Found this intriguing store information via an e-newsletter. I am not familiar with the concept but I'm sure this will add to the
grocery retail excitement in the Heartland Centre (there's a Loblaw's in the southeast part of the centre, and another big grocer at Mavis & Burnhamthorpe).
Vancouver-based lawyer Ritchie Po, originally from Manila and a fan of Seafood City, described the concept as “what T&T Supermarket is to Chinese migrants, a large scale supermarket chain specializing in stocking brands and foods from what we call ‘the old country’. These include importing ube (taro)-flavoured ice cream from national brand favourite Selecta, dried mango slices from numerous Philippine-based competitors and various snack foods. It's a taste of home”. He then went on to explain, “Having been to locations in California and Washington state, they've been very successful in drawing out the expats to build a sense of community in a gathering space. A typical Seafood City complex also includes locations of Jollibee, the Philippines's answer to McDonald's. They are often opened alongside our biggest national bakery chain Red Ribbon, which serves Filipino dessert specialties like buko pandan (coconut jelly), sapin-sapin and mamon, which is our traditional sponge cake. To complete the ‘taste of home experience’, there's usually also a Maxim's, which serves traditional Filipino breakfast but also specialty dishes specific to the wealthy Chinese-Filipino expat community. Chinese-Filipino home cooking simply doesn't exist in restaurants stateside, so Maxim serves a very niche clientele."
http://www.retail-insider.com/retail...2/seafood-city