Saskatoon could be home to as many as six Save-On-Foods grocery stores, the retailer’s president said at the ground-breaking ceremony for the city’s first location Tuesday.
“This is a great city and easily able to take six Save-On-Foods stores,” said company president Darrell Jones.
READ MORE: Save-On-Foods comes to Regina
Construction has started on the 33,000-square-foot South Kensington location, which is slated to open in the spring of 2017. The grocery store is expected to be an anchor tenant for the development, along with a Shoppers Drug Mart and a Scotiabank branch.
Save-On has already committed to a future store on Cumberland Avenue and another in the Brighton neighbourhood.
The public’s response to the initial three stores will determine whether the company will add future locations, Jones said.
A location in Saskatoon’s core is also possible.
“Downtown urban supermarkets seem to be a desire in a lot of cities,” Jones said. “If there’s something that’s presented, we’d certainly have a look at it.”
READ MORE: Loblaws shutting down City Park grocery store
Save-On-Foods announced a “major market expansion” into Saskatchewan in July 2015.
The B.C.-based company is part of the Jim Pattison Group, operating more than 150 stores across Western Canada.