Real Canadian Superstore opens first urban location in Calgary

Loblaw Companies Limited has opened a Real Canadian Superstore in Calgary it describes as “unlike any other Superstore location in Canada.” The new store also addresses a longstanding need for grocery retail in that part of the city.

The store is located on the second floor of the new RioCan 5th & Third East Village development, a mixed-use development featuring 178,000 square feet of retail space over two storeys. Other retail tenants include Winners, Olympia Liquor, TD Canada Trust and Scotiabank.

The new store is Real Canadian Superstore’s first urban location, and meets the needs of area residents who had long complained about having to travel well outside of the neighbourhood to fill their grocery needs. “The opening of our store has been long awaited in the East Village community,” said store manager Tina Hawryluk in a release.

At 80,00 square feet, the store’s footprint is anywhere from 36% to 48% smaller than that of a typical Real Canadian Superstore in the area. According to Loblaw, those stores usually range from 125,000 to 155,000 square feet in size.

Clare LePan, vice-president of marketing and communications at Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, the neighbourhood’s master developer, said the opening of 5th & Third “goes a long way” towards achieving the retail strategy for that part of the city.

“ore importantly, it betters the lives of our residents, along with our neighbours in adjacent communities on the east end of downtown Calgary, who now have convenient access to everyday essentials to care for themselves and their families.”

According to projections on the RioCan site, there will be nearly 700,000 people living within 10 kilometres of the 5th & Third shopping centre by 2020, with a median age of 39.4 and an average household income of $135,642.

The new store will adhere to Real Canadian Superstore’s strategy of selling products from local suppliers, including fresh produce grown during “peak seasons.”

The store opened on May 15 with all of the COVID-19 protocols in place—including customer limits, Plexiglass barriers and floor decals instructing people where to stand while waiting to pay. It is also offering a daily dedicated shopping hour for vulnerable shoppers between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.