Sobeys is permanently closing one of its most popular supermarkets in Toronto
A 24-hour Sobeys that has served Toronto for many years is officially shutting down in just a few weeks' time.
Shoppers in the St. Clair West neighbourhood may not know that they only have until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7, to walk the aisles of the supermarket at 840 Dupont Street, near Ossington, for one final time before they have to say goodbye forever.
A sign recently posted in the store's front window indicates that after this date, customers will have to travel a half-hour drive, 40 minute public transit ride or more than two hour walk to Danforth and Main St. to get their fix at the next nearest Sobeys.
"Thank you for shopping with us," the sign reads.
So I've heard a rumour over on FB that Sobeys on Dupont is closing up Oct 6 or 7 (permanently) and that Farmboy is opening up around the same time. Can anybody in the neighborhood confirm.
— Oliver Phelan (@Duke_of_Dupont) September 6, 2021
Gonna miss that sobeys....
Residents are already mourning the loss of the retailer, which is only one of 11 locations of the brand in the city.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with Toronto mainstays, the property at the corner of Dupont and Shaw is slated to be turned into a sprawling nine-storey condo complex in the near future, courtesy of ubiquitous Toronto developer Tridel and Turner Fleischer Architects.
Though the building will include "micro retail" units on the ground level, original plans to keep a grocery store on the site have been scrapped in more recent plans from the new owner.
I just found out the Sobeys at which I've purchased almost all groceries for 13+ years is closing in ONE MONTH, and while I knew this was coming (condos, man, it's always condos) I am truly not ready.
— Deborah Aarts (@DeborahAarts) September 7, 2021
Thankfully, the community will be getting at a new grocery store only a five minute walk away at Dupont and Christie later this year: one of the handful of new Farm Boy outposts that have come to Toronto.
As lovely and novel as a Farm Boy may be for the area, people are already worrying about the chain's price point, which is higher than Sobeys given its specialty organic offerings.
RIP Dupont Sobeys. Closing in two weeks for the FarmBoy down the street no one will be able to afford. pic.twitter.com/rOLlWJpbus
— Kevin Kania (@kkania) September 20, 2021
Social media accounts state that the shelves are already emptying out at Sobeys, while it appears that many clearly prefer the older brand to the newer (though both are thankfully Canadian-founded).
It’s a sad time in the neighbourhood to see that it appears that @sobeys on Dupont is going to be shuttered soon due to the pending opening of Farm Boy. No signage just empty shelves…
— karen (@kjurquhart) September 15, 2021
Of Farm Boy's 41 current and 2 forthcoming shops, seven call Toronto home, including newly-opened storefronts at Harbourfront and Dundas and Kipling.
