da, which will be coming back to television
soon as Top Chef Canada All Stars, and as
a judge on Chopped Canada. McEwan was
also the host of The Heat.
“I believe it’s very easy to get ahead in the
world,” says McEwan. “There are so many
people who focus all about themselves
and not enough on what they are doing.”
Before McEwan opened its doors, gour-
met products had been limited to specialty
wholesalers and family-owned importers
who would distribute a few select lines of
product to big box grocery stores, often
placed in isolated sections. But as the Ca-
nadian palate becomes more adventurous,
the demand for a higher standard of prod-
uct continues to grow.
What McEwan sought to create was a
gourmet grocery experience for the con-
sumer who wanted more. McEwan says
that clients at his flagship store care about
how their food purchases impact the glob-
al ecosystem, not just the flavour compo-
nents or calorie intake. So instead of gro-
cery store-hopping, McEwan’s customers
can find everything they need in one facil-
ity — from the flank steak to floral arrange-
ments.
“I’ve always loved food retail,” says McE-
wan. “I always romanticized having my
own shop and I had the opportunity with
Cadillac Fairview …we hit the ground run-
ning and we grew the business in a variety
of ways.”
McEwan’s first namesake grocery store
opened in 2009 at the Shops at Don Mills
in Toronto. McEwan also carries a range of
his specialty-branded food products, cook-
books and cookware. The 20,000-square-
foot facility would make specialty or gour-
met items accessible to people who cared
about food that is organic and curated sus-
tainably.
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business elite canada
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JUNE 2016
