Some Safeway stores in Kamloops, Okanagan to close for rebranding as FreshCo

Three Safeway grocery stores in the Thompson-Okanagan will be closing and reopening as FreshCo stores.

The Dilworth Safeway store in Kelowna, Sahali store in Kamloops and the downtown Vernon store will be closed Nov. 23 as part of a major conversion by owner Sobeys, according to a company media release.

The three stores, along with three others in B.C., will join 10 FreshCo stores that are either now open in the Lower Mainland or in the process of being converted.

FreshCo calls itself the “discount banner" of Sobeys Incorporated. It was launched in 2010 and is committed to “provide the best discount grocery shopping experience by offering quality fresh food at low prices and with less compromise.”

The stores will re-open in the spring of 2020, but dates are not yet determined.

“Customer response to our first five FreshCo locations in B.C. and Manitoba has been overwhelmingly positive,” Mike Venton, General Manager, Discount, said in the news release. “Discount is the fastest growing retail segment and we’re now participating in a meaningful way in Western Canada, providing customers with more choice and market leading low prices”

The other three stores scheduled to be converted in B.C. are in 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Powell River.


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Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics