Choices Markets is a

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

based in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, that is focused on natural, specialty and

organic food Organic food, also known as ecological or biological food, refers to foods and beverages produced using methods that comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resou ...

Overview

The chain has eleven stores: eight in

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...

, one in the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from th ...

and one location in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...

. Choices Markets opened its 10th location, North Vancouver, in the second quarter of 2016. and eleventh in parksville. Choices was founded in December 1990 by brothers Wayne and Lloyd Lockhart. The original store is located in Kitsilano on West 16th avenue. The owners emphasize that the store caters to a range of

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

s, including gluten free,

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

. Lockhart cites this is a guiding principle for the chain: "It's all about providing choice." The company has relied on various techniques aimed at increasing

customer loyalty In marketing and consumer behaviour, brand loyalty describes a consumer's persistent positive feelings towards a familiar brand and their dedication to purchasing the brand's products and/or services repeatedly regardless of deficiencies, a co ...

in order to compete with larger chains in the area, such as providing customers with the Choices preferred shopper card, which allows customers to receive discounts on specially labelled products and accumulate points when they shop, providing an in-house

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...

to help advise customers and worked to build energy and "theatre" in stores through product demos, food festivals and farmer/shopper interaction. The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers inducted Choices Markets White Rock (in South Surrey, British Columbia) into their Hall of Fame in 2015. To be eligible for Hall of Fame induction, a store must win at least three Gold Awards or receive one Platinum Achievement Award and one Gold Award. Choices Markets was sold to the Buy-Low Foods Group on December 3, 2017. The previous Choices ownership decided to retire and selected an owner they believed would retain what the Choices brand stands for while remaining locally owned and operated. Choices Markets was selected as the Fairtrade Canada Retailer of the Year in February 2018. They have won this award 5 of the past 6 years.

Notes

References

External links

Choices websiteChoices FacebookChoices TwitterChoices Instagram
{{Companies based in Metro Vancouver Companies based in British Columbia Delta, British Columbia Organic food retail organizations Supermarkets of Canada Retail companies established in 1990 Food and drink companies based in British Columbia

Overview

See also

Notes

References

External links