3 Paniers : An Alternative Grocery Store for Centre-Sud

To each their own tastes, to each their own prices

The Carrefour Solidaire’s grocery store is open to all! Come see us at 2375 Sainte-Catherine Street East, from Tuesday through Sunday.

In 2020, the Carrefour acquired a new location on Sainte-Catherine Street East. The opening of an affordable grocery store, open to all, was a key project for this new space which is a direct response to a need expressed by the community. Numerous citizen consultations conducted by the Corporation de développement de Centre-Sud (CDC) have highlighted the need for an affordable grocery store open year round in the neighborhood.

3 Paniers aims to ensure access to healthy food at affordable prices in an area where there are few services. The grocery store offers a good variety of fresh products (fruits and vegetables, dairy products, eggs, meats and substitutes) as well as everyday pantry items (rice, pasta, oils, flours, canned legumes, etc.).

Pay more or less, as you are able

The grocery store’s alternative pricing system offers the possibility for folks to pay according to their means. When arriving at the checkout, a customer can choose between 3 available prices for their total bill, according to their budget:

• Solidarity Price: Here when you need it – This price is the minimum you can pay. With profit margins eliminated or reduced to their absolute minimum, these prices are designed to ensure accessibility to folks on a tight budget.
• Suggested Price: Keep our social economy model rolling – This price includes a standard profit margin that allows the project to stay economically viable.
• Pay-it-Forward Price: Make all the difference – This price is slightly higher and contributes directly to subsidizing the Solidarity Price and to allowing the Carrefour to fulfill its mission.

The goal of this system is to create a chain of solidarity that enables everyone to have access to healthy, fresh food. In tandem with our food stamps project, Carte proximité, this system will make sure that the grocery stores’ shelves are welcoming and accessible to all.

Any profits generated by this social economy project will be reinvested to fund our services and activities.

Get involved as a volunteer

Like the Marché solidaire Frontenac, the Trois Paniers grocery store relies on its precious community of volunteers. Citizen involvement not only contributes to the smooth operation of the project and its sustainability, but also ensures that the grocery store is representative of its community and meets its needs.

Volunteer tasks are multiple and varied to allow interested people to better understand the functioning of a small alternative food store. A volunteer may assist the salaried staff of the grocery store in many ways: Greeting customers and explaining the operation of the grocery store, receiving orders, and placing products in the store are examples.

To sign up for a volunteer shift, first make sure you’re a member, then simply fill out the following online form:

Participate in the Consultative Committee

Before the opening of the grocery store, the Carrefour team set up an consultative committee, made up of citizens from the Centre-Sud neighbourhood. Facilitated by the Carrefour’s team, these meetings allowed the group to examine several components of the grocery store project and to establish its guidelines. Among other things, the committee discussed the concrete means that might be used to make the grocery store as accessible as possible, the participatory model and the products to be offered. The consultative committee is also a way to follow up on the evolution of the project in the coming months.

To join the committee, contact Kim at kim@carrefoursolidaire.org or call 514 525-6611.