MarketPlace IGA

Although I’m on vacation, I try to eat as healthy as possible. In order to round out the night time debauchery and the fatty food, I need a bit of fruits and veggies in my diet. Hence, I stopped by the local grocery store to stock up on items.
I bought an assortment of fruit, some veggies, and natural yogurt. The store has a good assortment of items available, and they have a deli where you can get hot food. The staff was super friendly, and the check out process was painless.
This place is conveniently located on the same block as the hotel, so the commute in the cold weather was at a minimum. The only thing I would change about this place is to have it open 24 hours a day. I was craving yogurt before calling it a night, and I had to go all the way to 7-​Eleven yesterday evening as this place was closed at the time.
Overall a great place for groceries.

Okay fine, it’s just a grocery store. But, look at the different Canadian ice creams they sell! I wish they had these in the US!

Well-​lit and somewhat spacious for the area.
Somewhat limited selection of produce, but looked to be good quality.
The main issue I have with IGA — and not just this location — is price. Look in the produce aisle, at the cereals, juices for examples.
Cashiers are friendly and work through the lines quickly.
Given a choice and sufficient time to travel to another supermarket, I would gladly choose a No Frills such as the one on Davie over this. In a pinch, the Robson IGA will do for a grocery emergency.

Solid 3.5 stars, for the convenience and good selection, it’s got more than just your basics. Working/​living in DT around here, or for tourists staying at the Westin Grand or Sandman, this is a safe walk.
Open 7am. It’s obviously smaller than its flagship one on Burrard.
Only issue is where the checkout cashiers are, right in the middle, so it can get crowded but hey, I’m sure that’s how best the architects decided on.
Tropicana 250ml orange juice on sale today, save $ 2, now $ 5.99.
Same building as HomeSense.

Love hate relationship with this specific branch ’cause for what they charge, their produce is hit and miss. Their customer service is hit and miss and rarely are things decently priced. We go here if it is late and we need something healthier but avoid when we can.

This has to be the worst supermarket I have ever been to solely due to how utterly rude the employees are at this location. The stench of attitude is thick the minute you walk through the doors. I understand that no one necessarily loves their job but the employees here, from the stock-​boys to the manager, seem to hate their jobs so much that they drag you in to their miserable existence.
Conclusion: RUN, don’t walk, to any other store (even if it’s a mile away) and save yourself from the doom and gloom that will surely meet you at the door. I would much rather walk in sleet and snow to another store (uphill both ways) and pay double than ever give one looney to the loons at this location.
You’re welcome, in advance, for the dire warning. If I could give it zero stars I would.

I’ve gone here multiple times over multiple trips. It gets the job done for necessary food items, and I warn my coworkers that they are getting the same ketchup chips from the same place every time I go. There have been no complaints from the souvenir recipients. Last time I even found my hippy-​tastic kombucha with chia, so I was a happy camper.
Yes, the layout is weird/​tight, so you probably don’t want to buy many things and have to maneuver around the place.
On my last trip, which included three visits, I was on the lookout for cashier attitude/​competence, and they were completely friendly. No complaints from me, either.

I hate that this is the closest grocery store to me. I really wish I lived across from something better.
They almost always don’t have whatever basic thing I want… because I only come in here for emergencies as I prefer to do my regular shopping elsewhere.
Their prices are high, but maybe that’s just because of the neighbourhood, but their goods aren’t nearly as exciting as the other «expensive» grocery stores downtown.
The worst part about this store is the cashiers. Their wickets don’t have lights, so it’s hard to tell who is open. There’s no clear place to line up so lots of people get confused. There are no belts and there is no place to put your empty shopping basket… but by far the worst part is that every single cashier here yells «NEXT!» as soon as they take your money. They leave you awkwardly fumbling trying to put your change away while the next customer is awkwardly unloading their basket only inches from you.
They never smile and say «thank you» they just rush you out with a rude «NEXT!»
Doesn’t make my patronage feel appreciated at all and keeps me from shopping in this store except in case of emergency.

Unfortunately cashier attitude is a Vancouver problem. Not sure why. IGA has a great selection and good prices. Wish I lived closer.

I have been to this IGA a couple of times and almost every time I had to deal with cashiers who were either rude or didn’t know how to bag groceries. I. E, I went on Wednesday. The cashier almost broke all the eggs by putting various heavy items on top. Before she gave me my receipt she said «Next please» and I had to go off to the side to re-​bag the mess she made and check if she broke the eggs.
Then today, I encountered a cashier who often stares me down everytime I come in there. I don’t get it. I managed to avoid getting checked out by her and she actually took the time to stare at me while ringing someone else up. Looking at me from head to toe and rolling her eyes. I’ve only ever had one interaction with her in which she asked me for i. d for my credit card for a total of $ 2.00. Seriously, where does IGA get their employees? I won’t be going back here. I hope they are happy; they just lost a customer who spends $ 400 a week in there.

Smaller IGA I’ve been to. The cashiers being right at the entrance with no real good way around the lines are annoying.

Nice looking supermarket, with a great location. Right downtown. I like their produce section and there were a few cheese choices. I didn’t venture too far in, b/​c I found what I was looking for early in my visit.

Good market for travelers like me! You can find a great array of stuff you’ll need (water, soda, etc) for taking to your hotel room.
I especially enjoyed the gelato :-)

Still can’t help but laugh at the floorplan of this store ha ha ha.
Anyways…around 9:30pm on a weekday evening, I went in to grab a quick bite for dinner for a impromptu road-​trip! Needless to say, they didn’t have many options left. Everything had been picked though. I did manage to get some hummus, nuts/​seeds and shit crackers for $ 7…yah over-​priced, but when you’re hungry it doesn’t really matter.
The soups were gone as well.
They should really step their game up for gluten-​free foods!
Noticeably absent is a full bakery…

Horrible design and layout of the checkout counters at this location and horrible navigation within the crowded store. However, look past that and I have found things in the healthy foods that most other stores do not carry. I was very impressed that things I have searched high and low for at other stores were right here all along.
There should be more stores that carry so much healthy foods like Quinoa, hemp oils, gluten-​free foods etc…
Good job on your food choices!
Here’s an awesome story about the owner of IGA:

After today I’m so glad to be moving so I won’t have to rely on this grocery store anymore. At 6pm the vegetables & fruit are completely picked over, how can they stay open till midnight with no fruits or veggies? Never mind the brands that come and go with no regularity (ie. smoked tofu that is there only 50% of the time). The meat & seafood counters are closed super early so no fresh items if you’re popping in to pick up dinner (I believe they close at 5 or 6) But the worst today was the service. Most cashiers aren’t bad but I bring my own reusable bag and pretty much every time I have to start bagging my own groceries. By the time I have to pay the cashier usually jumps in to do the remaining items. Today though, the cashier literally did not do anything to help me bag my own groceries. she took another customer while I had to finish bagging the remaining 4 items from her side of the counter. I’m pretty sure that 3 cent discount for my own bag isn’t the cash that goes towards her salary.
I’ve had enough of their random-​poor selection, high prices and sulking staff members. I’m moving out of downtown so I can finally get a decent grocery selection

At first thought, I went back to a time when I was growing up and IGA was the local, small town grocer with dirty floors and no selection. Well, this IGA relived one of those memories for me.
Ok, so the place is really clean inside. And, if you are in a rush and need a couple items, this IGA will work just fine. However, if you are looking for some of those high-​end items to make that dinner extra special, you may need to keep looking around.
If your looking for a couple quick items, this is the place for you. If your looking for Whole Foods, well then maybe you should go to Whole Foods (or it’s Canadian equivalent).

Great location to pick up a few necessary items before heading home from work. But the aisles are narrow. And the checkouts are arranged so it’s hard to discern which one just opened up.
… That’s about it… They have gelato in the deli section, but I’ve never seen anyone buying it. The cupcakes were properly fluffy, not muffin-​y, but aren’t notably good or anything.

Wow– tight squeeze. If you’re having trouble navigating the aisles, perhaps you should take it as a sign to skip the trip to the cookie aisle? No– even the thinnest ectomorphs will have to hold their breath and suck in their stomach to traverse some of these narrow passages.
My husband’s biggest complaint is that waiting in line often puts you next to the olive bar. The very fragrant olive bar. So if you don’t like waiting, and you don’t like the smell of olives, it’s not a happy place.
I’ve noticed that they have a coffee bar crammed in next to the registers. I’ve never seen anyone order anything there, maybe because it’s barely noticeable.
The selection here is good enough, but also not quite good enough. Yes– you can get peanut butter here. Can you get your favorite brand? Probably not. Yes– they have yogurt here, but none that I like. And so, in that sense, it’s a mixed bag. But it’s still my go-​to stop for food and groceries.

My thoughts on this IGA are almost entirely design based mostly because it is next to impossible to navigate through the aisles unless you get used to shuffling about the store sideways like a crab. That being said, the selection is pretty decent given the space limitations, with many of the same options as a regular sized store, including vegan and natural food selections. Unfortunately, I find the deli here to be lacking, I overpaid for a container of not-​worth-​it bean salad, that won’t happen again.
I have yet to see but one person not get confused by the checkout lanes but you’ll get used to it, just look at the signs to see which side you have to go on… or which clerk is hollering at you. Isn’t grocery shopping fun?!