Greens Organic and Natural Market opened over the weekend at 1978 West Broadway and Maple. Greens is independently Canadian-owned and operated, and advertises itself as one of the most environmentally conscious grocery stores in Vancouver.
After all, it’s one of the first grocery stores in Vancouver to take on the zero-waste challenge. According to their website, they’re aiming to join Metro Vancouver in achieving 70% waste diversion by 2015, and hit the 100% mark soon after that. They also promise to work with local suppliers as much as possible. Other green details include not having plastic or paper bags at check out other than reusable totes, as well as printing receipts on both sides to reduce paper wastage.
Of course, no matter how green they are, my main concern was how their prices compare with other stores. Greens told me that they’re still working out their pricing for the first month, and they will try to sell lower than Whole Foods. I was pleased to discover that they are indeed cheaper on some items compared to most green and organics stores. The last time I bought a carton of Almond Breeze for $1.99 was at East Van’s discount store, Sunrise Market. To have such prices offered in Kits is refreshing.
Greens is open 8am – 10pm everyday. They also offer an organic coffee bar and deli. Since Greens is located just a block away from Marketplace IGA, and with the strong presence of Whole Foods/Capers, it would be interesting to see how this competition plays out.
Last modified: March 10, 2010
The IGA will be closing on July 31st, I believe – to make way for construction of the Pinnacle building. So I think Greens know exactly how this competition will play out 🙂
Will be very sad to see the IGA closing, that’s a great store and has been my main shopping place for years – but that kind of car-oriented supermarket is going the way of the dodo in areas building up like kits, and I’m glad to see someone stepping in to fill the gap they are leaving.
Ha, thanks for that info, Mark. I’ll miss the IGA Alpine Grain loaf for sure. I know Greens carries Uprising Breads though, so I guess I’ll be making the switch soon…
I always use the Broadway and Vine IGA and had heard (like 7 months ago) that the Maple one was staying open. That’s probably changed as people will shift to the smaller one at Vine or Green’s – and as less and less drive.
So what’s happening with the liquor store?
I talked to someone from the liquor store, and she told me that their lease is different from IGA’s, and they haven’t been given any information on any upcoming changes to their operations.