This iconic Toronto grocery store has just opened a new location in Midtown. Now owner Brad McMullen is trying shake the market's "Rosedale stigma."
Ignore the chandeliers hanging next to the cheese fridge; Summerhill Market’s third generation owner Brad McMullen doesn’t want to be compared to Pusateri’s.
“It’s not the cheapest store in the world, but when you look at the food and the value, consider the ingredients, the labour and time that goes into the food, you’ll understand,” says McMullen, whose grandfather opened the first Summerhill Market in Rosedale back in 1954. He’s been trying to get rid of “the Rosedale stigma” that’s been attached to his store since it took over from the Sherwood Market in February and opened in June. “I got yelled at a lot from some in the neighbourhood in the beginning,” he remembers (he has since won over the locals). Oddly enough, Sherwood Market was owned by his uncle Wayne, who bought the space from McMullen’s dad in the mid ‘80s.
This smaller store (1054 Mount Pleasant Ave. at Sheldrake Blvd.) in the middle of Mount Pleasant’s residential neighbourhood is a “best of” version of the original Summerhill Market. The shelves are stocked with the market’s bestselling items in addition to market staples.
It’s also a rather good find for prepared foods — especially when there’s a sale going on. A staff of 80 full-time cooks churn out 400 kinds of ready-to-eat foods, including cookies, soups, pasta, salads, desserts and complete dinner trays. The most popular item, since the market’s inception half a century ago, remains its potpies (a medium-sized turkey pie that can be quartered, or halved for two very hungry people goes for $10). When we visited on Thursday, a family-sized tray of beef stroganoff was on special for $10 and a package of 10 large chocolate chunk cookies were $4. (“We have pretty crazy sales,” McMullen says. “Even on a regular day, two people can have a solid meal for $8 here.”).
While the Summerhill Market isn’t exactly Price Chopper, it’s worth a trip uptown to browse the aisles to stock up on some prepared meals for a quick dinner (or portion it into Tupperware for a week’s worth of lunch).
