Nature’s Emporium is expanding to open its 6th location in Oakville and is looking to open more stores in the upcoming years outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
The new store will be 25,000 square feet and will be located in the Dorval Crossing Plaza in Oakville. The location will be opening in the Fall of 2023 and will be the sixth location in Canada as its fifth store is opening in March of 2023 in Toronto at 1 York Street.
“We are really pumped about the new Oakville location because it is a great market, a very active community, and there are a lot of people who are health oriented. The Dorval Crossing Plaza has been there for a very long time as it is entrenched in the neighbourhood, and that is what Nature’s Emporium is all about – we are the neighbourhood’s health focused food store serving the community, so we are very excited about opening in Oakville,” says Joe D’Addario the CEO of Nature’s Emporium.
“You Are Only Going to Find it Here”
Along with the announcements of the new store in Oakville, Nature’s Emporium has also announced it is going to expand its line of grab and go prepared food options to continue to meet consumer needs.
“We are expanding our prepared food line where people can come in and get a healthier meal, take it home and it is ready to eat. That has been a big part of our expansion as we are expanding our juice bar, offering healthier smoothies, as well as cappuccinos and lattes. The grab and go selection is going to be meals that cater towards more specific diets that everybody is doing right now, such as vegan or keto diets. I think that is where we will be innovating. You are only going to find it at Nature’s Emporium and nowhere else, so that is key and we are innovating our kitchens. And the rest of the store is going to stay true to what we have had throughout the 30 years of being open.”
Nature’s Emporium’s produce is always 100 percent certified organic, which D’Addario says sets it apart from other grocery stores such as Sobeys or Walmart. Nature’s Emporium also has one of the biggest selection of supplements, vitamins, and health and beauty. It also serves its own private label that is “always organic, always natural, and a caring brand. It sets us apart because it is high quality and in today’s time – at a discounted price.”
New OMNI Pick Up Lockers
Nature’s Emporium is going to make it easier for customers to pick up their orders by adding new Onmi channel lockers, which will provide people the ability to pre-order their food and come pick it up at the store anytime of the day. These will be located outside of stores.
“1 York Street in Toronto will be the first store where we will be having the lockers as part of our shopping experience. After the customer places an order, we will have it ready within two hours and customers don’t have to come into the store. The lockers will be outside and have coolers, freezers, and space for dry goods. Customers can pick up their order by scanning the locker with their phone. The locker opens, they can take out their order, and take off. So it makes things easier, especially downtown.”
New E-commerce Experience
D’Addario also said it is looking to renew their e-commerce platform with a whole new website where it will be easier to navigate and he wants to transition the company from a Brick and Mortar to a “Bricks and Click” where they can integrate more technology in and outside of the stores.
“We will be building our e-commerce site and making it easier to navigate, customer friendly, and easy to find products. We are not just in it for the food business. We are in the education business so we want our website to be very educational and help people with trying to change their diet and try to educate them through our online blogging and having online experts as well.”
With the new e-commerce site, which will be available in about six months, will also include the ability for customers to use the technology in stores. Customers will be able to use their phones to scan barcodes, find out about products, read labels easier, and if something is out of stock, customers can place an order right there and it will be delivered to their home. Along with the delivery services like Instacart, the new e-commerce site will allow customers to order locally and all over Canada.
“We have learned a lot through the pandemic. We were very much a Brick and Mortar store and when the pandemic hit – it turned everything upside down and we had to pivot our business. We had to offer curbside pickup and we quickly had to improve our website so people could order online. It taught us we needed to improve our e-commerce platform so that was the biggest learning the pandemic brought us.”
Expanding Outside of the GTA
Nature’s Emporium currently is only located in Newmarket, Maple, Burlington, and Woodbridge; however, it is about to expand beyond the GTA line. D’Addario dropped the news of opening a new location in London Ontario. This will be the first location outside of the GTA and the official announcement will be coming out shortly.
In addition to expanding into London, D’Addario said within the next ten years, he is hoping Nature’s Emporium will have up to thirty new stores and will hopefully be Coast to Coast.
“Our big goal is to be Coast to Coast. We will make our way out to British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and the East Coast. And also growing our Onmi channel and e-commerce experience – so that is our big goal.”
For the new store opening in Toronto and in Oakville, Nature’s Emporium will be having huge grand opening events to welcome the community with entertainment, free samples, a bread ceremony and “it will just be a big party.”
“We are very hands-on and we are still a family owned business. The biggest part of us is that we have been around for thirty years and we have a great relationship with our customers. Our customers can find us walking around the floor in our stores. You never learn more than when you are talking to a customer on the floor and that is where I have learned the most from customers. People trust us when they come in as everything is 100 percent certified organic and we are looking forward to serving more communities.”
Aurora Realty Consultants is acting on behalf of Nature’s Emporium for its expansion, with Don Gregor and Jane Gregor acting on behalf of the retailer in the London deal.
