Giant Tiger Express

This is my go-​to store for quick errands, guilty chocolate cravings, and onions.
The store was recently painted so it doesn’t have the grimy dingy feel that I recall the downtown Giant Tiger store used to (haven’t set foot in that one for years, so it may have changed). Although the top floor doesn’t have any windows, it is very brightly lit so you won’t even notice.
They stock popular grocery items (All forms of dairy, fresh fruits and veggies, bread, naan, tortillas, pop, chips, canned goods, etc.). Sometimes they have amazing deals on produce. I’ve had good experiences there so far with the produce, except for with Bosc pears which tasted like plastic and never ripened.
The staff here are always friendly and helpful.
I am giving the store 5 stars due to my reliance on it. I am glad it’s in my ‘hood. The only time it let me down was when I was looking for parsley and phylo pastry (but that’s getting fancy and GT is there to just stock the basics).

I used to live in Hintonburg and I love this store. It was so close to my apartment so I could always run in for something I needed in a pinch. The staff have always been friendly and I would almost always run into a neighbor so it was a little bit of a social spot, a 5 min run to the store always took at least an hour because of the customers I knew. I really do miss it. It really is a one stop shop

GT Boutique — we have a love-​hate relationship. When I walked into this Hintonburg location I fully admit I was prepared to be unimpressed. In a neighbourhood full of adorable shops and boutiques this Canadian chain stands out like a weird uncle at a sweet sixteen.
The older GT sotres are always a bit grimy, smell a bit odd and don’t always have the best selection. While it’s true that this location isn’t immaculate, what it lacks in beauty it makes up for in product!
I was surprised and happy to find a huge amount of sandals and summer shoes (picked myself up a sweet red pair of $ 8 canvas shoes — STEAL!) along with a decent selction of clothing (but lets be real — this stuff falls apart after a couple washes. Except the socks — those are strangely resilient…). There was also a massive outdoor section with tons of fun gardening stuff, garden ornaments and camping gear.
While I was impressed with this stuff, I was bummed they didn’t have a grocery section. «But wait!» my dear friend Kelly G cried — «they do! It’s upstairs!»
What?
Oh man. Up what seemed like a bit of a hidden staircase (are we in Narnia?) we found aisle after aisle of cheap grocery items ($ 3 for a bag of avocados? 99 cents for tinfoil?) as well as kitchen gadgets and more goodies. Lo and behold they also have a BASEMENT with even more stuff like curtains, shelving and more.
So yes — this place may be a bit dingy and windowless, but it’s packed to the brim with deals. If you’re on a budget or just a die-​hard super saver get yo’self here for some sweet deals.

Convient all-​in-​one shop in Hintonburg. They have groceries, clothing, snacks, and random items in the basement. Very cheap (quality & price — you get what you paid for most of the time). It’s handy because there are no groceries stores in hintonburg so you would have to go all the way into westboro (Superstore/​Metro) or downtown (Independant) in order to get groceries.
this is more of a place to pick up what you are missing than to get all your groceries. The produce is sub-​par and the packaged stuff is really not good for you (full of sugar and salt) but if you’re in a rush or just need one item that you forgot at the store this place is a godsend.
The clothing is cheap but semi-​fashionable, and sometimes you can find an absolute steal.
you can also get cigarettes and snack foods here