Victoria Public Market to close, making way for downtown grocery store

A long-struggling food court and vendor space in downtown Victoria is set to close in the coming months as the location is redeveloped into an urban grocery store.

The Victoria Public Market opened in 2013 on the ground floor of the former Hudson’s Bay department store on Douglas Street between Fisgard and Herald streets.

Property owner and developer Townline says only seven of the 19 vendor spaces inside the 18,000-square-foot marketplace are occupied today, while the 11 others sit empty.

“Given these realities – and after careful deliberation – we have decided to repurpose the space,” Townline president Daryl Simpson said in a statement Thursday.

“To do so, we have informed our current market tenants that we will soon cease operations of Victoria Public Market. Tenants have up to six months to transition out of their current spaces.”

The developer says an agreement is in place to open a “full-service, urban-format Canadian grocery store” in the vacated space in early 2026.

The company has not identified which supermarket brand will occupy the space, saying more details will be shared “in due time.”

Townline says there may be additional small-vendor retail space available next to the grocery store, which the developer “will explore offering to current tenants and other retailers in the future,” according to the statement.

The upper floors of the four-story heritage department store were redeveloped into condominiums in 2010.