The linked Metro story about three GTA No Frills stores (each in a neighbourhood distant from the others) is worth a read. It chronicles the shopping lifestyle of low-income shoppers ($900 a month in one case) and the hardship of not having a low-price grocer handy. One man is said to ride his scooter (not the $900/month fellow) to Dollarama for canned goods and then to Loblaws (not No Frills) for bread and milk. The No Frills closings inspired an unproven conspiracy theory that Lobaws was shutting low-end stores to sell off the land. It denies this and there is no evidence except thin circumstance in some cases. The Rocca No Frills at 286 Coxwell Ave. was closed last May for supposed safety issues but it still hasn’t opened. When the Loblaws at 301 Moore was turned inside-out for expansion a few years ago the place was closed for barely an hour or two because of the work. For the most part, customers stumbled over construction workers to shop. Who knows. A very busy and good cut-rate food store is the Food Basics (owned by Metro) in the East York Town Centre. It was recently renovated (and did not close). It is very busy with Thorncliffe Park traffic. Metro Coxwell No Frills closed to make sure building is safe
I believe the Coxwell No Frills was closed for *structural* safety issues. For all we know, that might be a new roof or something too substantial to do while open.