The residents of Barrie’s downtown haven’t had an easily accessible grocery store for eight years and the owners of the 90 Collier St. building are hoping to do something about it.
The Collier Centre (recently rebranded as the Lakeview Corporate Centre) has more than 70,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and of that, approximately 40,000 sq. ft. was originally planned for a grocer. There is a Bank of Montreal currently as the building's main tenant, but more has been needed for some time to fill out the building at Collier and Mulcaster streets.
David Morrison’s Morrison Financial Realty owns the building and has decided to make a push for a grocery store to lease the large area that was originally set aside for Sobeys.
“This area needs a grocery store. That's all I hear from people and with the closest one about two kilometres away, it is a no-brainer,” Morrison told BarrieToday.
Morrison Financial Realty has put together an online survey that he hopes will see as many residents as possible interact so he can help get the immediate community what they need.
“There are 12,000 people within the proximity of 90 Collier St., and I need about 4,000 of them to voice their need for easy access to food,” Morrison said. “The survey is important because I need to be able to show a grocer that it will be beneficial for them to Come into the downtown area.”
Morrison Financial Realty, based in Toronto, invested in the property as the sole first lender when Fortress took over the property from Mady Developments in 2015.
There was an IGA — later a Foodland — at the corner of Mulcaster and Worsley streets until 2012, when it was demolished to make way for the current building.
Mulcaster Street resident Helen Achston remembers the downtown grocery store well and can’t believe there still isn’t one in the vicinity.
“I’m fortunate that I have a car, but I have an elderly neighbour who doesn’t and I will do her shopping for her," Achston told BarrieToday. "How many others who have a hard time getting around risk injury on an icy sidewalk to get some groceries? I’m glad there is a survey and I hope they get one in soon."
Coun. Keenan Aylwin, whose ward includes downtown Barrie, said that besides the Barrie Farmers’ Market and some smaller businesses, there's little in the way of what he called “food security” in the area.
"A grocery store is a key part of a vibrant, complete community," Aylwin said. "Downtown Barrie is in desperate need of a full-service grocery to serve the community and I have advocated for that since even before being elected.
“There are many seniors and young people living in downtown Barrie who may not own a vehicle. A grocery store in the downtown would create a more walkable community and contribute to food security," the councillor added.
Aylwin noted the downtown needed “the population density to support amenities like a grocery store.”
Morrison hopes to have the few thousand people he needs taking part in the survey by Dec. 31 so he can get to work on securing a grocer for the vacant Lakeview Corporate Centre space immediately.
Morrison said he believes a food store would do extremely well with local residents, but reminds any grocer thinking about coming to that space that there are so many more people would shop with them, too.
“I think of the folks at city hall who are leaving work and are already parked, heading across the street and grabbing what they need for dinner," he said. "There are people who would then be able to park by the lake where they were going to picnic and could head over, grab their food and relax.
"There are so many customer possibilities with a downtown grocery store, it really should not be taking this long," Morrison added.
Anyone who takes part in the survey will also be entered into a prize draw for one of the following prizes from the grocery store to be located at 90 Collier St.
• The grand prize will be for one year of free shopping (to a maximum of $5,000)
• 10 second prizes of six months of free shopping (to a maximum of $2,500)
• 10 third prizes of three months of free shopping (to a maximum of $1,250)
To complete the survey, head to the link here.
