News

Updated: April 3rd 2021

Thomas here…Though I was tasked with writing a little Easter greeting, this is going to read as more of a Thanksgiving message…

The two days that we were closed had me as beat down and defeated as I’ve ever felt. Being all alone in front of the store for two days telling every customer who pulled into our lot we might have an outbreak was a pain only to be upstaged by having to call every staff member and tell them that they may have come in contact with the virus and that their family was at risk. That this didn’t end up being the case was perhaps the greatest blessing I’ve ever had.

The outpouring of thanks and gratitude in my inbox, our social media and by nearly everybody who’s come shopping in the last few days has been overwhelming. As much as I’d love to take credit, all that praise really belongs to Brad, Mariella, Mabel (rarely seen but she is the voice you hear when you call the store), Ashley, Kulam, Mike and Colin Pickering and every member of our staff who did whatever they had to do to get tested and showed up when we needed them the most. By the time we reopened on Thursday morning, nobody would have been able to guess that the store had sat empty for two days. You are more than coworkers to me and I am humbled to work alongside all of you.

Also, I want to thank you, our customers, for your unwavering support. To call you “loyal” would be a massive understatement. By the time I went home yesterday, my face hurt from smiling so much. The pleasure I take from seeing you all (many of you daily) is so deeply entrenched in my routine, that even after just a couple days without it, I was an absolute wreck. Though many of you start as customers, over time I think of an absurd amount of you as friends.

This wasn’t an Easter any of us could have imagined. It was nightmarish, stressful and downright weird. I know I speak for my family when I say that this week has made us reflect on how much we have to be thankful for. Our wealth doesn’t reside in our registers and what makes our store special isn’t the steaks in our counters, the Jelly Rolls we make daily or the interesting and unique grocery items you’ll find on our shelves, what makes it special is the people, the staff and the customers alike who make up our amazing community, one that I am proud to be apart of.

Thank you all so much and we wish you all a happy and safe Easter.

Evan, Cathy and Thomas

Updated: March 31th 2021

Thomas here…

In case you needed any further evidence that 2021 is the weirdest year of all time, here goes…I have just received documentation that the employee who previously tested positive and triggered our closure has retested as negative, a ‘False Positive’ if you will. Upon consulting with public health we are 100% safe to reopen as of tomorrow, Thursday April 1st. We are not taking any chances and are asking them to stay at home for the week and get tested again before they return. During our two day closure we have had a professional sanitization company sterilize our premises from top to bottom and we have also had every active member of our staff of over 140 people get tested, in fact we brought in nurses on-site and had them administer the tests here. So far every single result of this testing has come back negative.

My sincerest apologies to all of our staff, customers and the community as whole and we thank you for bearing with us throughout the roller coaster of stress that the last 72 hours have been.

We will be open tomorrow Thursday, April 1st from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and couldn’t be more excited to see you again.

The MacDonald Family

Updated: March 30th 2021

Thomas here, I wanted to give you an update on the steps we’re taking regarding the recent positive Covid-19 case in our store.

We will be closed tomorrow, March 31st, so that our store can be cleaned and sterilized by a professional sanitization service. As well, all of our active staff will have received a COVID-19 test by tomorrow afternoon. None of our employees will return to work until they’ve received a negative COVID-19 test result.

We continue to work with Public Health on plans to re-open in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols. We are taking every precaution and will not re-open until we believe we can operate 100% safely.

As our re-opening is contingent on the return of the test results, we will also be closed for walk-in business on Thursday, April 1st.

During this time, you are still able to place orders for curbside pick-up for Thursday, April 1st only. Our curbside order form can be found here. Orders must be placed no later than 4:30 pm on Wednesday, March 31st. This was not our original plan, but this is the way we can best accommodate customers that have been relying on our curbside service, as well as customers anticipating shopping in-store.

You have my word that we will continue to be transparent and honest with you, our staff and our community as a whole.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Sincerely,

The MacDonald Family

Posted: March 29th 2021

Hi everyone, Thomas here. Usually when you read my writing it’s some obscure story in one of our flyers, but unfortunately, today I am the bearer of bad news.

Though we have tried our best to enforce stringent protocols over the past year to ensure the safety of all of our staff and customers, today we were notified that one of our deli service employees has tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. The employee last worked Monday, March 29th.

Though they are asymptomatic, the staff member is currently isolating at home and is feeling well.

To safeguard our community, our customers and our staff, we are closing our store on Tuesday, March 30th so that our staff may get tested and we bring in a company to thoroughly sanitize our store. We will take every precaution before we re-open and will not do so until we believe we can operate 100% safely.

You have my word that we will continue to be transparent and honest with you, our staff and our community as a whole. We are consulting with local health authorities and will continue to do so going forward.

With Easter right around the corner, the timing of this is unfortunate to say the least. We intend to honour all orders for this weekend. We will keep you updated over e-mail and our social media as we continue to monitor and react to this situation.

The MacDonald Family