Fredericton’s Victory Meat Market Expanding, Bringing In More Local Products
FREDERICTON — Alex Scholten, the new CEO of Victory Meat Market, says the corner street grocer is known for three things – great service, affordable pricing, and quality products.
It is something he hopes to continue bringing to the city with new owners Hieu Pham and
Peter Yuan. They took over the well-loved business of 89 years on April 1. Scholten worked with Victory for six months before the purchase to help transition and eventually take over management when the previous owner passed away.
“The nature of the business and where we see our future growth coming from is changing,” said Scholten.
One change is to expand the storefront. They are planning to take space from the wholesale department in the back. To compensate for space lost they are considering looking off-site or making better use of space they already have in the building.
“[Customers can expect] more shelving, more refrigeration units,” said Scholten. “[We are] not changing any of the products, but adding on to what we already have.”
The additions will come mostly in their international food section. In the meat department, they have already begun offering cuts of meat that aren’t readily available in the city.
“By doing that we attract a more diverse clientele,” said Scholten.
Customers are excited to see products on the shelf that they haven’t been able to find before. Recently Victory got a case of pork bung, most popular in East and Southeast Asia, and sold out in a day. This change also affects their wholesale business, attracting clients who need specialty products to make their food.
Victory is made up of both a retail and wholesale business, which has changed significantly in the last year.
“During Covid times retail sales have held their own,” said Scholten. “[They] were slightly below where we might have been before.”
Operationally, Covid restrictions called for barriers between customers and cashiers, constant sanitizing and limited the number of customers that could come in at one time.
On the wholesale side of things, they suffered a severe impact. Supplying restaurants, hotels, and other institutions were halted when those businesses slowed or closed down.
“But we were able to absorb some of that with the retail sales which still remain strong,” said Scholten.
Both on the retail and wholesale side, Victory’s suppliers saw constant shortages. Often they had to scramble to find another provider to fill customers’ needs.
“That was a day-to-day challenge,” said Scholten. “Because you just didn’t know from one shipment to the next what was going to be there and what wasn’t.”
Scholten said that Covid reminded them of the importance of maintaining your ties to the local growers and producers. Whenever they can, Victory chooses to feature local fruit, beef, and chicken.
“That was one of the bright sides of buying local,” said Scholten. “The local producers were actually very busy.”
Scholten said his customers have come to expect local food at Victory and the past year has only made their relationship with local products more important. Victory has special signs indicating local products and a flyer that goes out weekly that has a section just on local products. Buying locally at Victory also doesn’t come with a financial downside.
“We will work as hard as we possibly can to keep prices at a reasonable level,” said Scholten.
Victory is able to keep prices low with the volume of purchases through retail and wholesale. They’ve recently introduced a “customer want book,” so if a customer wants something that isn’t already on their shelves, Victory will special order it for them.
“Those are the kinds of things that make us more of a neighbourhood store,” said Scholten.
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Rachel Smith is a summer intern for Huddle. Send her story suggestions: [email protected].