Maybe: Build it and they will come. Or at least those there will use it.

I cannot think of much the City can really do to draw in a grocer. Offer reduced rent in an existing location? Offer cheap land or a beak on taxes.?

Those questions bring me back to Wyatt's comment with some extrapolation. Clean up downtown, make it more inviting, more people will move downtown and then maybe a grocer will see he can make a buck and move a store in.

My brother and I are moving into a loft on Dundas between Clarence and Richmond this Tuesday. We plan to take the 12 Wharncliffe to the NoFrills on Baseline, but if a more convenient grocery store was built downtown we would absolutely shop there instead.

Unfortunately, I believe more residents downtown is the only way a new grocery store will be viable. No chain is going to build downtown if they are unable to profit off of their store. Luckily, people ARE moving downtown and it's only a matter of time until a true grocery store is built.

D, buses do that. A transfer lasts 90 minutes. My thinking is that people live downtown so they don't have to drive.
I am going to go ask the guy who runs our neighbourhood grocery store what he thinks about one downtown. Maybe it just isn't a good business idea, but it seems from the votes many think it is.
An aside:
I go to my local grocery store almost every day. One reason is to buy reduced meat (you likely thought I was going to say fresh vegetables, but frozen stretches farther) another reason is because I can. I often just go for the walk. If I had to take a bus, it would be very difficult to shop frequently, yet I wouldn't be able to carry a week's groceries home.

There are lots of grocery and other stores on the many bus routes that serve downtown. People who live in the suburbs invariably have to drive to the stores as well. London Transit has to do a better job at selling its services. Why don't they have a round trip ticket that could be used to commute to a store and return with shelving to accommodate groceries and/or coolers for frozen goods.

My first though reading your comment was because of fewer customers and expensive location reducing profit. As we all know Grocery Stores operate on pennies, hence Kraft Dinner $1.99.
Londoners need people to comment here that have some experience with downtown locations (existing stores need not apply) and have smarts about downtowns.

No BS. My first thought now (I didn't give it any thought then) was that it wasn't making money and moved. But likely it is because the offer for the land was too good and paid for a nicer, bigger building somewhere else. Or....when did the Dominion chain get eaten up by Loblaw's? If that is what happened, I think they were connected.

thatguyinlondon excellent comment,
"The last Grocery store I recall was a Loblaw's or Dominion at Wellington and York. Now it's a parking lot."

Now, Londoners lets ask ourselves honestly why it's gone.
Ps: Please, no bul$ comments.

amen to a whole foods!!!

The fact that downtown still has no grocery store is why I still have not moved there. I cannot understand why this has not been done yet.

R,

A "Whole Foods" would definitely be a draw to the downtown core.

WHOLE FOODS PLEASE!!!!!

Any grocer that has an extensive organic and green selection would make me happy!

I live in old south and I find personally that the prices at Valu Mart is over priced. Building a grocery store in the downtown area will be beneficial for those who don't have a car. Something like a Nofrills or Price Choppers would be a better choice since they are cheaper chain and more reasonable.

Madelaine: Gratz on 100 votes. :) LFP should give you a prize.
(okay, so it currently says 99, but I am hopeful)

Right. And I recall when "working a call center" was synonymous with hitting bottom. I got a flyer in the mail yesterday with a candidate boasting about job creation achievements, sound bites of "high paying" and "job security" were used. Nothing about "please just let me survive" jobs.

Teletech was the call centre that took over the old Eaton's store. They fired everyone and moved operations to India about two years ago now.

As well as ample bus service. (what was teletech and where/why did it go?)
(sorry, I have only been paying attention to the news again since the elections began)

And the other 3 floors where Teletech once was, why not sell that to Fanshawe College? It's obviously a building that's equipped to handle high traffic it'd get from students, and there's plenty of parking available in the underground lot, so it's a no-brainer there.

Jack: Galleria sounds like a fair location.

I live in a much maligned part of town.(and have never felt unsafe) The biggest draw is that virtually ALL conveniences are within walking distance (say 3 city blocks max). There is a grocery store, 2 major video outlet, beer and wine for those who imbibe, a multitude of fast food (pizza, Chinese, chicken, subs, Wendy's). There's a gas station for those who drive, a couple banks (the grocery store gives cashback on debit cards) and more....
I had a friend a couple years back looking to move from "the burbs". We looked all over London and could not find a more convenient location. Downtown above all, should be convenient. These days, what with the pall it has, is inconvenient. I grew up downtown. Most of my work was downtown. Back in the day the farther from downtown you lived the more you were inconvenienced. Today, perhaps, it is the opposite.