adds he believes the grocery stores are what he hopes are the “first marks” of many more new businesses on the way.

Pattison Media and Save On Foods are co-owned by Jim Pattison Industries.

by Tommy Osborne

Construction underway for two new Prince George grocery stores

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