Metro rolls out renovated store design
Metro franchisee Éric Gariépy says he's been feeling like a rock star since his newly-renovated store in the Quebec City region officially reopened on June 17.
"I've never been so popular with my customers," quipped Gariépy, the 32-year-old owner of Metro Plus St. Nicolas in Lévis. "Many people have told me how much they love the new store."
Renovated to the tune of $8 million over the past eight months while remaining open, the revamped store is the second to be rolled out in Quebec under the Metro banner's new store concept.
Like the first store–a new Metro Plus that opened a year ago in the off-island Montreal suburb of Vaudreuil–the Lévis store features a wide range of new and novel products and services aimed at enhancing the grocery shopping experience.
One notable new addition is an outdoor terrace and a second-floor sitting area with a panoramic view of the provincial capital region where shoppers can eat the many prepared meals that are available at an Aki Thaï franchise counter or the store's deli, which is equipped with a cutting station for hot sliced meats.
Other innovations include a counter in the expanded produce department that serves customized- and store-made fresh juices, smoothies and fruit cut, an island of fine cheeses, new meat counters and a curing station for Angus beef, and a new large seafood fridge and fish smokehouse.
One of the largest of Metro's 35 stores in the Quebec City region, the new store is also now the first to feature the full line-up of breads, pastry and gourmet products from famous Montreal baker Première Moisson.
The store also features most of the products made by the growing number of Quebec microbreweries, including local favorites like Archibald de Québec, Le Corsaire de Lévis, and La Barberie de Québec.
For Gariépy, the new store responds perfectly to the needs of the increasingly affluent suburb it serves.
"Our goal was to provide our customers with all of the fresh and distinctive quality products they are looking for," he told Canadian Grocer during a recent visit to the new store. "Judging by the reaction so far, I think we succeeded."
