Joe's Your Independent Grocer Ridgeway

I was there today and great deals the girls in the deli were friendly service fast the lady that that did the hot food was awesome friendly happy pretty much everyone was great ty again

Definitely gotten better over the years. Great hot sauce section. Great deli and bakery.

Great small town store I’m happy to be near

Very costly.

needed to get some teabags, we like tetley, so went in and was flabbergasted on the price, 18 dollars for 216, no frills 12 bucks, walmart 12 bucks... they need to change the store name to CONVIENENCE STORE, or Independently ripping you off... guess that's what happens when it's the only store around, but I can use less gas driving to no frills or walmart.... WOW, you think prices would be comparable but NOPE not at this store, also looked around and the prices are 4-5-6 dollars more than the stores 10 minutes away... just shows how much grocers are raising prices and gouging customers... now I laugh when I drive by the store on my way to No frills or WalMart... check the prices for yourself and compare, way way over priced at this store

Very friendly and helpful employees

First time going there and it looks pretty good clean stocked and very friendly

Was staying in Crystal Beach for the weekend. Was one of the few grocery stores around so thought I would be overpaying but they had some amazing deals on meat, the cashier mentioned people come from farther towns for their meat deals.

My mother and family members had a horrible experience at this location. Very rude and insulting behaviour from the manager and owner Joe and Jeff. Don’t bother entering the store if you are not white. They got accused of shoplifting solely because they wear a scarf on their head. Very embarrassing and pathetic behaviour from individuals who are supposedly “professionals”.

We had a deeply disturbing experience at Joe’s Independent Grocer that deserves to be addressed publicly.

Our mothers — visibly Muslim women wearing hijab — were falsely accused of shoplifting immediately after spending over $90 at the store. We had come to this city for a girls cottage trip for two days. A man named Jeff (the manager) came outside as they were leaving with their paid groceries and told them they were “not welcome anymore”, without explanation. They noticed someone following them in the store with a paper in their hand as that paper had a picture of the four women in the another store that were allegedly shoplifting (the women our mothers were being compared to). When they returned to ask why, Jeff loudly accused them of shoplifting, in front of other customers, based on an incident from two months ago at a completely different store, where four other women who also wore hijab were suspected.

We live three hours away, and our mothers have never been involved in any such incident. Jeff refused to show any camera footage, offered no proof, and humiliated them in public based solely on appearance and racial/religious profiling.

When our family returned to seek an explanation, we were met with more hostility. The owner, Joe, became aggressive and defensive instead of listening. When calmly explaining that his manager wrongfully humiliated our mothers, Joe got in our faces, pointed his finger, and yelled, “Get out of my store, I’m calling 911!” — simply because customers were beginning to notice the conversation. We told him to go ahead. He eventually calmed down and took our numbers but never followed up.

At one point, after calling out the racism of this situation, Jeff responded, “I’m gay”, as if that somehow excused his discriminatory behaviour. He said “your type is known for this”. This entire exchange was not only inappropriate, but deeply traumatic and emotionally distressing for our mothers, who came home visibly shaken.

We are demanding a formal public apology from both Jeff and Joe for this racist and humiliating treatment. Everything was recorded, and we are taking this further through every avenue possible.

All other employees were very nice and respectful with our parents so sadly this had to happen. Thank you for ruining a nice trip.

And to top it off, Joe ended the conversation by telling us to “be proud of who we are” — as if our identity as visibly Muslim women is a choice. The condescension was clear, and the damage has been done.

Profiling Muslim women based on their hijab, making baseless accusations without evidence, and publicly shaming paying customers is unacceptable and shameful. No one should experience what our mothers did.

This store is blatantly racist, targeting visibly Muslim women without cause. Our hijabi mothers were falsely accused of stealing with zero evidence, then humiliated and yelled at in front of customers in an attempt to belittle them.
The manager and owner Jeff and Joe must be held accountable for their racist, Islamophobic, and deeply disrespectful behavior.
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This post is regarding the racial discrimination that occurred to our Muslim mothers. They were racially profiled based on their hijabs and accused of stealing without any evidence. If you’re Caucasian you’re most definetley only welcomed here, otherwise the manager known as Jeff will racially profile you and literally kick you out of his store. Do some research please and understand that in Canada we have rights, human rights and this situation will be escalated and learn to not be ignorant. I was born and raised in Canada and have never seen such ignorance and hate happen to our mothers. Educate yourselves and again I repeat do yourselves a favour and don’t come to this store, unless you’re Caucasian.

If you’re a person of color, especially in hijab, beware of this place treats you like a suspect, not a customer.

Joes knows. Shop here too.

Got everything we needed for a short 2 day beach getaway!