Thrifty Foods

A very nice selection of groceries, produce and general items. The store was sparkling clean, checkout efficient and a friendly staff. A good stop.

We always shop at Thrifty's for groceries whenever we are in Victoria. It's basically the same as Safeway or Sobeys in other provinces in Canada. They carry all the same products but also lots of locally made BC products. They offer Scene card points on products and on your total purchase. There is a deli and bakery. Prices are skyrocketing in the grocery store like in most grocery stores in Canada. Because of the high prices I'm down grading my opinion to 2 stars from 4.

Good selections but not “thrifty”. Produce in independent grocery stores is often half the price.

There's a Hindu lady that works there I have a go with her arguing she's always been like that every time I'm trying to shop.

Wouldn't usually bother reviewing a supermarket but when my wife and I visit from Vancouver we always come here and it's only ever been superb. The few times I've needed service or help with something the staff have been lovely. So, credit where it's due. I think I vaguely agree with the other comment about the layout perhaps being a bit weird, but nowhere near enough to dock a star. The bakery goods makes me want to give six stars! Absolutely terrible if you're on a diet.

Very nice down town grocery store. They have parking! As a tourist, this is a very nice feature for us in downtown Victoria!

It is a medium grocery, but there are everything you need. The prices are similar to save on foods chain. The advantage is they close at 11 PM. Almost everywhere closes at 9 or earlier in Victoria!

Beautiful new renovations that cause 25 min long lines to buy a handleful of items. Go to Red Barn down the street instead

Cashier Amanda J at till one (customer service) was absolutely lovely and made my day today at around 530pm. Very friendly staff

Bought a wrap from their sandwich counter. Came to eat it and discovered it was frozen solid. Why? Is it because they're made a month in advance? There's a limit to being thrifty.

Worst Thrifty's in Victoria. Prices outrageous compared to Red Barn. Gouging seniors who can't drive. No regard for Covid safety protocols and staff and cashiers often not wearing masks and not concerned about the welfare of senior or immunocompromised shoppers. I understand Fairfield Thrifty's is doing a great job keeping their shoppers safe! Shop there instead!

I just wanted to let you know that I went shopping with a senior friend of mine this morning who was questioned about the fact that she had bought two packages of reduced beef! She was asked to wait while the cashier had to wait for a supervisor to come and okay the purchase, something silly was said about people buying too many of marked down meat! She had two small pkgs.and was very embarrassed! If something is marked down why should it matter how many you buy.it's for sale and there was only TWO packages. She has vowed to never enter your store again and I don't blame her. She lives in the James Bay community and has always shopped in your store, she will now patronize another grocery store!

It’s a nice grocery store with Pharmacy. Staff is friendly and helpful. Food items are fresh and my daughters really liked Apple Crumble. More of a family environment)

Very poorly organized. Understaffed.
Staff seems stressed and customers seem impatient with long lineups to the inadequate number of cashiers.
I had some good experiences with a few pleasant employees, but mainly my visits there have been frustrating and disappointing.
Although I live nearby, I will drive to SaveOn instead. I would not recommend this store.

I liked the layout:)
Service was great
Produce section was super nice
Good variety of products and I found what I needed which was a pharmacy item (Advil)

Nice store. Used to be open 24hrs. They cut back to 11pm. I wish they would stay open until at least midnight. There's lots of health care workers working until 11pm in the neighborhood. We all have stop going now as we no longer can. Super disappointed. I used to do my mid week shopping there.

Even through upgrades to the Shop, they have always tried to make my experience good and friendly. The staff is great and friendly, always willing to help. I buy here on a regular bases and have never been treated as a stranger. Thank you for great service!

The reno during the pandemic was a nightmare. Really poor choice during an already chaotic time. Now that the reno is complete the store looks lovely but the new system for checking out is horrid. The noise from the sound system constantly blasting out which cashier is available is unnerving. Am I at Walmart? And self checkout? Seriously. Thriftys is a store of days gone by. I used to really enjoy shopping there - it was my go-to grocery store. They had unique products and excellent quality. Now they just have high prices and too much noise - and they want me to use a self-checkout? Stop it. I don't shop there any more: o (

Maybe ill change my rating when the endless stream of renos is finally complete but as of now its impossible to find anything. Things are constantly moved and products that they once carried are nowhere to be found. Dont even get me started on the nightmare that is this parking lot.

Waited at the bakery counter after being told "someone would be right there" until a snarky employee told me that they had all gone home for the day and no one was there anymore. Maybe put up sign?

Now that the renovation project is done, Thriftys James Bay is nice and modern, and somehow seems larger inside than the old store.
Still a few things seem to be in places one might not expect, but one can be certain that organization and shelf space is a work in progress. I appreciate the new check out system for person operated cashiers, as well as self check outs too.

Went in to buy milk. Self checkouts ILLEGALLY don't take cash. Didn't know this until I got to them.
Had to wait 20 mins in line because only 3 other tills open while 5 employees wandered around up front doing nothing.

Love the staff in this store, many of the same employees for the 6 years I have lived here in James Bay, staff make all the difference and the main ladies there are amazing, just I recalled all the names, thank you

The pharmacist was very helpful. Even though the store is fairly small they had everything I went there for. Thanks Thrifty Foods.

I do not believe that Thrifty Foods lives up to their community-focused mandate as they have disregarded the concerns of our community for a number of months by doing construction work during nighttime hours, going against local noise bylaws. The store has received a total of six noise bylaw violations and yet they continue to carry out construction work during nighttime hours. I am very tired of being awoken to power tools, concrete mixers, and mechanical lifts. I believe the store should stop the construction noise at night immediately and compensate neighbours.

The smile wasn't in the isle at Thrifty Foods tonight.

Tonight there was a silent mob of manager types silently blocking traffic at the back of the store, ignoring customers. Just standing there silently waiting for some meeting to start maybe? I don't know. You either re-routed down different isles just to get around them or turned around and went back the way you came. I've never come across a bunch of retail employees so completely disregarding customers while the store was open. Apparently Thrifty's middle management has little value for customers.

Nothing was thrifty, was sold moldy bread that still had time left before it expired, absolutely nothing was any cheaper than any other store and the quality was twice as worse.

The renovations at the store are coming along nicely, and I'm very happy that the store is modernizing to include self-checkout! Much faster, and not having to interact with a checkout person is a mild perk that I appreciate (even if the staff is delightful).

Thank you for the convenience of letting your customer choose their checkout option.

I'm excited to see the store once the renovations are complete:)

Great selections, great bulk discount days so watch for these events. The store brand items are good quality. The fruit and vegetable selections are great and the seasonal selection is fantastic as well.

The absurdity of deciding to do major, protracted renovations at a busy store during a global pandemic is on full display at this Thrifty's now, with whole sections being closed down and customers corralled like cattle into small temporarily constructed areas for produce and to line up to pay. I've never had a more claustrophobic, confusing, or confined shopping experience as I did tonight, and this is as BC's COVID-19 numbers are skyrocketing exponentially, and deaths are steadily ticking up. The inconvenient truth is that this place should be shut down right now if Sobeys insists, ridiculously as it does, on carrying out these renos at this time. Customers and employees alike should be outraged. I won't be returning any time soon, which is a shame. I'm also worried what will become of Thrifty's after all these changes have been implemented.

Everyone is super nice at thrifty's and they always have a really great stock there. We happened to stop in at this location as we were staying in the area and needed to find a couple obscure items which they all had. There was a fellow who was working there who helped us find exactly what we needed and even walked us to the aisle where it was located.

The late night staff felt threaten by me and made me leave my bag at the door. Why do you have security if they don't do their job?

They were better before sobeys bought them out now id only shop there when they got a good sale.

Bakery! Decent prices, good selection, good location. Only con was limited parking as it is in downtown Victoria. Had temporary renovations going on.

Same as always, just make sure you know where the line to get in is and where the line to get out is

I have been shopping here for over 13 years and find the pharmacy staff the best at communicating, being very helpful and answering any question I have. The seem to keep employees for a long time which shows they do something right. Store renovations coming along greatly with minimum fuss and great direction for customers

Quite expensive in comparison to Walmart for example. However some produce such as meat and veg tend to be better. Also these stores are local.

Yes THIS place is dirty and in shabel
Since goinv into doing some internal grades, i found it more convenient move to anoyher store where prices are lower are in stock.

The most over priced local grocery moving to self check out %$% * Support your cashiers and jobs.use the cashier

There are some great staff members at this store. The only thing that needs improving is stocking more already cut up fruits and basics like Tropicana Orange juice and other things.

Just terrible. Minimal parking as they have construction ongoing. Worst is check out. The need more people on tills.