In fact, when we are travelling whether on a nearby road trip or overseas, we have made it a habit to seek out supermarkets simply to visit and look around. Many tourists seek out the historical district or trendy restaurants but Jay and I like walking around unknown aisles of food, produce, and household products. I think seeing the organization and products of global supermarkets would be an awesome avenue for sociological study. A public food market says a lot about a culture and its values.
We saw some local information about a new supermarket chain here. We wondered if it'd be worth checking out too. So, we went to visit a FreshCo in Richmond, BC. There are already two in that 'city by the airport' and I asked Google Maps to navigate us to the closest. In addition to their own brand, Sobey's a conglomerate operates IGA, Safeway, Price Chopper & Foodland, and Thrifty Foods in Canada. We nearly never shop in any of them.
I guess we won't be bothering with FreshCo markets either. I assume these stores are just Safeway rebrandings. The inside looked similar without the fancy sections. I guess the emphasis is on cheaper staples as there were no prepared food offerings. We walked out with nothing.