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Comox Valley's Quality Foods stores have 'a lot of stuff on the go'

Quality Foods is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month with an assortment of activities.
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QUALITY FOODS Courtenay store manager Dan Gigliotti is excited about the company's 30th anniversary.

Quality Foods is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month with an assortment of activities.Daily giveaways, for instance, afford customers an opportunity to win the value of their groceries."By them being the winner of that they're eligible to play our game, which is called What's in the Fridge?" said Dan Gigliotti, store manager at the Courtenay QF at Driftwood Mall. "I give the customer an envelope and she'll open it up and it could be a $100 gift certificate."Like the Price is Right, the customer has the option of keeping the money or trading it for the contents of the fridge. On Day 3 of the contest Sunday, a woman decided to hang onto her $300 gift card and forego the fridge, which contained an $800 patio set."We're having lots of fun with that," Gigliotti said. The 30-day contest goes until Father's Day, June 17, when a draw will be held for the Retro Fridge."Everybody would like that for their rumpus room. The value is $3,000, and that's in all 11 of our stores," Gigliotti said."We've got a lot of stuff on the go. This Saturday we're having Customer Appreciation Day. For a couple of hours we're doing cake and hot dogs for our customers outside the store."The first QF store opened in Qualicum Beach in 1982. Since then, the grocery has expanded throughout Vancouver Island. The Courtenay outlet, which opened April, 2010, is the most recent store to open. The Comox locale opened its doors at Guthrie Road in 2000."There really wasn't much over in that part of town at the time," QF marketing director Rob MacKay said. "It was our first store of that format with the multi-level, full-service hot deli. Very well received by the people in Comox Valley." He notes the Step Above store in the upstairs portion that offers QF's brand of gift wares and home decor — essentially a store within a store."It's a different offering than what's been in the marketplace before that," MacKay said. "We've opened a few stores since then. Our Courtenay store is the newest shining example of grocery retailing ... it's all very efficient when it comes to the way it uses heat exchange, electrical and the lighting. It's all very state-of-the-art."Both outlets have won industry awards at the regional and national levels."They definitely turned some heads," MacKay said. Quality Foods participates in community events such as the Canada Day parade and the You Are Not Alone (YANA) Christmas tree auction at Driftwood. The company also assists the local food bank, and sponsors the Glacier Kings and other sports teams."And we do what we can for the schools, too," Gigliotti said. QF had a presence at the Empire Days Parade on the weekend in Cumberland. The company also sponsors the upcoming St. Joseph's charity golf tournament, and will be active this year with Vancouver Island MusicFest in Courtenay. Its Festival of Lights in Comox is a highlight of the annual Nautical Days festivities on the B.C. Day weekend."That's one of our signature events," MacKay said, noting the company that puts it on, Fireworks Spectaculars, will host the display at the 2012 Calgary Stampede. "They've won world championships on multiple occasions."reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com