Calgary Coop

I really like the co-​op grocery stores for the simple reason that you can purchase a «share» in the company and get cash back at the end of the year depending on how much you spend in the year. There isn’t a co-​op that is located near my house but I really don’t mind the drive to get to this one. The co-​op always has fantastic selection and I believe very reasonable prices. The quality of their food seems to be better than Safeway and there is a liquor store and gas station right near by. I love co-​op!

This is my Co-​Op, it’s just a minute away from my house and I often go here because it’s the closest grocery store to me.
It’s not my absolute favorite Co-​Op though, the Midtown Market downtown still is.
I love that this Co-​Op has a lot of fresh produce and it’s a pretty good selection for a smaller store and given that there is two Safeways and a Superstore not far away.
What I don’t like is that it’s a little too catering to the «older Canadians». What I mean is the selection of ethnic dried goods REALLY SUCKS. I cannot buy dried chickpeas/​garbanzo beans, nor dried black beans, nor French lentils or many of my other favorite items. I like to cook from scratch as a chef and they only sell most beans in cans, and have a very scant supply of dried beans and lentils. They don’t even offer them in the bulk section (which is mostly nuts). So I can’t say that it’s my one stop shop. I still have to go to Superstore and even Costco to get somethings I need.
I also find it a little funny that all the herbs they sell have been reduced to tiny minuscule sizes and you can’t buy a large quantity of fresh basil for making something like pasta sauce or lasagna unless you buy a plant and pull off all the leaves.
Basically I come here for the fresh ingredients only and only grab things occasionally from the middle dried goods isles. There’s just not that big of a selection of the items I need. You can definitely tell who the clientele are. Older Canadians who like frozen, canned and boxed food and don’t do much from scratch cooking.
Superstore may not have the best produce, but at least it’s more ethnically diverse and you can find pretty much any dried item you need there.
My request: at the very least PLEASE get dried chickpeas. That’s a very common legume and is more popular these days.
I’m a fan of the contests and the staff, they are always friendly at checkout. It’s still mostly good as I know I can get most of the things on my shopping list every week and it’s not too far away.