The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A Family Foods grocery store will replace the departed Extra Foods outlet in Thompson. The new store will be the 26th Family Foods-affiliated franchise in Manitoba and the fifth in Northern Manitoba. It will be located in the Thompson Plaza shopping mall, from which Extra Foods vacated in June of 2012. Northern Manitoba's other Family Foods outlets are Cornerview Enterprises in Snow Lake, The Grub Box in The Pas, Cross Lake Family Foods in Cross Lake and Lows Family Foods in Norway House. Family Foods is a division of Macdonalds Consolidated, a Calgary-based wholesale grocery supplier which is itself a division of Canada Safeway Ltd. According to the company's website, it offers 'dairy, cheese, juice, frozen vegetables and meat products produced in our parent company's own plants; 13 in Canada and 26 in the United States.' Craig Ware, a spokesperson for Loblaw, which owns the Extra Foods chain, said in April 2012 that the Thompson location would close because it was no longer economically viable. Flin Flon's Extra Foods store also closed, in October of 2011, due to poor economics. The building, located at the Flintoba Shopping Centre, still sits empty. In the case of the Thompson store, Loblaw attempted to keep the store open by gleaning concessions from workers. No such attempt was made in Flin Flon. _ With files from Ian Graham, Thompson Citizen
