No Frills unveils futuristic new redesigned format in Ontario

Discount grocer No Frills has unveiled a newly designed store in Ontario, introducing a different layout and look compared to its existing locations.

The new store, located at 370 Crestview Dr., is the first No Frills in Komoka, Ont., a community that's about a 25-minute drive from London.

The store, which sprawls 22,000 square feet, introduces a "brand-new No Frills format," according to Melanie Singh, President of Hard Discount at Loblaw Companies Ltd., who shared photos of the new location on LinkedIn.

The building features a futuristic hybrid timber-and-steel design, plus interior details such as exposed wooden beams and thin lighting fixtures. According to the company, the layout was developed based on years of customer feedback, with greater emphasis on the fresh and prepared food sections.

The store also includes an expanded bakery area, a Home Meal Replacement section with items such as hot chicken made daily, and a selection of multicultural grocery products.

President and CEO of Loblaw Companies Ltd., Per Bank, shared updates on the store's construction on LinkedIn.

"The same store we walked through just weeks ago with teams working around the clock, details still coming together is now a fully finished No Frills, ready to serve customers from day one. And what a transformation," Bank wrote in an update.

The opening of the new-format store comes as Loblaw outlines broader expansion plans. Last month, the company announced that it intends to invest $2.4 billion in the Canadian economy this year, with plans to renovate 191 stores and build 70 new ones, including 31 hard discount No Frills and Maxi locations.

In Ontario, those plans include 27 new stores and an estimated 3,775 jobs, as well as continued construction of the company's 1.2 million-square-foot automated distribution centre in Caledon.