Whether it’s butterscotch ripple, or ensuring there are single serve options, Patrick Shay, owner of The Marketplace knows he has to listen to his customers. So whether it’s the ice cream he ordered for a customer, or learning how to butcher liver, a favourite of his older adult customers, Shay is ready to learn.
He also recognizes that as a grocery store in Elm Place, part of the downtown, he has customers who are on the lower-income scale.
That’s why Shay has partnered with organizations focusing on making food more affordable and accessible.
The Too Good To Go app is new to Sudbury and will allow users to view a list of participating grocery stores, food sellers and restaurants that have still-good food that may be tossed out at closing time. Food producers put their products on the smartphone app and consumers can browse the app and make a purchase, at a discounted price.
For Shay, that means putting together a mystery bag of produce, still good to eat, and pricing $12 worth of products for $4. Or, if you’re looking for meat, you can get a surprise bag for $6 that contains $22 worth of meat. You may not quite know what you’ll get, whether it’s ground beef or a chicken breast, but the price will help.
Shay also hated the idea of throwing out food. If it’s a few bananas becoming overripe on the shelf he’ll turn into banana bread, or the leftover treats like donuts, muffins, cookies, even some of the pre-frozen stuff, all goes to the Go-Give Project
“I give it to them, and they give out to the community for when they do outreach,” said Shay. “It’s a big success and people have been really happy, and I'm happy that I'm not having to throw stuff in the garbage.”
In addition to the food available from Country Style, located in the grocery store, The Marketplace also sells sandwiches and will be back to offert more offerings soon.
“I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to bring in some wraps that we can grill, we have all kinds of catering equipment, so I'm able to start to build that business back up again,” said Shay. “Now that I have a basic understanding of the grocery and what my customers are looking for, and as my staff are becoming more comfortable with the process, that’s next.”
After all, Shay has not worked in the grocery industry for long. He worked in construction building materials in Southern Ontario, his wife, Laura, pregnant with their second child. Then, a pandemic hit, three days after he was born.
Though Shay told his wife he would never move to Sudbury, her home town, they found themselves alone down south, and aching for family.
“My parents couldn't really help out, and Laura’s family was all up here, so we were really on our own for three or four months trying to figure out, ‘how do we do this?” said Shay. “I was working downtown Toronto at the time and it was a long commute. And I'm like, ‘why am I doing this?’ I'm not seeing my kids anymore. So the move was great.”
“I liked my job,” he said. “But I love my family more.”
The Marketplace is located inside downtown’s Elm Place. For more information, visit the website.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter at Sudbury.com.
