By Gazette Staff
September 21st, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
It was about eight years ago when then Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven told hos constituents that the way to get a supermarket built in the Aldershot community was for youn couples to have more babies – that suggestion didn’ get much in the way of traction.
What has happened in Aldershot is development growth.
One of the first major developments in Aldershot, thousands of people with nothing more than a postage stamp-sized park that is not yet in place.
Plains Road is dotted with six to eight mid-rise buildings.
Starting in the west and working east, you have the huge Adi development referred to as Station West with a population of close to 2000 residents (with next to nothing in the way of playground space – that another story. Then there is
Drive along Plans Road and you see half a dozen five to eight storey structures in place and plans for even bigger developments.
Former Treasure Hunt is scheduled to open as a No Frills in late November.
A former discount store at 1035 Plains is being readied to become a No Frills store; a building permit has been issued. It is close in terms of proximity to an existing Fortinos – the two brands serve different markets; both are owned by Loblaws. The No Frills store is expected to open late in November.
The King Road development that is the early planning stages, will reshape Aldershot and pull the center focal point of Burlington to the West.
The site runs from King Road in the East all the way to the Aldershot GO station in the West
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I am an Aldershot resident who moved here when we had all the amenities that a community might need/ want – grocery store, Canadian Tire, Zellers, Blockbuster and more (yup it was a looong time ago). As you’ve noted in your article, we were promised a new grocery store would come when the apartements were built on Plains Rd W. in the early 2000’s. Nothing yet. When I heard about the new grocery store coming, but actually not convenientialy in West Aldershot, I wrote to our Ward Councillor, Kevin Galbraith and actually got a speedy response.
The response in part:
The City of Burlington “…cannot compel any business to locate here or a developer to lease to a specific industry. What the City of Burlington can do is create the conditions that would attract a business to locate in an area. Most of the lands around the Aldershot GO Station (within the Aldershot Major Transit Station Area) are required to have retail space on the ground floor….”. However….” Many developers are on hold at the moment with the economy in flux and high interest rates.”
As we all know in Aldershot, there are many development projects on the books that are coming, but who knows when and whether they will have more nail salons than grocery stores.
Finally, “….While the City plays a role in the zoning of properties, private market retail remains outside the direct purview of City Council. Having said that, when developers reach out about a new proposal, Councillor Galbraith always advocates for a grocery store in the west end.”
So I guess we need to start lobbying grocery stores to come to Aldershot?? Meanwhile we have the joy of access to Loblaws at Fortino’s, Shopper’s Drug Mart and now soon to come – No Frills.
PS – I didn’t ask about how this meets with the “walkability” that we are also supposed to be getting. I wonder if the city will increase the bus route frequency for all the new residents coming into all the new buildings to make shopping at Loblaws and their subisidiaries more convenient. Maybe Loblaws would like to start a bus service??
Location is about as far away from the ADI complex as possible and still be in Aldershot.
What’s the “Why” as to why Loblaw’s is opening a 2nd store sharing the same parking lot, selling the same products at different prices?