Thousands of Filipinos from Calgary and beyond are celebrating the arrival of a new grocery chain in the city that’s making tastes, treats and grocery staples from back home way more accessible.
Seafood City is the latest international grocery store to open on Sunridge Way, joining the Lucky Supermarket across the road and other nearby stores providing Asian-sourced groceries for the city’s Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai and Korean populations.
This is only the third Seafood City to open in Canada, after stores opened in Toronto and Winnipeg (and many others in the U.S.)
Hundreds of excited customers waited outside in the dark for the doors to open for the first time last Thursday.
Some had travelled from as far away as Saskatchewan to shop, while others rented a bus to make the trip from Edmonton.
Customers packed the aisles, many lining up by the hundred outside and even travelling from another province to attend Seafood City’s opening day last Thursday. (Dan McGarvey/CBC)
“They drove six to eight hours and they were here outside at 6 a.m.,” said Mildred Smith, VP of marketing with Seafood City of the customers from Saskatchewan.
“We did a livestream inside the store before it opened and it reached 78,000 people. I’m amazed because there are only about 75,000 Filipinos in Calgary,” Smith said.
Smith says the buzz around the store opening has been huge and excitement has been building for days and even weeks.
“We have strong connections, sources and ingredients and cooked food that migrants miss from home.”
Mildred Smith, VP of marketing for Seafood City, said the company did a livestream inside the store before it opened and it reached 78,000 people. ‘I’m amazed because there are only about 75,000 Filipinos in Calgary,’ she said. (Dan McGarvey/CBC)
That list includes fresh seafood like milkfish, big eye scad, octopus, Manila clams and and dry goods like snacks and soups, alongside popular Canadian brands. In the vegetable section there are fresh chayote, upo, patola and milk fruit.
‘Nothing compares to home but this is the next best thing’
The store has also teamed up with local Filipino businesses, like the popular Pacific Hut restaurant and bakery in Forest Lawn, offering some of their Calgary-made products on its shelves; in their case Filipino breads and other baked goods.
“It’s crazy. It feels like home,” said Maria Collao, one of hundreds of excited shoppers browsing the packed aisles on opening day, which felt more like a party than a shopping trip.
“I went around looking for hard to find stuff here in Calgary that tastes like the Philippines. It’s really good,” she said.
“It’s so hard to go back to the Philippines, it’s so busy and you have to fly for a long time so having this kind of connection within the city is really good. Nothing compares to home but this is the next best thing.”
Filipino-style shopping, in-house restaurants
Another big draw for customers are three in-house restaurants: Grill City, Crispy Town and Noodle Street, all selling authentic Filipino food, with hundreds patiently waiting in long lines to get a taste of some Filipino BBQ chicken and pork.
Shopper Xandy Collao Collao said he expects Seafood City’s unique offerings will bring in Calgarians who may have never experienced Filipino-style shopping, with open fish markets and different cuts of meat on display, including whole pig heads and pork belly. (Dan McGarvey/CBC)
“This place reminds me of my home. Coming from the Philippines and emigrating to Canada it’s like a second home,” said Xandy Collao.
“It reminds of being a kid and going grocery shopping with my mom. You have all these treats right here like the chips and candies, all that stuff.”
Collao said he expects the unique offerings will bring in curious Calgarians who may have never experienced Filipino-style shopping, with open fish markets and different cuts of meat on display, including whole pig heads and pork belly.
“It’s not just the Filipino people, this is one of a kind and every time one of these stores comes, a lot of people go with it. I bought BBQ pork, pork chop, entrails and shrimp. All the crispy stuff, all the good stuff” said Collao.
Xandy Collao said he expected Seafood City’s unique offerings would bring in Calgarians who may have never experienced Filipino-style shopping, with open fish markets and different cuts of meat on display, including whole pig heads and pork belly. (Dan McGarvey/CBC)
The way the store is laid out is different than other Canadian grocery stores too. It features a open wet market with dozens of types of uncut fish and seafood laid out on beds of chipped ice for shoppers to see and touch up close, instead of being hidden behind glass.
“We like looking, we like seeing the fish whole and being able to touch. That’s how we like shopping,” said Smith.
“Customers, they walk in and say it’s like home, like they travelled back home. I still get goosebumps by how warm the welcome is and by how happy they are. The culture is represented,” said Smith.
Seafood City has opened its first Calgary location in Sunridge. (Dan McGarvey/CBC)
As well as all the new groceries the store has brought around 200 jobs to the northeast of the city.
Smith said Seafood City plans to open more locations next in Edmonton and Scarborough, Ont.
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Police in New Glasgow, N.S., say a 44-year-old woman faces fraud charges after funds went missing from the Pictou East Progressive Conservative Association.
New Glasgow Regional Police began the investigation on Oct. 7, after Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston reported that an undisclosed amount of money had gone missing from his riding association’s account.
Police allege that a volunteer who was acting as treasurer had withdrawn funds from the association’s account between 2016 and 2024.
The force says it arrested Tara Amanda Cohoon at her Pictou County, N.S., residence on Oct. 11.
They say investigators seized mobile electronic devices, bank records and cash during a search of the home.
Cohoon has since been released and is to appear in Pictou provincial court on Dec. 2 to face charges of forgery, uttering a forged document, theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.
Police say their investigation remains ongoing.
Houston revealed the investigation to reporters on Oct. 9, saying he felt an “incredible level of betrayal” over the matter.
The premier also said a volunteer he had known for many years had been dismissed from the association and the party.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
PICTOU, N.S. – A Nova Scotia excavation company has been fined $80,000 after a worker died when scaffolding collapsed on one of its job sites.
In a decision released Wednesday, a Nova Scotia provincial court judge in Pictou, N.S., found the failure by Blaine MacLane Excavation Ltd. to ensure scaffolding was properly installed led to the 2020 death of Jeff MacDonald, a self-employed electrician.
The sentence was delivered after the excavation company was earlier found guilty of an infraction under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Judge Bryna Hatt said in her decision she found the company “failed in its duty” to ensure that pins essential to the scaffolding’s stability were present at the work site.
Her decision said MacDonald was near the top of the structure when it collapsed on Dec. 9, 2020, though the exact height is unknown.
The judge said that though the excavation company did not own the scaffolding present on its job site, there was no evidence the company took steps to prevent injury, which is required under legislation.
MacDonald’s widow testified during the trial that she found her husband’s body at the job site after he didn’t pick up their children as planned and she couldn’t get in touch with him over the phone.
Julie MacDonald described in her testimony how she knew her husband had died upon finding him due to her nursing training, and that she waited alone in the dark for emergency responders to arrive after calling for help.
“My words cannot express how tragic this accident was for her, the children, and their extended family,” Hatt wrote in the sentencing decision.
“No financial penalty will undo the damage and harm that has been done, or adequately represent the loss of Mr. MacDonald to his family, friends, and our community.”
In addition to the $80,000 fine, the New Glasgow-based company must also pay a victim-fine surcharge of $12,000 and provide $8,000 worth of community service to non-profits in Pictou County.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland on the weekend.
Eugene Earl Spoon, a guest at the hotel, was visiting Newfoundland from Kansas. His remains were found Wednesday morning during a search of the debris left behind after the fire tore through the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake, N.L., on Saturday, the RCMP said in a news release.
“RCMP (Newfoundland and Labrador) extends condolences to the family and friends of the missing man,” the news release said.
Spoon was last seen Friday evening in the community of about 4,800 people in western Newfoundland. The fire broke out early Saturday morning, the day Spoon was reported missing.
Several crews from the area fought the flames for about 16 hours before the final hot spot was put out, and police said Wednesday that investigators are still going through the debris.
Meanwhile, the provincial Progressive Conservative Opposition reiterated its call for a wider review of what happened.
“Serious questions have been raised about the fire, and the people deserve answers,” Tony Wakeham, the party’s leader, said in a news release Wednesday. “A thorough investigation must be conducted to determine the cause and prevent such tragedies in the future.”
The party has said it spoke to people who escaped the burning hotel, and they said alarm and sprinkler systems did not seem to have been activated during the fire. However, Stephen Rowsell, the Deer Lake fire chief, has said there were alarms going off when crews first arrived.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
