Since I couldn't have Thanksgiving dinner this year, my husband bought himself a lovely boneless, skinless turkey thigh from Oxford, $2.85! He's a good cook so did all the trimmings including homemade stuffing with herbs from the garden. There was enough for two meals. I challenge any grocery store in Victoria to meet that price. He was just up at Oxford and bought two lovely small chicken breasts for $4. He's trying to find out where they get their chicken as it is so superior to what others sell and at half the price. He was talking to the cashier and she said older folks are coming in in tears. There's no way they can afford much more for their groceries than what they're paying at Oxford, and nice small quantities and sizes of things. The clerk grimaced at the mention of Root Cellar.
Fortunately there are alternatives to Root Cellar, and some of the grocers in town (including Wal-Mart, which definitely sells groceries at a discount price point) offer delivery options to seniors who cannot make it to the stores to shop in person. Thrifty Foods continues to offer their Sendial program to seniors allowing them to put in a telephone offer with a volunteer and get their groceries the following day via a $5 delivery fee. I know that these alternatives aren't the same as shopping at a grocer in-person but hopefully they can (mostly) fill the gap for those who utilize them.
PS I think that Root Cellar is planning to offer employment to some of the Oxford Foods staff.