Crowds awaited the opening to see what six months of renovations created at the corner of Wallace Drive and West Saanich Road as Fairway Market officially opened in Brentwood Bay.
“I’d like to thank the Yuens for bringing the Fairway Market into Central Saanich. What a beautiful store,” said Jack Mar, mayor of Central Saanich. “They spent a lot of time and they renovated the store. The old store was worn out and a little tired. If you look at it from the outside as a new customer you’d think it was a brand new store.”
Fairway founder Don Yuen cut the ribbon alongside Mar to officially open the 10th store in the local grocery chain. Fairway boasts more than 700 employees.
“They’ve actually increased the staff. I understand there’s going to be about 55 employees, so that’s going to bring a lot of jobs and good economic development to Central Saanich,” Mar added.
Since opening the first store in 1963, Fairway Market has grown to become one of Vancouver Island’s largest independently owned grocery stores.
“Fairway has been in business in Greater Victoria for over 45 years and in the Peninsula for over three years. We are very excited to open another store here in the Peninsula,” said Robert Jay, spokesman for Fairway Market. “We look forward to bringing our great selection of authentic specialty items from countries such as Britain, Japan, Mexico, Denmark and China as well as your normal everyday items.”
Over the next few months the store will implement new programs, starting with its current contest to win groceries for a year.