Surprises In Store

A sampling of retail innovations being developed in Alberta

Nov 1, 2008  

by Wes Lafortune

“On the ground floor in the market, we’re trying to focus on each area’s being authentic,” says Mehr. “That when you’re buying cheese, you’re buying cheese in the best little cheese shop in Calgary. And that when you’re in another department, it will also feel very special.” On the mezzanine level, there will be a cooking school where customers will get hands-on culinary training alongside a trained chef. Finally, on the second floor will be a 7,000-square-foot lounge/restaurant with an expansive rooftop patio for dining. “I really think the patio is going to be the very best in Calgary,” says Mehr.

Riding a construction boom that has more than 40 highrise buildings going up or at permit stage in the Beltline, the location at Keystone will help make Sunterra the neighbourhood grocer for Calgarians who live and work downtown, Mehr says. “We’re local. We’re family-owned. That really attracts people,” she says. “It’s a full-shop grocery store, it’s prepared meals, it’s restaurant meals, it’s catering, it’s a cooking school, it’s a wine store. It’s all of these things under one roof.”

Raising the Green Bar
Riva Mackie was sick from a blood disorder, plagued by headaches and worn out. That low point in her life more than five years ago was the genesis for an “eco store” which maintains as its pledge: “Providing Calgarians with non-toxic solutions to improve their health, clean up their homes and better our world.”

“I had a lot of health problems,” says Mackie. “So I started to change my lifestyle.” Together with husband Andrew, she founded Riva’s: The Eco Store, a sort of general mercantile for those wanting to reduce the number of potentially dangerous compounds in their day-to-day lives. The 1,400-square-foot space located on 17th Avenue SW is jammed full of products that will appeal to those who want to live with low or no toxic materials. Although it seems like a concept that’s arrived at the peak of environmental awareness, the 28-year-old entrepreneur says there’s still resistance from the general public.

“Calgary is certainly behind in terms of demand and people’s knowledge,” she says. “I don’t know why the mentality is suspect.” Open for less than year, the store is profitable, Mackie reports. Yet she admits the premium that’s paid for so called eco products is one of the major factors preventing more widespread acceptance among the consuming public. “These things often cost more, so at this point they’re not ready to think about it,” she says.

Frequent visitors who do often make the pilgrimage to Riva’s are Calgarians who suffer from chemical sensitivities and mothers of infants. One product in the store popular with both groups is a laundry powder made by the Calgary-based Claudia’s Choices, named after founder Claudia Froome. The company’s powder is free of phosphates, dyes, bleach, sodium chloride, sodium sulphate or optical brighteners. Riva’s also stocks a range of hemp clothing, chemical-free bedding and building products, including three lines of non-toxic, low-odour paints that Mackie says are beginning to catch on with local contractors whose customers are demanding non-off-gassing products in their homes.

A woman on a mission, she says, “We’re going to keep talking about the toxins people are exposed to, the problems that can sometimes arise from them and how to cut down on them. That’s what the store is all about.”

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