Michael’s No Frills

This No Frills has pretty much everything I am looking for. However, every time it went there, it is always busy. Unless you are lucky, you have to find a parking spot further away from the door. Once inside, it can be hard to get around with the cart when there are lots of people.

I wasn’t going to review this no frills because eh. it’s just a no frills but oh my… this showed me exactly what NOT to do with my future business if I don’t want it to go to shit.
Okok, the stock and everything is alright — this no frills is fairly big with meat areas, fish areas, general groceries, frozen foods, baking aisles, etc. Basically everything you need in the kitchen, you can find here — which is one of the biggest pros of a no frills.
This review is mostly about the workers… ok, I get it. No frills hires 15 year olds. When I was 15, I loved it! I loved working at no frills simply because it was the only job that would take a kid that’s not legal to work in canada yet. But now. I see the shenanigans this can cause. Most of them are probably older than 15, but when I was in the middle of the aisle, I heard hyena laughs and screams … which obviously alarmed me. I came out of the aisle to see two female workers joking around and pushing each other in a playful manner. 5 minutes later, a bunch of female workers started joking around and kind of darting from aisle to aisle, while the 3 open lanes were piling up with disapproving customers. The cashiers are unprofessional (even in a grocery store setting) and if I was the Michael the manager, they definitely would no longer be employed with me. When it was my turn to pay, the female that was oh so happy to play with her friends before had a face of stone and did not say one word to me the entire transaction. Great customer service, y’all!
The young female workers here are a joke and the young male workers here look like they’re at a funeral.

Pros: I enjoy shopping at this No Frill’s a lot because it is a great blend of both western and Asian food. The store is very clean and organized. I enjoy shopping the dollar deals section as well. Produce is fresh. The location is great too, it’s right next to the Go Station and very close to Pacific Mall. There is a huge assortment of asian food here, so you will see a lot of Asian people shopping here.
Cons: They are very anal about the limits on sale items (i.e. you can only buy 4 per family). If they see that you are violating the limit, they will deny you of the purchase or make you wait in line again. They also only accept cash or PC master card.

If memory serves me right, this No Frills is the first No Frills in the Scarborough/​Markham area that adopted the Western groceries + Asian mini booths floor plan. Prior to this, No Frills in this area was just like a, say, Price Choppers.
Pro: This store is big. It has a live fish booth, a fresh meat booth, etc. To reflect the demographic of the neighbourhood, there are a lots of Asian groceries serving the Chinese, Indian and Muslim communities. The pricing are competitive. The location is convenient, right at a high traffic intersection and near a GO Train station. There are ample parking.
Con: The building is showing its age. The lighting seems a bit yellow. The whole store has a filthy feeling. It smells quite badly near the live fish booth. It is obvious that it is time for some lighting retrofits, a new layer of paint, and some deep cleaning.
Overall, this No Frills wins a 2 stars from me. I am more than happy to upgrade the rating when there is some deep cleaning and lighting upgrades.

Michael’s No Frills is one of the most interesting No Frills to browse and shop. Thanks for the unique cut of different meat from the independent meat shop at the back of the Supermarket.
Seriously, you will find well packaged exotic cuts: pig nose, tongue, ears, feet, duck everything and more. I still trying to find a good receipt for pig nose or cow penis!
The only complaints I have probably there is never enough cashiers and there is always a long line at check out. And all these signage about Express. just a little too much!

Decided to finally try this No Frills… I was pleasantly surprised. Likely because the store has to compete against numerous other grocery stores in the area the overall look and feel of the store is not like most other No Frills…
I was especially pleased by the meat and seafood sections… everything was very well prepared and the staff obviously care about the quality of the products that they are offering. I also liked the selection of the fruit and vegetables on offer and once again everything looked fresh.

It’s hard to rank No Frills — because your experience may depend on when you go. I was leaning toward 3.5 stars, but compared to other places in my area I have to give it a 4.
Pros:
1. It’s a clean, bright place.
2. The express checkout rules are enforced! At some grocery stores people just go in all Willy Nilly, and get to have 19 items.
3. There’s a dollar store inside. But keep in mind it is a dollar store. Don’t have too high expectations there. There stickers aren’t very good.
4. Prices for the majority of products are excellent. They are reasonable.
5. The parking is good. Usually you’ll be able to find a parking spot. Although the people who drive are terrible, awful drivers. Almost got knocked over once. Or twice. Or thrice.
6. Employees speak English. Can be a con if it’s not your language.
7. Sometimes you’ll see the owner waddling around. His head is not as large as it appears on the sign you see.
Cons:
1. The bagging situation isn’t great. You have to pay for bags and they don’t bag anything for you. I guess that’s a pro, depending on what you prefer. However, they have boxes available as usual.
2. The store hours are kinda short. Not like other places that stay open till 11 PM or 12 AM. But that’s the cost of low prices, I suppose.
Neutral (Comments):
1. A decent selection of food items. You’ll find PC products here and such. But I think that they’re missing out by not stocking certain goods. Like Mini Waffles.

My fave supermarket for fresh quality and value. Cant beat the prices.
Personal hygiene items stocked with things you’d find at Shoppers, but at a much lower price. eg Body wash for $ 3 instead of $ 7 at Shoppers.
Fruits and veggies are fresh! I can’t stand it when grocery stores try to sell me limp carrots or near rotting peaches. I’d rather pay premium prices to get fresh and crisp fruits and veg. But then I discovered No Frills and now I can get both!
Good selection of everyday grocery items like cheese, milk, bread and meat. No sketchy stuff here.
Chinese bakery within the store — discounted buns after 5 pm. All cakes are $ 10 after 5 pm too. What a deal! Made fresh daily.

Too bad their Chinese BBQ stall closed.
and somehow they never have enough cashier, so the line up are always too long. (can’t get your ice cream fix with that kind of line up)
the good things are, they almost never ran out of the item that’s on sale, and they always have their stock line up so neat that makes it easy for you to shop there.
if they can do something about the line up…

If you ever wanted to know what an Asian (mostly Chinese) No Frills would look like, this is it. It’s not immensely huge, but they’ve packed in a lot of stuff. In addition to the Asian produce and goods that they carry, there’s a Chinese bakery station and a Chinese barbecue station in the back. At the same time, they carry a fairly good selection of Western stuff as well, including uncooked pizza dough and two kinds of maple cream cookies (a name brand and a private label). There’s a meat counter and a pharmacy too.
It’s a bit disorganized because of the amount of stuff they have crammed in there, but it’s mostly fairly clean.