Sobeys

This is a newer Sobeys location, having replaced the old extremely small location in Dartmouth North.
The location always seems busy and there is often a small wait to be rung in. They do have 4 self serve stations but those are popular too.
But that is okay — the location is very clean, their store made fudge is great, and the bread that they make onsite in their huge bread oven is fantastic.
The staff are friendly and helpful.
The only drawback for me is that I find the produce section slightly small so sometimes what I am looking for isn’t there. However, the staples always are. For example, last time there was no fresh cilantro and on the previous visit no sprouts were left in stock. Not a huge inconvenience and more frequently used items are always there.
I will continue to go there, as I really enjoy the helpful team. My Sobeys of choice in the city.

I live up the hill from this location and really was looking forward to it opening, as the closest Sobeys to me previously was the ancient Primrose St store which I would not shop in. This area of Dartmouth has needed a new Sobeys for a long time and I was excited to see this one open.
On my first visit I was impressed. This was a very nice new store, with some things I had not seen in a Sobeys before. I did find myself wondering if the neighborhood would be able to support the in-​house coffee roastery, the custom fudge counter, and all of the specialty food items, but it was nice to have the choices.
As I went back week after week, though, I began to notice some troubling things. The service was not what I have come to expect from Sobeys, and the staff were decidedly less friendly than what I find at just about every other Sobeys in the area. I find this odd, as the quality and friendliness of Sobeys staff is what keeps me as a customer compared to their main competition in this market. I generally love the staff at Sobeys, but this crew is different for some reason.
Then I noticed an even more troubling issue. I found continued inconsistencies in their shelf pricing versus what was on file in the POS. This is a basic retail function — a new price file comes from head office, you print new shelf tags, and someone replaces the old with the new. This process seems to be overlooked here far too often. It is especially bad at the deli case, to the point where I had several instances of correspondence with Sobeys customer service people on it. They always assured me the problem was being taken care of, but it never was. It got to the point where I would always carefully watch the item being put on the scale to see if the price that popped up matched what was on the display tag, and often it did not. I also noticed that items I bought regularly at other Sobeys delis were higher-​priced at this one. When I pointed that out, the response was, «stores set their own prices». Sorry, but I work in retail, and I know that with very few exceptions, pricing administration in chains is done centrally. I cannot explain why this store had the issue.
Finally about 3 weeks ago, the issue of the tag price not matching the scale price file happened again at the deli. I politely pointed out the error to the young guy serving me, who went to his manager for help since he could not override the scale. She came by, quite gruffly told him to «give it to him for the price of that salami» and then to «pull all those tags and put the prices up». Not a sorry, not any consideration at all, just an attitude that I was the problem. After I checked out I saw her and the store manager in a long conversation. I was going to inject myself in the middle of it, because I was steamed, since this was the 4^th or 5^th time it had happened in a couple of months, but then thought better of it, so I left.
I have not been back since, and will not return any time soon. This store should be past the growing pains stage, but it still has problems in my experience. I don’t know what the problem is exactly, but it all comes down to management. Something seems wrong, and that makes me sad, because I thought it would be great to have a shiny new Sobeys so close. Instead, I am back to shopping at Russell Lake. Sobeys, you blew it on this one.

Sobeys tend to be Sobeys, I normally don’t feel the need to review them but I wanted to take the time for this one. The natural foods section is bigger than most of the ones I have been. Has a good selection of vegan-​friendly foods. Also had an extremely nice cashier, so that’s a plus as well.

Finally! There was really a need for a Sobeys in this location because Dartmouth dwellers would have to hop on the circ to get to the closest Main St. or Penhorn locations. This is much more convenient. I’m absolutely loving this spot because it’s so fresh and clean. I actually used the washrooms there yesterday and they were really clean and comfortable. Although I live in Cole Harbour, whenever I’m in Dartmouth I try to come here for my groceries, just because it’s a nice experience than the smaller, older CH store.

I love love love that there is a Sobeys so close to me now! 10 minute walk or two minute drive! No more trying to figure out which Sobeys to go to that is closest (Tacoma, Portland St, Baker Dr?).
This location is quite large, and has some pretty cool checkouts (the grocery bag twirler thing haha). I find the shelves are shorter than normal (especially in the pharmacy/​toiletries section) which allows better ease of access, and the aisles are quite wide. There are also neat meal suggestions throughout the store where everything is in one place. For example, there will be a shelf with fresh chicken legs, and above that you will find corn on the cob, potatoes, etc. Everything is so clean and nice looking (I am sure with time this will fade).
The customer service seems to be higher in this location as well. A nice young gentleman in the salad section hand poured my friend some salad dressing because they had no packets left. The cashiers are friendly and just a positive feeling being in this Sobeys. Yes I know it is just a grocery store but who says grocery shopping has to be dreary.
If you live in the area, I would reccomend switching to this Sobeys (if you use Sobeys as your grocer).