After Super Grocer burned down, some Steveston seniors say they're struggling with their groceries

Gerald Lindsaywheels down the sidewalk outside his Steveston home, making the trek towards a Save-on-Foods. Along the way, he has to maneuverhis wheelchairover a fire hose strewn across the sidewalk.

Just days ago, his favourite supermarket Super Grocer was destroyed in a fire. It's since been demolished.

"It sort of changed my life," he said. "That was the only place I could get to because it was just across the street."

Lindsay is one of many seniors who live by the longstanding supermarket. According to B.C. Housing listings, there are three subsidized and low-income seniors homes within a block's radius of the defunct store, totalling about 200 units.

Lindsay, 76, says many residents relied on its proximity and pricing. He says many of his neighbours have mobility issues and rely on a fixed-income.

Now, their nearestgrocery option is Save-on-Foods, which ranges between 500 metres to a kilometre away from the senior homes in the area.

"A lot of them just can't walk three or four blocks down to Save-on," he said. "There are a lot of older people that it will affect."

Lindsay says prices have also raised concerns.

"The meat prices were literally half the price they are at Save-on," he said of Super Grocer. "It willhurt us all because the Save-on prices are like double what they were here, and [the owner] was really good about keeping our costs down."

WATCH | Fire destroys longstanding Steveston supermarket:

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Super Grocer in Steveston Village was destroyed in a fire Friday night, and community members say the area won't look the same.

"When you're on pensions and stuff, pensions matter," he added.

"I'm still thinking about how I, personally, have to plan on going somewhere else, and arranging for a ride ... it's not easy to get a ride somewhere."

Gerald Kaake, who isalso in a wheelchair, said traversing bumpy sidewalks to and from the store with a load of groceries has proven difficult over the past week.

"Things rattle off your bags as you're coming home," he said. "That's why I've been rolling down the street."

Kaake says he lives off about $1,000 a month through disability payments and is still trying to figure out how he'll adapt to the circumstances.

"[Super Grocer] was more affordable, no doubt about it," he added.

Hajira Hussain, executive director of the Richmond Food Bank Society, said the incident highlights the precariousness of food security for vulnerable residents in the communityamid surging food prices across the country.

She says demand at her food bank increased by 41 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022.

"When you lose grocery stores in a community, it impacts people's abilities to purchase groceries," she said. "One of the consequences might be they end up at a food bank."

'Institution' up in flames

Officials say the fire at the Super Grocer, located on No. 1 Road near the Steveston Community Park, started around 5 p.m. PT on Friday, Jan. 26.

While firefighters said no one was injured in the blaze, they called the raging flames a "structural hazard" Friday night and could not send firefighters into the building for fearof a roof collapse.

At the scene, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie told reportersthat the fire seemed to have started in the back of the store, and shoppers and staff left the store quickly afterwards.

"It's an institution in the community of Richmond ... a place that people have gone to for decades and decades," he said Friday. "It's a real lossto the people of the City of Richmond, and particularly for Steveston residents."

Brodie said he hopedthe store's owners are able to rebuild, and he was thankfulno one seems to have been caught in the fire.

The Super Grocer store, whichopened in 1979,is a family business that has been run by multiple generations of the Lu family.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.