Stong's Market

Surprising amount of vegan options, way more than nearby larger grocery chains. But all their products are hella overpriced. If they’re not on sale (which brings them down to regular prices) they are a couple dollars more expensive, sometimes twice as much. I also did the math for the Stong’s rewards; it amounts to $10 off for each $1000 spent ☠️ WORST deal I’ve ever heard!! I actually laughed out loud! Also, the section at the back with the freezers has lots of vegan premade food! Great right?? Almost… because directly opposite is the meat section. So while you are looking for your anti animal cruelty replacements, you get to be lovingly caressed by the scent of dead animal carcasses, and then turn around and be visually assaulted by their disrespected bodies. Very poor planning on their part, disturbing experience, and vegans/vegetarians are probably missing that aisle because of this. I guarantee they’re losing sales. I also definitely saw some mouldy produce when I was there. It was the olives in the fridge, be extra careful buying those!!! Overall passable experience and good in a pinch when you don’t want to deal with Loblaws and its subsidiaries (crowded, incredibly bright lighting, greedy, insane prices, selling mouldy food, lying about expiry dates, seriously look it up!) or save on foods (somehow the cheapest grocery store right now, which tells you a lot about the cost of living in Canada) Seriously though. Something needs to be done about these crazy costs. I saw a gluten free loaf of bread half the size of the regular for $13. People who have allergies shouldn’t suffer for them that’s so unfair! I’m not gluten free myself, but anyone can see how that’s wrong!

Started shopping at Stongs cuz I moved to the area and I've been pleasantly surprised by how friendly the staff are - it's very unlike a typical grocery store. I love the emphasis Stongs puts on selling local products and the little fridge that was left out over Christmas so staff could have a couple of days off without people being unable to grab last minute items. The one thing that's really hammered home my love of Stongs are the little labels that identify gluten and dairy free foods. I'm not sure if this was implemented during COVID so people don't need to pick up items and read labels or has always existed, but I'm undergoing some medical testing and on a strict diet and these labels have made shopping infinitely easier. It's so appreciated.