Guthrie said city council is not putting all of its eggs in one basket in support of a Loblaw’s store in the city's east end

On Wednesday, Guelph’s mayor continued his ongoing effort to encourage a grocery retailer to open a location to the city’s east end when he emailed the rapidly expanding Farm Boy franchise.

Guthrie sent the email one day after he retweeted the news that Ottawa-based Farm Boy is opening 10 new stores in the province. He asked the company to consider opening another store in the east end.

“I asked them to give me a call and said I can connect them not only to myself but also our economic development department to see what we can do,” said Guthrie by phone on Wednesday.

It was just one of a number of times Guthrie has reached out to grocery retailers about opening a store in the east end.

The move comes one week after a Guelphite started a petition to have a grocery store set up in the city’s east end.

Loblaw Companies Inc. currently owns a parcel of land at Starwood Drive and Watson Parkway. Guthrie notes he has reached out to that company a number of times in a number of ways over the years.

Guthrie said city council is not putting all of its eggs in one basket in support of a Loblaw’s store.

“Just because Loblaws owns the land that is landlocked for that commercial zone doesn’t mean I can’t proactively reach out to other competitors for other opportunities,” said Guthrie.

The previous and current city councils have worked to rezone parcels of land along York Road, creating the conditions to make it possible to attract other grocery retailers to that area of town.

In one of his tweets to Farm Boy, Guthrie said he has a shovel in his office polished up and ready for a ground breaking.

“I think it’s important that I reach out and talk to potential businesses so they are aware of some of the changes we have made to create the environment that may bring these types of retail choices to the east end,” Guthrie told GuelphToday.

Farm Boy’s has 32 stores across Ontario, with the closest grocery stores to Guelph being located in Hamilton, Kitchener and Cambridge.

The company says it has a unique fresh-market shopping experience, using local supplier partners and carrying hundreds of Ontario-made products.

This week, Farm Boy announced 10 new stores opening between now and 2021 — five in Toronto, two in Ottawa and one each in St. Catharines and Newmarket.

The company receives many requests for a store to open in Guelph, said Jim Empey, marketing manager for Farm Boy, although no store has yet been announced for the Royal City.

“We are always looking for new sites to bring our unique shopping experience and Guelph is certainly being considered as a possible location,” said Empey.