Grocer appreciated for community support, generosity

 In Business, News

In just under three years, Troy Scott has made an impression on Creemore.

The local grocer is known for being a generous supporter of many organizations, providing food and supplies for charity barbecues and events.

“There’s a million places to shop so I feel that if I support the community, they’ll support me and they have,” said Scott.

Scott said it was a difficult decision to sell the Foodland store in Creemore and buy the Stroud location but stores don’t come on the market very often and he knew he might not get another chance at a store close to home.

Scott, 44, was born and raised in Innisfil, where he still lives.

He started working at the grocery store in Stroud, bagging groceries, when he was 13 years old and worked there for 15 years.

“I graduated from high school and the manager was retiring so they offered me the job until college and I kept climbing through the ranks,” said Scott.

The money was good and he found he really liked working with people so he forwent college and continued on a career path as a grocer. Scott went on to work at Sobey’s head office in Mississauga, as district produce specialist and then bought the Foodland in Cookstown in 2008 before purchasing the Creemore store in 2014.

Since then, a lot of improvements have been made to the store. The freezers have been replaced and energy efficient dairy coolers installed.

“It’s an interesting community because there are two types of customers,” said Scott. He said in the past, the store had not catered to the weekenders. Listening to those customers, Scott started stocking everything from kale to lamb and an expanding selection of organic and local products. It’s all about offering the customer what they want so they will shop locally. It is a strategy that has paid off, and the locals have benefitted as well. Scott said the store is successful and is in good shape for the new owner, Tyson Prescott. The Hamilton resident has been in the franchise training program for a year, learning each department and the day-to-day operations of the grocery chain. Scott said of the dozen or so candidates interested in purchasing the store, he feels head office has made a good choice.

Scott said he has met many people in the community and he has mixed feelings about leaving but he looks forward to coming back as a visitor.

“It has been a great two and a half years. I love this community and the people,” said Scott. “Thanks for all the support.”

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