Shaking Metro, IGA and Loblaw at 68: Avril founder opens second store in Montreal

It’s the turn of Montrealers to discover one of Quebec’s well-kept secrets. The Avril grocery chain is opening a second store in town, its 13^e in total, next Thursday.

“We refine the concept each time,” marvels co-founder Sylvie Senay, seated in the bistro area of ​​her new establishment in Griffintown, a few days before welcoming the first customers.

This former banking sector worker is 68 years old and has all her teeth. As fit as ever, she spends all the energy she put into running marathons in her business.

The chain employs 1,200 Quebecers, including 100 at the head office in Granby, where it all started in 1995. Avril is also a state-of-the-art distribution center, a fleet of trucks, a central kitchen, 400 house brand products, soon 1000, 13 stores, soon 30.

“Our goal has always been to make organic products accessible to as many people as possible,” says the woman who grew up on a farm in Saint-Césaire and who quickly learned healthy lifestyle habits from her mother.

At Avril, customers can buy with their eyes closed, all products are certified organic. The nutritional quality of what we find there is extremely healthy, just like the owner.

A city to conquer

Some of the chain’s 13 stores are enormous 45,000 square foot buildings with parking worthy of a Walmart. This is the case in Laval, Saint-Bruno and Quebec.

The only store in the city, opened in 2021, is very small in comparison. Located in Old Montreal, it is less than 8,000 square feet.

The new one is only slightly larger, at 11,500 square feet. “We have 20 free parking spaces for customers,” emphasizes the businesswoman accustomed to large spaces.

Avril is above all a regional store, she confides without embarrassment. But with her husband and business partners, Rolland Tanguay, they intend to conquer Montreal.

Better every time

In Griffintown, the bistro occupies almost the majority of the space. It serves cooked meals to eat on site or at home, a service which accounts for at least 30% of the chain’s revenue.

Light bathes the redesigned aisles of this 13^e store where space had to be maximized. The premises are the work of the couple’s trusted architect and contractor, the same ones they have worked with since 2007.

“It’s important how you feel in the store. We are known for the softness of our atmosphere,” says Sylvie Senay, with whom the interview is drawn out because there are so many things to say.

And organic is still overpriced, M^me Senay? “For equivalent products, we are more often than not the least expensive on the market,” exclaims the healthy proselytizer.

Sad to need foreign giants

“It would be interesting if they encouraged Quebec industry to be able to grow, rather than looking for multinationals.”

This is what Sylvie Senay thinks of Ottawa’s efforts to increase competition in the grocery sector.

For two years now, Minister François-Philippe Champagne has regularly brought the bosses of Metro, IGA, Loblaw, Costco and Walmart to parade in the federal capital.

The Trudeau government wants to lower the price of food. In search of solutions, there is a lot of talk about bringing foreign players into the sector.

We think, among others, of Lidl and Aldi, two discount chains in Germany. Aldi has operated in the United States since 1976, which would make coming here easier, it is said.

“What do you want us to do? It’s political. It’s very, very political,” Avril’s boss simply says.

How much does it cost?

The chain spent $4 million on its new Griffintown store. The owner estimates that in two to five years, the business will break even.

For the enormous Quebec store, the cost was $10 million. The couple has a schedule of store openings for the next seven years, with two or three new ones every 365 days.

“We hire talented people,” says the entrepreneur, as if to calm down a little in the face of the scale of the investments.

Because you shouldn’t be afraid to grow so quickly and take so many risks. You have to believe in your product with your eyes closed.

“We even have a starred chef in our central kitchen,” illustrates the one who, to believe it, believes it.

Ottawa will or will not attract a foreign giant to shake up Metro, IGA and Loblaw. Regardless, Avril plans to continue doing it… and growing.

This is not without arousing the desire of local giants. “People watch us go a lot,” notes the boss, who often receives delegations from Walmart or others.

How many purchase offers in the last 24 months, M^me Senay? “We get looked at a lot,” repeats the businesswoman.