N.S. meat market sees lines 'down the street'

It’s the pursuit of budget-friendly grocery options that brings Nova Scotians to the Gateway Meat Market in Dartmouth.

As the cost of living continues to climb, shoppers are feeling the pinch and seeking ways to stretch their dollars.

Nancy Shaw, who lives in Yarmouth, is visiting Halifax for the holidays. Whenever Shaw comes to the city she buys in bulk.

“I stock up on things that I need,” she said. “Prices have gone up so much that there’s things I’ll just do without instead of getting them in the grocery store.”

Rows of food at the Gateway Meat Market in Dartmouth are pictured. (Source: Hafsa Arif/CTV News Atlantic)Gateway buys groceries directly from distributors, which they say helps keep prices low. The owner, Tamara Selig, said they’re seeing more customers than ever before.

“Traffic has increased so much since January,” she said. “We have had queues outside, down the street, down the sidewalk on our busier days for people to get it.”

Selig said she hoping to expand the store to make room for customers.

“It’s currently up with city council right now to get approval to make a bigger store,” she said, “So more parking and even have like more of a foyer entryway for people to come in just to give everybody a little bit more space.”

The Gateway Meat Market in Dartmouth is looking at a possible expansion. (Source: Hafsa Arif/CTV News Atlantic)Shoppers admit to hopping from store to store and comparing prices for the best bargain.

“I shop around, so I go to Walmart and [other] different stores,” said Eugene Boudreau. “I find Gateway always has good deals on so this is probably my go-to store.”

Some are even taking a closer look at their grocery lists and making cuts where they can.

“We have had to cut back on certain things that we would normally get,” said James Whitehead. “We definitely are a lot more careful when we’re picking out groceries that we would normally pick out.”

Whitehead said he tried to keep a $500 per month budget and plans to maintain that in the new year.

“We buy as much fresh stuff as we can and try to use coupons and points where we can,” he said.

On Friday, David Chaundy, the president and CEO of the Atlantic Economic Council, told CTV News he believes conditions will likely stabilize in 2024.

“Stable in terms of interest rates, in terms of employment, [and] getting more stability around price increases as well," he said.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.