By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter)

Next generation of Save-On Foods opens in Centre Village Mall

Oct 7, 2016 | 2:55 PM

LETHBRIDGE – There was a celebratory mood Thursday evening, as staff, their family and friends joined in a pre-opening preview of the new Save-On Foods store in Centre Village mall. The event was enhanced by a live musical group and food sampling…..lots of food sampling.

The store’s official opening on Saturday (October 8th) will be the final portion of the $26-Million redesign and upgrades to Lethbridge’s oldest mall, which is managed by Anthem Properties out of Vancouver.

It was 25 years ago, on October 26th of 1991, that Save-On opened its first store in Lethbridge, in a stand-alone building on the west end of the mall’s property. The store is in the process of completing the move to its new home and the old structure will be prepared for potential new tenants.

Those who visited the new store were greeted by local General Manager Mark Shipton. Aside from the bright and fresh new structure and its additional offerings, a lot of attention was paid to the chain’s President, Cranbrook born, Darrell Jones. 

The ubiquitous “Darrel’s Deals” cardboard cut-out was clearly visible, but no match for the man himself, who is clearly popular with all the staff, and was on hand to kick-off the newest generation of Save-On Foods in the city.

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“We’re very proud of it, we spend a lot of time talking to our customers – making sure we put the right combination of nutritional foods-to-go, a great selection of meats and produce – we would put the store up against the finest in Canada.”

The President explained that they took a long hard look at the demographics of the area before the store was designed and built. He said they had a lot to work with since they have been in the city for 25-years and had a lot of information to work with from talking to customers and various groups around the area.

Jones says that the type of Save-On outlet now open in Lethbridge is very new – there are less than a dozen across the chain.  However, the design is the newest genre in food shopping and is expected to spread across the chain.  

Store General Manager, Mark Shipton expounded on the store’s new offerings.

“We’ve really gone to a high benefits store, with an in-store Starbucks, with all the offerings of a regular Starbucks; we now offer in-store made sushi, a hand-stretched pizza, a chicken wing bar (you read this correctly – chicken wing bar), hot soup and way more lunch options than ever before – our bakery has a sweet shop aspect to it, with chocolate covered marshmallows and licorice and even sour gummy keys.”

If that doesn’t temp you, Shipton says they also now make in-store sausage. They have maintained the bulk food aisle, as well as organic produce and natural food items and a large gluten-free selection. He says the store is trying to offer a different experience than what you would find elsewhere.

Shipton says the Save-On Foods group takes a close look at the communities they are in to make sure the are offering foods that cater to different ethnic backgrounds. There is also a ‘local’ section which ensures products from around Alberta are featured and supported.

“We try to tailor our stores to the communities we’re in, for sure,” said Shipton.

“We have been here since 1991 and we have had great support from this community – we have customers who remember opening the store there (at the far end of the mall) that are here helping open the store today.”