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Indeed, as Shoppers prepared to extend its food pilot into eight Regina stores this May, it’s not hard to envision the beginnings of a conceptual shift in convenience retailing, both in terms of the retail players and the fresher food assortment.

The grocery selection on display at one Shoppers pilot in east-end Toronto takes up about one-third of the store’s square footage, and resembles the produce- and cheese-laden corner stores of Europe more than the carbier, junkier food offerings you might find at a 7-Eleven or Mac’s convenience store. By adding everything you might need to cook a nice, nutritious dinner to an already deep mix of beauty products, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, greeting cards and household goods, your neighbourhood Shoppers could soon be the store invading virtually every retail category.

Loblaw learned some time ago that Canadians don’t always want to shop in “category killers” the size of football fields; its attempt to gird itself for the onslaught of Wal-Mart 15 years ago, expanding into electronics, furniture and housewares ended up proving flawed, with the retailer eventually having to pull back somewhat. Many shoppers, particularly in the increasingly dense urban centres, prefer to make quick stops at smaller local grocery stores or fruit markets to pick up selected items through the week.

When Canada’s biggest grocery chain struck a deal to buy the country’s biggest drug retailer, Loblaw saw an opportunity to leverage Shoppers’ extensive country-wide network of 1,300 locations, regarding its heavy urban real estate footprint as a hot new sales channel for its President’s Choice line of prepared food. Selling fresh food at Shoppers wasn’t an explicit goal, though many in the sector speculated it was under consideration.