Leading grocer Organic Garage attains new level of growth
Organic Garage, headquartered in Toronto, is one of Canada’s leading independent organic grocers committed to offering its customers a wide selection of healthy and natural products at everyday affordable prices. The company’s stores are in prime retail locations designed to give customers an inclusive, unique and value-focused grocery shopping experience.
The President and Founder of Organic Garage Matt Lurie had ambitious growth plans for his company. With a growing consumer demand in the GTA for healthy and natural products, he was looking to expand his retail footprint in the area from three to five stores. One of his key priorities was to secure financing with a bank that would show confidence in his plans to ultimately build a chain of eight to ten stores in the targeted market.
A solid company with long-term plans
BDC Capital’s financing experts recognized that Organic Garage had strong growth potential, given its competitive, low-price positioning in the health food market, a highly efficient supply chain through its centralized distribution centre and a solid expansion plan. The bank provided financing for leasehold improvements for the two new stores and worked closely with the company to develop a flexible financing structure with repayment terms, such as a balloon payment at loan maturity, that would help it retain vital cash for growth.
Backed by a strategic partner
With the help of BDC Capital, Organic Garage now has its two new stores under development and is well positioned to meet its long-term growth objectives. The company recently reported its highest quarterly earnings with a 38.14% increase in sales and is investing significantly in a multi-faceted marketing plan to reach more customers. Its continued expansion promises a bright future for its shareholders and its rapidly growing customer base. “BDC Capital really does think outside of the box. Along with providing us flexible financing, they showed us that they were a real strategic partner who understood exactly where we wanted to bring this company. They helped us at a critical stage of our development as we continue to gain scale. We now have a partner for potential future projects!” says Lurie.