The wait it over.
Kelowna's first No Frills grocery store opens this morning at 8 am at the corner of Bernard Avenue and Gordon Drive.
For the past five years, the pressure has been on to get a grocery store back in the 10,000-square-foot space that was left vacant when Nesters Market moved out.
The No Frills (Ray's Kelowna) Facebook page has been abuzz for the past couple of weeks as people expressed their excitement about a grocery store returning to the neighbourhood.
The excitement has also been building as the exterior signs went up las week and a peek through the windows reveals that the shelves are fully stocked.
Through the same windows you can see the store has three regular checkout lines with cash registers and five self-checkouts.
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The No Frills is in the commercial strip at the base of the 17-storey Centuria condominium tower known as Centuria Urban Village.
The No Frills discount grocery store fits perfectly into the space because the small-format concept is meant to be around 10,000 square feet, about one-third the size of a traditional grocery store.
It's the ideal size to fit into a tighter space, yet still serve the neighbourhood with a full array of grocery items.
To hear about deals the Facebook page urges shoppers to follow #raysnofrills and #shopwithray.
It looks like the store's hours will be 8 am to 9 pm daily.
'Ray' is the franchise owner of the store, Ramon Brown, who also has the No Frills in Abbotsford.
No Frills is part of Canada's largest grocery retail company -- Loblaw.
Loblaw has various brands, from Your Independent Grocers, Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart to Valu-Mart, President's Choice and Loblaws.
In fact, the company has 2,400 stores and 136,000 employees across the country and boasts that 90% of Canadians live within 10 kilometres of one of its locations.
Shoppers will be able collect points on the PC Optimum card they use at the other Loblaw brand stores.
This will be the first No Frills in the Central Okanagan.
The next closest No Frills are Kevin's No Frills in Oliver, Peter's No Frills in Merritt and Simrans No Frills in Grand Forks.
Ray's No Frills at the corner of Bernard Avenue and Gordon Drive is just four blocks away from another Loblaw brand store -- Peter's Your Independent Grocers.
Peter's is in the Capri Centre Mall that tends to be a destination for shoppers wanting a full-size grocery store.
Ray's No Frills will serve more of the local neighbourhood and be a quick stop for people commuting on the busy thoroughfares of Gordon Drive and Bernard Avenue.
