Photo: Supplied by Roy Guthro.

by Gail Haarsma—What started as a job at a local Superstore for a 17-year-old wanting to earn enough money to take his girlfriend on a date turned into a lifelong career in the grocery business for Roy Gouthro.

“By the way, I married that girlfriend and we’re still going strong some 20 years later,” said Gouthro, in an interview in his clean, inviting new No Frills store beside Value Village on Pleasant Street.

By the age of 24, Gouthro was already managing a grocery store. At 28, he purchased his first franchise in Dartmouth, opening his second store at the Pleasant Street location in February 2025.

“My parents gave me a pair of engraved scissors to cut the ribbon at my first store opening in 2011, and I used the same scissors to open this store,” said Gouthro. “My daughter will use the same ones when she opens her first franchise.”

Gouthro acknowledged it can be challenging to run two grocery stores. He tries to maintain some kind of work-life balance, ensuring he spends at least one day a week with his family.

“It was challenging at the beginning, but over the last 14 years, I have got some really good people working for me. I have let them manage more of the everyday things and I concentrate on the business side of things.”

Talking about his employees being more of a “family,” Gouthro explained that his staff turnover rate is low. He shared how staff care for people in the community, citing an example of them taking up a collection to help two people who showed up to “work for food” get what they needed to feed their families.

He supports local food banks and pantries, as well as seniors’ and veterans’ centres, noting a recent delivery to the Eastern Passage Community Fridge.

When asked about the impact of tariffs on grocery prices, Gouthro said his store clearly marks tariffed items in the aisle to help consumers make informed choices. He also pointed out that his store purchases local goods, including sauerkraut, summer savoury, apples from the Annapolis Valley, sausages and pepperoni, and hot sauces. He expressed concern about how the current drought might affect local farms and producers.

The concept of a No Frills store is to keep overhead low, allowing savings to be passed on to customers.

“You will notice that we don’t have a cart return in the parking lot. It’s pretty tight for parking, and we also don’t need a ‘cart return person.’ If you don’t have a coin for our carting system, just see customer service for a cart coin. We’ve given out a thousand of them since the store opened.”

He also wanted customers to know about the convenience of the PC Express service, where, for $1, customers can have pre-ordered groceries over $30 delivered to their car.

Gouthro said his team has tried to make the store a welcoming place for the community to shop, from its clean, spacious aisles to its friendly, helpful staff.

“Come and check us out. We’re always open to feedback. We truly enjoy trying to feed everyone in our community, one aisle at a time.”

Gouthro’s No Frills is The Beacon’s newest annual advertiser.