‘Grocerants’ on the rise as supermarkets try to lure shoppers to linger longer
VANCOUVER — Cooks at T&T Supermarket’s first seafood bar in Vancouver stand ready to prepare spot prawns, clams and lobsters freshly ordered by grocery shoppers, as the Asian-focused chains ups the ante for Canadian grocers increasingly looking to the “grocerant” trend to get shoppers to linger longer and spend more.
At a time of intense competition in the grocery business, chains increasingly blur the line between supermarkets and restaurants, adding take-out meals to their shelves, hot food counters where chefs make dishes to order and even full-service restaurants.
Diners at the new T&T destination receive a pair of gloves to eat — no cutlery — and sit in the seafood department, surrounded by creatures in live tanks and buckets containing orders zipping overhead.
They appear to be eating it up. There’s been a roughly 60-minute wait for seating since the supermarket opened last week.