J&P Grocery wants to change the way you shop
“Grocery stores can have windows and good music playing but still have Heinz ketchup,” says Sarah Pepper, who co-owns the newly opened J&P Grocery with her husband, John Kent.
But, Pepper and Kent aren’t just looking to shift shoppers’ perception of their unfamiliar grocery store aesthetic; they want to change perceptions around shopping downtown all together.
J&P Grocery opened at 8 Queen St. N. with a wide range of local produce, artisan products, catering and café offerings – all of it stamped with the intent of bringing a grocery store to a community without one.
“We lived downtown and saw the need like everyone else. There are a lot of food stores downtown, but no one-stop-shop,” says Pepper, who, like Kent, has worked in the restaurant industry since her career began. “And then we have an added service element, too; we brought catering, grab and go lunches, and a café.”
And while J&P is stocked with local options of the staples you expect at any supermarket – alongside Smile Tiger Coffee and house made sauces or lunches – they’re aware that they exist outside of the framework of most supermarkets, too.
“The perception comes from our décor, I think, that we’re a speciality store. But we have so many accessible products,” says Pepper. “We’re not comparing ourselves to Costco or the dollar store, but even though our products come from local farms, the value is there. Milk is on par with most stores, and eggs are $4.25 a dozen, and they’re free-run.”
These products, from free-range egg to the junk food favourites fill the shelves, but according to Pepper, they leave a lot of room for something else: Kitchener.
“The City is super supportive, we love the initiatives being taken, and the vision for the downtown as a lively, urbanized place,” says Pepper. “Not every core has a vision, but we’re lucky to be part of that independent, and progressing movement.”
That movement made it’s way inside the J&P doors, too. Pepper described her relationship with suppliers as supportive.
“A local forager could come in and say ‘here are some wild mushrooms, do you want to carry them?’ and why wouldn’t we? We have 5000 square feet, and we want to represent our suppliers brands, and educate customers on their product.”
These kinds of close ties with suppliers, or with community’s needs, or even with the City for that matter aren’t echoed in every downtown and they certainly create a different kind of environment. In J&P’s case, that environment means windows, good music, and Heinz ketchup.