Sobeys on Burrows Avenue in Winnipeg to close

The Sobeys grocery store on Burrows Avenue and Keewatin Street in Winnipeg is closing Dec. 3. The closure affects 84 workers.

Keri Scobie, a spokesperson for Sobeys, said the store was not performing well.

"These are tough decisions which affect staff and customers," Scobie said.

United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) local 832 president Jeff Traeger said the union was notified by management on Tuesday morning.

"I was very disappointed because we have 84 members that work in that store that are now going to be out of work right before Christmas," he said.

Traeger said he was not surprised by Sobeys's decision because the store has been underperforming for a while.

"I have to say when we were in bargaining with them two years ago they indicated the store was having all kinds of economic problems," he said.

Komal Singh, an employee at the Sobeys and University of Winnipeg student, told CBC the news was a "big shock."

"Couple weeks ago we had positions available for full-time people, then Tuesday morning manager finds out that the store is closing down," he said.

"I'm still upset. I'm a full-time student."

There is a larger Safeway directly across the street, a chain Sobeys purchased in 2014. Sobeys didn't want to compete against itself, said Traeger.

Singh said Sobeys had lowered its prices recently hoping to drive up business.

"The store did start to get busier," he said.

"A lot of customers came in today ... they said, 'That just ruined my day.'"

The union president doesn't expect any other Sobeys closures in Manitoba but said he's still worried about the health of the chain.

"We worried primarily because we've all seen the financial reports in the media about the lack of performance that Sobeys has had since the purchase of Safeway. We're hoping they can turn that around but at this point, I have no reason to believe there are any other stores that are imminently in danger of closing," said Traeger.