A Facebook discussion Tuesday deals with the five-year Bayview Ave. stay of Rowe Farms. The store closed in September 2019 with signs that stated the company was doing renovations. Few seasoned retailers believed that. Now a thread on Leaside Community has been started with a post that asks “what happened?” The very first reply says “Cumbre’s happened to them.” That’s surely true, but some may think it was more like the final blow. The evidence suggests Rowe Farms struggled from almost the very beginning with both high rent and a business model which, while morally elevated, wasn’t sufficiently compelling in a field so competitive.
Cumbrae’s is nothing if not an unabashed butcher
The big Cumbrae’s opened in 2017, three years after Rowe Farms. But as early as 2015 the ethical seafood market Hooked quickly shut down a “partnership” with Rowe Farms at the Bayview location. After the fact, they called it a pop up. The closure caused speculation that Rowe Farms marketing strategy of sustainability and respectable, friendly sourcing, while laudable, was not as compelling as that of other meat and grocery stores. Cumbrae’s is nothing if not an unabashed butcher. Loblaws staff say off-the-record that organic products, for example, are shunned by many people who simply don’t see value in them.
