Can't wait!
Super excited.
Yaaay finally!
Yes, the North End gets a value-brand grocery store.
Wow, super.
Great addition to this neighbourhood.
As you can tell by these comments on the No Frills (Ray's Kelowna) Facebook page, people are stoked to welcome a small-format No Frills grocery store at the corner of Bernard Avenue and Gordon Drive on Thursday, Nov. 28.
The excitement has also been building as the exterior signs went up this week and a peek through the windows reveals that the shelves are fully stocked and just some final touches are left to complete.
The actual street address is 1111 Lawson Ave., the storefront left vacant five years ago when Nesters Market pulled out.
For the past half-decade, the pressure has been on to get a grocery store back in the 10,000-square-foot space.
It's part of 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.
The aforementioned Facebook page for the story has just three posts by the store.
The latest makes the announcement that the store will have its grand opening Thursday, Nov. 28.
To hear about deals the same post urges shoppers to follow #raysnofrills and #shopwithray.
'Ray' is the franchise owner of the store, Ramon Brown, who also has the No Frills in Abbotsford.
The No Frills in Abbotford is open 8 am to 10 pm daily.
Hours haven't been posted yet for the Kelowna store, but are likely to be either 8 am to 10 pm or 8 am to 9 pm.
Ray is also the guy featured in the second Facebook post on Nov. 1 titled 'Nice to meet you' with a photo of Ray juggling bananas against a background of No Frills' signature colour -- yellow.
The first post on Oct. 29 was the teaser: Hey Kelowna, are you ready? We're bringing you a new No Frills.
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.
Ironically, while Loblaw sees Centuria Urban Village as ideal for a small-format No Frills, Loblaw closed its Shoppers Drug Mart in the same commercial area a couple of years ago.
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