Shopping essentials is one of the most crucial to-do things when you first move to a new place. We understand that and by knowing where to shop, we could minimize our stress and have a smooth and pleasant experience in settling down. Therefore,this article would be dedicated to provide all the much needed information relating to grocery stores, convenience stores and pharmacies, as those three sell the most basic items such as food and medicine that are used on a daily basis.
Grocery Stores
Walmart: Is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets. Walmart is famous for its constant low price and several discounts everyday. One of their advantages is their huge selection of different categories of products such as cosmetics, dining ware, electronics and so on. However, if you put some extra effort into seeking different promotions at different places every week, like Sobeys or Atlantic Superstore, you may find some better bargain for identical items. Below is the opinion of Hoa Nguyen, who has been living on the island for a couple of years:
“ Here, people can buy beef, rice and vegetables at a competitive price. However, with dairy products and drinks, they are considered more expensive than other stores on the island.”
Credit: Hoa Nguyen
Address:
Walmart in Charlottetown: 80 Buchanan Dr, Charlottetown, PE C1E 2E5
Walmart in Summerside: 511 Granville St, Summerside, PEC1N 5J4
Sobeys: Is one of the largest food retailers that offer a variety of groceries items. Sobeys is perceived by most people as a go-to place for the freshest groceries such as meat, dairy products and vegetables, etcetera since a lot of them are from the Atlantic region. The price range here for groceries in general and vegetables, fruits in specific is considered a bit more costly than Walmart. This is not always the case, if you can catch special deals every week that are applied to some particular items, that items could be much more affordable compared to Walmart’s regular price.Therefore, for the best saving, we highly suggest you folks to check the flyers that are sent to your house every week, or check online apps like Flipps.
Below is a comment made by one of the first Vietnamese citizen that set foot here on the island:
“ Over in Stafford, there is a Super Sobeys that offers high-quality food items, but it comes with a more expensive price. I would highly recommend the 50+ days steak offer here because it is amazing.”
Credit: Minh Phan
Address:
Sobeys Charlottetown:39 Babineau Avenue, Charlottetown PE C1A 0C9 và 400 University Avenue, Charlottetown,PE C1A 4N6
Sobeys Summerside: 475 Granville St, Summerside, PE C1N 4K6
Sobeys Montague: 531 Main St, Montague, PE C0A 1R0
Atlantic Superstore: Is also one of the largest chain of grocery stores that is only available in the Atlantic region. It belonged to the Loblaw Company Limited, and it offers a wide variety of different products such as clothing in the name of Joe Fresh, cosmetics, detergents, and kitchenware. Atlantic Superstore presents a huge range of freshly baked bread and cakes that is delicious based on lots of consumers’ opinions. Here, they also display an aisle of diverse international food such as Indomie noodles, rice, various Asian spices and sauces. Similarly to Sobeys, their casual price seems slightly more expensive than Walmart. However, they also have different promotions each week that sometimes offer things at a much more remarkable bargain. For instance, the Arm and Hammer 50-load detergent is normally sold at $6-$7, however there used to be a discount that they were only sold for $2. Another benefit of choosing Atlantic Superstore over others according to Hoa Nguyen:“ Around 7pm-8pm, they will have a 50% off promotion for some of the food products.”
Credit: Hoa Nguyen
Address:
Atlantic Superstore Charlottetown: 680 University Ave, Charlottetown PE C1E 1E3 và 465 University Ave, PE C1A 4N8
Atlantic Superstore Summerside: 535 Granville St, Summerside, PE C1N 3C4
Atlantic Superstore Montague: 509 Main St, Montague, PE C0A 1R0
No Frills: Belongs to the same corporation that owns Atlantic Superstore. No Frills is considered to be the cheapest store as most of their goods are persistently on sale. However, a lot of customers have noticed that the selection of goods there is not as diversified as in the major stores such as Atlantic Superstore or Sobeys.
Address:25 Hopeton Rd, Stratford, PE C1B 1T6
Convenience stores
Dollarama: Is the place where a lot of people choose to buy common household goods such as shower curtains, baking trays and decorations, etcetera. This is because most of the time, the price of those items are more economical compared to Walmart .As to its name suggests, all of the items offered here are below $10 . For instance, a baking tray could cost $6-$7 in Walmart but only $3.50 in Dollarama. However, a substantial number of people have come to the conclusion that sometimes, the quality of Dollarama’s products might not be as high as the similar ones that are sold inthe major stores such as Atlantic Superstore.
Address:
Dollarama Charlottetown: 670 University Ave, Mall, Charlottetown PE C1E 1H6 và 449 University Ave, Charlottetown PE C1A 8K3
Dollarama Summerside: 454 Granville St, Summerside, PE C1N 4K7
Dollarama Montague: 509 Main St, Montague PE C0A 1R0
Giant Tiger: Is a modest store that offers various sections of products from home decor, hair & body care products and food items. The price here is considered reasonable, plus depending on the week, there might be some items that are offered with the lowest price possible compared to other stores due to the promotions.
Address:
Giant Tiger Charlottetown: 449 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE C1A 8K3
Giant Tiger Summerside: 475 Granville St, Summerside, PE C1N 4P7
M&M Foods: The store provides a huge selection of pre-prepared and pre-cooked meals, from appetizers to desserts. A few examples would be cheese sticks and pasta for appetizers, meat, seafood and vegetables for main course and last but not least, chocolate cake and ice cream for desserts. M&M Foods are trustly chosen by many people as the must-go place for days that they want to relax, without worrying about meal preparation.
Address: 449 University Ave #8, Charlottetown PE C1A 8K3
Foodland: Is a chain of grocery stores that is available across Canada. Although it is smaller than the other major stores such as Sobeys,they have the advantage of having a good selection of items as well as different promotions during different weeks.
Address:3 Walker Dr, Charlottetown PE C1A 8S6
- Other grocer’s shops
- Butchers, fishmongers, and other stores that offer fresh grocery products
MacQuarrie Meats: This is a butcher that supplies an ample amount of selections of meat-products. One of special features is that due to flexible customization, you could choose the specific cuts for your delicious bowls of phở, or ox tail for the stew, you could also find some particular products here that will be hardly available elsewhere. Another plus point is that the price here is considered budget-friendly.
Address: 16882 Malpeque Road Charlottetown, PE C1E 0S1
Riverview Country Market:The highly-recommended place to find some PEI’s farmers’ produce. Despite the small scale, it offers a large range of ingredients such as fishes, animals’ guts, skins, etcetera. Since these products rely on the niche market, you might have to order them in advance.
Address: 21 Riverside Dr, Charlottetown, PE C1A 9R9
Charlottetown Farmer Market: Their opening time is from 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. A lot of the locals shop here as a form of support for local businesses.
Some of the categories you may find here includes bakery’s products, arts and crafts, jams, homemade wines which are all eye-catchingly displayed on shelves and stalls. Everything here is proudly crafted by the locals here which justifies high quality.
Address: 100 Belvedere Ave, Charlottetown PE C1A 4P1
Asian grocery stores
Junco Market: Is one of the most reputational Asian grocery stores due to their amazing display of products. You could find Vietnamese seasonal fruits like durian or jackfruit, or Asian familiar vegetables such as water spinach, malabar spinach, courgette etcetera. Also, they offers a massive selection of spices from various regions of Asia such as Japan, Korea, Myanmar and India like fish sauce, soy sauce and chilli sauce with various packaged food-products like vermicelli, udon, phở, instant noodle with a reasonable price.
Address: 161 Maypoint Rd, Charlottetown C1E 1X5
Global Grocery Store: it might be considered one of the oldest Asian grocery stores in the area, which is well-known for a diverse range of Asian produce, especially herbs such as coriander, basil and balm-mint. Furthermore, you can purchase tasty refreshments that all teenagers will love such as ice cream, potato chips and Chocopie.
Address: 136 Longworth Ave Charlottetown C1A 5B3
Top Fresh Asian Grocery: Is viewed as the biggest Asian-dedicated store in Charlottetown. Due to its position on University Avenue, in the center of a busy shopping sector, it is really easy to commute to different shops, consisting of Dairy Queen, PEI Liquor Store, and Value Village right beside it. They are specialized in selling packaged foods such as instant noodles and spices from China. Specially, they also sell frozen dumplings, wontons and buns that you could enjoy just after such easy and convenient preps like microwaving, boiling or steaming.
Address: 339 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4M8
Pharmacies
Lawtons: Is one of the largest chain of pharmacies in the Atlantic region. Here you could buy prescription drugs as well as other common over-the- counter medication such as multi-vitamin, painkillers and allergic medications. Moreover, you could also find haircare & bodycare products, as well as cosmetics and some basic food items such as bread, eggs and dairy products. The price of groceries here might be considered slightly pricey, but they offer a 10% discount on most items if you are a student and have a valid student card.
Address:
Lawtons Charlottetown: 100-161 St Peters Rd, Charlottetown, PE C1A 5P7
199 Grafton St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 1L2
220 Water St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 9M5
Lawtons Summerside: 475 Granville St, Summerside, PE C1N 4P7
Lawtons Montague: 407 MacIntyre Ave, Montague, PE C0A 1R0
Shoppers Drug Mart: Is one substantial chain of pharmacies that belong to Loblaw Companies Limited. Besides prescription drugs and various over-the-counter drugs,they also offer a diverse range of essentials such as supplements, haircare and body care, and other food items. This store has a special deal that every local inhabitants loves, which is a dozen eggs is only $2.49, the cheapest among any other stores on the island. Moreover, there are exclusive sales for various types of products depending on the week that you could find further information via flyers that are given out in your post every week and online media such as Flipp and Rebe apps
Address:
Shoppers Drug Mart Charlottetown: 403 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4N7
675 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE C1E 1E5
172 Queen St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4B5
9 Kinlock Rd, Stratford, PE C1B 1L8
Shoppers Drug Mart Summerside: 454 Granville St, Summerside, PE C1N 4K7
Sherwood Drug Mart: A pharmacy that is located in the Sherwood area, opposite to Lawtons on St.Peters Road. Similarly to all mentioned pharmacies, you could purchase both prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs here. A consider-worthy characteristic here is that every Tuesday, there is a 15% discount for students that hold valid student cards
Address: Sherwood Drug Mart Charlottetown: 19 Brackley Point Rd, Charlottetown, PE C1A 6Y1
