Safeway in Williams Lake has a brand new manager poised to take the store in a healthier new direction with popular British Chef Jamie Oliver in the lead.
Greg Frederick, his wife Chaewol, and daughter Katie, 3, moved to the lakecity in November from Kamloops.
There’s is actually a unique Valentine story.
They met while they were both out for dinner at a restaurant in Vancouver with their respective guests. She had come over from Korea to visit her brother and he was out for dinner with friends.
At the end of the evening as he was driving home he saw her again outside the restaurant waiting for a taxi.
“I turned around and gave her my phone number and she called,” Greg says. “The rest is history.
They were married in 2010 and had two weddings, one in Korea and one in Vancouver. In Korea, he says Chaewol ran her own bar and grill.
For now Chaewol is enjoying being home with their three-year-old daughter Katie, and having fun with her at the StrongStart program and other local children’s activities.
They have also been out snowshoeing and have been enjoying participating in community events such as the Christmas Wish Breakfast and the Winter Carnival.
“The people here have been awesome,” Greg says. “We are looking forward to Stampede and have heard a lot of great things about it.”
He is happy to report that Safeway employees donated a whole truckload of toys for the Christmas Wish Breakfast.
This will be Greg’s first posting as Safeway store manager. He began his career with Safeway in high school 18 years ago while growing up in Coquitlam.
He started as a general clerk and took training as he went along, changing stores every few years to gain experience.
From Chilliwack he took positions in New Westminster, Burnaby, central Vancouver, then two years as first assistant manager in Nelson, and four years as first assistant manager in Kamloops where he completed his store manager training.
Greg says he is very excited to be in Williams Lake for the unfolding of the new Safeway/Sobeys program.
Since becoming affiliated with their parent company, Sobeys, Greg says Safeway has adopted a new direction in lowering prices for customers and promoting a healthy eating and lifestyle with Chef Jamie Oliver as their spokesperson.
“We want to help Canadians to eat better and feel better and that is what Jamie Oliver stands for,” Greg says.
He says Safeway also has a new website called Better Food Starts Here, where Jamie is sharing recipes and cooking tips and innovations for having a healthier lifestyle.
In keeping with this goal, he says Safeway is also taking Sobeys’ lead and lowering prices and opening its doors to include more local produce.
“We have it within our reach now to tailor our business to accommodate local growers and producers,” Greg says.
“We also have everyday low pricing on more than 150 items across the store.”
He says they also have a new three-tiered beef program which includes “stirling” beef providing top cuts of beef aged for 21 days as well as Aspen Ridge certified humane and organic beef.
There is also a new in-store deli program featuring fresh entrees daily such as take and bake pizza, Italian meatballs, Korean dishes, Mexican-style meatloaf and more.
There are also fruit bowls and cups of all sizes cut up fresh daily in the store.