Richmond’s new FreshCo stores are slated to open in late May, according to owners Sobeys.
The former Safeway stores at Broadmoor and Blundell shopping centres were closed down last summer by the same owner.
However the new look, discount stores at the two locations will be among 12 across Western Canada to open this spring.
Earlier this week, FreshCo opened its first location in the region in Mission.
The closure of the Blundell and Broadmoor stores last year was shrouded in uncertainty, amid fears for unionized workers’ collective agreements.
Last July, nine Safeway stores in Metro Vancouver closed and the union representing workers claimed that the closures impacted 1,000 employees.
At the time, the workers’ union, UFCW 1518, called the closures “an insult and an outrage.”
The Richmond News reported in April, 2018 how Safeway in Western Canada ran into financial problems since Sobeys purchased the well-known brand name supermarket.
UFCW had claimed the stores had been mismanaged and the company was trying to lower wages for the remaining workers.
At the time, more than 100 employees in Richmond were affected.
A statement issued during the closures by UFCW 1518’s president, Kim Novak, took another shot at Empire, the Canadian conglomerate which owns Sobeys Inc, saying that “Empire has made it clear that their bottom line comes before the interests of their hard working and dedicated employees.
“Their desire to move to a discount banner has led to challenges in these existing, established Safeway stores.”
