DIDSBURY - The Buy-Low Foods store in Didsbury will become Save-On-Foods store in 2023, although an exact date for the changeover has not yet be made public, says store manager Greg Poirier.
Located at 900 Shantz Drive in north Didsbury, the $7 million, 26,550-square foot Buy-Low Foods store opened in November 2020.
Buy-Low Foods and Save-On-Foods are both members of the Vancouver-based Pattison Food Group.
“We are going to be the same company; we are just changing from Buy-Low to Save-On,” Poirier told the Albertan. “It is going to happen in the new year, but we just don’t know exactly when. They just haven’t given us a date yet. It is probably going to happen within the next three or four months or so.
Asked if the changeover in Didsbury will mean different food products at the store, he said no.
“Our price structure will be switching over to the Save-On price structure, which will hopefully be better for everybody,” he said. “We are changing from the warehouse in Calgary to the warehouse in Edmonton.”
Will the changeover impact staffing levels at the Didsbury store?
“We are hoping that we are going to get more staff,” he said.
The change to Save-On-Foods will involve a redesign of the store, he said.
“There will be three months when they come in and redesign everything inside,” he said. “They are going to be adding new items into the store. We won’t be closing; we will be open through all of it.”
Poirier says the decision to change over to Save-On-Foods was announced internally several months ago and staff members are excited about the news.
“All my staff and everyone is happy,” he said. “We didn’t expect it but we are definitely happy to see it. I think customers will be very happy with what they will see.”
Two other Buy-Low stores in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan will also soon be changing over to Save-On-Foods, he said.
