MarketPlace IGA

I have never written a bad review before and I have no issue with this grocery store other than the cashier lady that I just dealt with. Her name was Karen and she was the rudest person I’ve ever met in my life. She was unnecessarily rude to 4 people (including my boyfriend and I, another customer, and a co-​worker) in the two minutes I was at her till. It was uncomfortable to watch.
I am in no way writing this to get her fired or anything like that, I am just genuinely concerned as I have never met someone who hates their job so much. We were in shock at her behaviour and someone needs to help change her attitude or other customers will get scared away!

Good refund ability. A cashier made a mistake last time I shopped here, charging me twice for 1 item. I also ended up with a gross product which was not IGAs fault — sometimes a company ships out a bad batch of something.
SO I made a trip there to return the bad sauce and get a refund for the item I never bought. (is it a refund if you never bought it? maybe just a correction) It was quick and painless.
I should also mention the fresh produce here is sooo pricey. Dont understand why.
IGA near the library isn’t.
I shop here because they have delivery, and I just shop for fresh produce at other nearby stores, but it would nice if I had the option of getting some veggies here.

Be sure to save your receipt until you test out what you bought. I’m going back today because 1 out of 4 lightbulbs didn’t work. This is the second time.
And I no longer buy fresh meat/​seafood there. I’ve thrown out a half-​salmon because it was totally rotten. Thank goodness I decided to debone and fillet it instead of roasting it whole. As I looked it over before I realized how bad it was, I saw a visibly rotten spot on the outside. *It had been handed to me by a seafood employee.* (Note only was it gross, I had to go find a replacement for the dinner I was making for friends that night, which was time I had not planned for.) I’ve also returned a bad chunk of red meat. I have at least been given a refund every time without problems.
Really, the only reason I shop there at all is because I live within a block of it.
On the upside, unlike another reviewer I have consistently have been given my 3¢ refund for bringing bags. Note that there appears to be no refund for declining a bag, though. I agree with that reviewer about the escalator poles being too tight.

Four stars for the selection, no doubt. I do not shop here often enough to know if all their pricing is good; it is not the cheapest but also less than items you can find at Whole Foods. The candy aisle is great. Oh they sell Haribo candy to M&Ms to healthy prana (sp?). They also sell soda, salad dressing, produce and veggies.
Good pit stop store and it is close to YMCA for the healthy feens who need a quick grocery store top up or those masses in the hood close to SPH… etc.

Best deli roast beef in all of Vancouver, friendly staff, bit pricey and cramped but overall it’s an awesome dt grocer.

Great staff, super friendly!
It is one of the places that makes our neighborhood great.

I’m happy about the weekly special fruits n vegetables. Great place for grocery shopping. And people watching.

a little more pricy than your local safeway.
Milk in particular is consistently higher than SDM, Safeway, no frills, and possibly every other grocery store they compete with locally!
Service isn’t that great, either– one lady in particular is always ‘on break’ when we approach her till.
We are never deducted the 3 cents when we bring our own bags, despite that being their policy.
Line ups are horrible, and, after the escalator was shut down for several weeks, they now placed a barrier pole (to prevent strollers and buggies from being conveyed up the escalator) so close that you have to get onto the escalator almost sideways to avoid contact with it!

Grocery store. It was open. priceyish. Has a restroom, but the butcher has to let you in.

Frequented this grocery store when we were in Vancouver on holiday (from Australia). Had everything we needed — didn’t feel to expensive to us. But then again Australia grocery prices are crazy. Loved getting Ben & Jerry’s Icecream for $ 6. It’s $ 12 here. so that gives you an idea about what we are dealing with. Didn’t feel the need to search for a different grocery store, this was perfect for us.

IGA is very conveniently located next to the YMCA which I go to almost on a daily basis. I find the prices to be somewhat more expensive then your Independent grocer on Davie for example but the food is usually fresh and like I said the convenience of location means a lot. If you are patient and wait for sales to happen then it’s pretty good.

They NEED to improve their checkout system. Until then, politeness would go a long way.

I’ve been here twice now and have not been impressed with their service. I recently moved here from Minnesota and now live too close to this place to not shop there.
First time I was there I saw a deal: 2 boxes of General Mills cereal and get a free 2L of Dairyland milk. I picked the correct weights and brands, but when I checked out it wouldn’t let me get the milk for free. The cashier tried a few things to see if it would work, but could not figure it out. Then she asked other cashiers and they stated they heard of the deal, but didn’t know why it wouldn’t go through. After about 5 minutes she just quit trying and waited for me to cave and pay for it. Granted paying for milk is anything to get your panties in a twist, but she could’ve gotten a manager or someone to figure it out.
The next day I had said cereal and milk for breakfast and realized the milk was sour even though it hadn’t expired and was properly sealed before I opened it. I brought it back and the cashier I talked with stated I could just get another one and bring it up to the register after I finished my other shopping. Once I got to the checkout I was told that I couldn’t exchange the milk and had to pay for the new one. The cashier wasn’t interested in my story and basically said (nonverbally of course), tough titties.
This might seem a bit nit-​picky, but I just feel like the workers don’t care. I got very bad first and bad impressions and will no longer shop there if I can avoid it.

Pricing is waaay to high. You can walk 2 blocks in either direction and find cheaper. Only giving 2 star because they have a huge selection.

I frequently pop in here when I’m staying at the Sutton Place right next door so I can get a few snacks and drinks for the room at ‘normal’ prices. I recently discovered their ready-​to-​go sandwiches, and they are pretty good. I had a chicken salad sandwich and an egg salad sandwich, and both were fresh and satisfying.
As for snacks, there are always nice baked goods and cookies available, along with a wide variety of chips for munching while watching really bad hotel tv.
I’m glad this place is here. They have single-​handedly (is that a word?) reduced my meal expenses by many, many, dollars.

Weird how this place has been here for years and yet I am the first to review. This IGA in terms of service and food is no different than the others that I have visited. Being in a somewhat high traffic area they have a good turn around on produce, therefore, this is my go to place to stock up on apples and munch before a movie so that I am not being processed theater crap. Their prices in general need to be better. I get that it is real estate costs, however, all IGA’s have no excuse for being more expensive than they really should be.

(Reposted from a superflous business listing for this particular MarketPlace IGA. This review was initially posted last December 8, 2012.)
PROS: Good selection of both standard and premium goods, decent deli section for sandwiches and hot meals, fresh produce is often of good quality, open till midnight.
CONS: Surly cashiers. There have been several, but there is ONE in particular.
There was an incident a year or so back when Marketplace IGA was embroiled in some sort of disagreement with their workers, likely about wages, and based on the people behind their cash registers, it doesn’t seem as if that issue’s been addressed. I shop for groceries here regularly, and of the at least two dozen times I’ve been here, I can count THREE people I’ve interacted with at this particular Marketplace IGA who acted like they gave a crap: One was a young lady behind a register, the second was a friendly lady at the deli, and another was an older gentleman who guided me to the washroom. (Hey, why not be specific…)
This evening was maddening in particular for just how blatantly one cashier’s demeanor expressed his displeasure at his employment and his utter disdain for providing even a modicum of decent service to the grocery customers. I often don’t mind cashiers bypassing niceties like hellos and thank yous at the register, but when your cashier tosses all your groceries – both wet and dry – in the same plastic bag, plops it back on the counter and then doesn’t bother setting it back upright once it tips over and spills a few items out, then that clear lack of concern for his job is aggravating.
The proverbial straw was when he didn’t bother handing me the receipt or bother even asking if I wanted it in the bag; he simply slid it on the counter in front of me and crossed his arms and looked in a different direction as he waited for me to clear out so he could work on the next person in line. There were a few things that, had they happened, would’ve eased me from aggravated to just plain annoyed, but he managed to push ALL my buttons. Nothing on my mental list of expectations with good service were checked off. Not. A. Single. One.
Sigh, you know what? I’ll be honest, I’m probably extra miffed right now because I’m tired, a bit hungry, and this was yet another recurring experience at Marketplace IGA that I tolerated yet again without saying something outright. I can empathize when an employee feels marginalized and underpaid at a job. Hell, I was in the same spot a couple years ago. And you know what the best thing was that happened to me at that job? They downsized and I was let go and I couldn’t have been more relieved.
My thought is, if you’re in the service industry and you can’t even provide the bare minimum of actual proper service, then you need to get out of that job because you will SUCK at it and it will cause everyone you work with to SUCK by proxy.

My go to Grocery store — simply due to the fact it is directly across the street from where I live.
Oh and its open until midnight 7 nights a week.
Not cheap, but not too overly pricey. Well actually it is fairly pricy.
At times they have promotions where you can get a $ 5 gift card. Or free hot cross buns.
They also have had collect 600 $ worth of stamps to get some wine glasses that break rather quickly, or some knives. Knives is the current promo. I got 2 already and have another $ 800 worth of stamps to get 2 or 3 more. Oh I just did the math. How depressing ! I spent 1400 $ to get 4 or 5 knives? Hmmmmm
Oh, and speaking of stamps and promos– you have to remind /​tell the staff about them. Usually twice. They never know, remember, or can be bothered.
The staff… ummmm what an odd bunch. One cashier has zero personality, and he is pretty slow. He needs to be reminded at least 3 times to give you your stamps or gift card ect. Another one is always flustered & I swear he is on crystal meth from the way he acts. Another is down right rude. I refuse to go to his check out.
Management however seems pretty cool.
Just when you have spent way too much money on one meal, you see the guys begging for change on the way out, AKA «The Exit Tax»
Just one more way you have to (over) pay for living in Downtown Vancouver !

For a grocery store quick lunch, they are quite good. The prices are average for downtown and the selection is great. They have soups, sandwiches, wraps, salads, dips, snacks and etc…
I like coming here for a quick lunch, however, it’s hard to find seats during the noon rush so be aware of that.

Selection is pretty nice here. They have escalators between the 2 floors as well.
Staff are friendly and helpful, though spread out a little too much.
My biggest complaint though is that prices here are pretty high. So unless you are in a pinch, I’d recommend going elsewhere (ie not downtown) for your groceries.