Freshco

Four stars for variety, the spacious aisles, and an on-​site pharmacy and another star for competitive low prices on frozen veggies and fruits. This is my first time shopping here so I can’t compare prices over the long term just yet but relative to No Frills on centre street this place is like paradise. Cashiers and staff are friendly and helpful.
Things that could be improved: Fresh spinach could be in better condition, offer more fresh salad dressings and fresh basil and offer better packaged apples (they all seemed to be slimy and rotting with green mold).

It’s definitely not my favourite freshco to go to for groceries, but when I’m coming back from school down steeles, it’s the best and easiest choice. Parking is never a problem but there are definitely dumbasses in every lot, just like you’ll find anywhere.
This grocery chain is my favourite one in richmond hill, but here it just seems .bad. First, they NEVER have ripe avocados. the other ones usually have unripe ones with a few ripe ones for people that want to use it that day. Not this store. every single avocado is rock hard and won’t be able to be used for at least a few days. kind of ruins my last minute vegan prep if you ask me. It’s a bit inconvenient but not a big deal. The workers here seem tired out of their mind, and they probably are from the constant rush of people.
The customers here are the rudest I’ve ever seen. maybe it’s the area’s demographic but some behaviour is just not acceptable. I had a sprained knee and this lady totally was not watching where she was going. Instead she was babbling some bs to her friend and spinning around to talk to her, while knocking me to the side. Then she proceeded to glare at me?!? Excuse you, you rancid disgusting excuse for a human being! This is not the only encounter like this I’ve had at this store. Many people bump into you without nothing more than a blank stare while others charge out of aisles with their baby stroller… almost makes me think about kicking a baby down. BAD THOUGHTS, BAD THOUGHTS… that’s what this place will do to you.
Not a fan of the etiquette displayed here but whatever, groceries are groceries.

Located at Bathurst and Steeles in the former Food Basics (Metro foods) location. I have started shopping here a lot as the Bathurst bus stops right across the street and it is far cleaner and fresher then the Pat’s No Frills at Bathurst and Wilson. It is clean enough to eat off the floor, well stocked and fresh. They have been having great specials and they also gladly honour anyone else’s flyer so it is a stop shop. Staff is cheery and helpful. I hope they open more stores in the GTA.

We checked out this FreshCo due to the prices in the flyers. Looks like a nice, bright & large location. Everything seemed to be well organized & well stocked. Lots of employees walking around doing their various duties. A nice large kosher foods area for those interested. Their produce area isn’t so big & didn’t look that fresh though. We only had to buy a few items so can’t really compare prices on the major food items most people buy such as eggs, milk, bread, etc.
But the staff were nice, friendly & efficient.

It was a Foodbasics. They closed that down but not before having an outrageous sale on all their leftover stock. I loaded up my 2012 survival bunker tight ‘n’ proper with all manner of jars of pesto and artichoke hearts (
). Ladies I will make you an awesome salad as we await the retreat of the Mayan sky gods and the invading armies of Nibaru to emerge and repopulate the Earth. Oh. The sweet love we’ll make as we claim Scotland for our own.
Anyway, I thought maybe a Marshall’s or something was going to go here. Why would anyone close down a clean, modern Foodbasics to open up another grocery store? Well, I guess that’s exactly what they did.
A few licks of paint. A few new shopping buggies with the wheels all operational. Behold. Freshco.
Their angle. They serve fresh food, not like those grocery stores that serve unfresh food and somehow remain in business.
Beyond the marketing hype, is this rejigged discount grocery store any better than the Foodbasics that stood there before?
One thing I like is you can bring the shopping carts beyond the store front. The previous store you had to lug your bags back to your car. I hate that. The carts here are of the 25 cent deposit variety. Not the loonie carts they seem to have other places where the locals find 25 cents in exchange for a $ 200 cart to be a fair trade but $ 1 is outrageous.
They have a seafood and meat counter. That’s a bit different for a discount grocery store. The produce section seems a bit smaller than before.
I wasn’t overly blown away by the prices. They carry all the Our Compliments (or I guess it’s just Compliments these days) brands. Milk is pricier than Shoppers but cheaper than Loblaws. Being close to the Jewish Bathurst stretch, you’ll find a lot of kosher products.
I guess Freshco is some play to bring a more upscale environment to the discount end. I wasn’t fully impressed.