Canadian Retail Thread

[casper]

Originally Posted by cslusarc

I also think that Loblaw has too many banners. I think the following banners (outside of Québec) are superfluous:
1. Zehrs (42 stores in ON)
2. Dominion (11 srores in NL),
3 Extra Foods (4 stores remaining in Western Canada),
4. Fortino's (24 stores in ON)
5 ValuMart (27 stores in ON & PQ,
6 SuperValu, Shop Easy Foods & Lucky Dollar Foods (in Western Canada),
7. Freshmart and Red & White Food Stores (in ON and Atlantic Canada)

"Your Independent Grocery" would be the other one in Western Canada not on that list.

Some of these are franchise programs. So "Your Independent" is a very restrictive banner with lot of rules placed on the franchise owner. "SuperValu" is far less restrictive, so the stores are less consistent as each owner has more freedom. I don't think the SuperValu stores participate in the loyalty programs.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by casper

"Your Independent Grocery" would be the other one in Western Canada not on that list.

Some of these are franchise programs. So "Your Independent" is a very restrictive banner with lot of rules placed on the franchise owner. "SuperValu" is far less restrictive, so the stores are less consistent as each owner has more freedom. I don't think the SuperValu stores participate in the loyalty programs.

SuperValu in Vancouver never participated in any Loblaws loyalty program, and still doesn't, having rebranded to Freshmart. SuperValu was created by Loblaws in the 1950s as a franchise chain, so the stores are independently owned. Your Independent Grocer was created by Loblaws more recently, in the 1990s, and operates across Canada (although there are none in Quebec or Manitoba). They're also often franchises, but are part of the Optimum Card program. No Frills stores are also franchised.

[cslusarc]

Retail-Insider reports: Tokyo Smoke Closing 29 Stores Amid Creditor Protection Restructuring

This was inevitable. Too many cannabis stores. Most cannabis stores near me seem to be about 2000 sq feet in a strip mall or power centre environment. I don't know how my local Delta 9 store is profitable. It is sparsely merchandised for an approximately 2000 sq foot store.

Is cannabis low or high margin product?

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by cslusarc

Retail-Insider reports: Tokyo Smoke Closing 29 Stores Amid Creditor Protection Restructuring

This was inevitable. Too many cannabis stores. Most cannabis stores near me seem to be about 2000 sq feet in a strip mall or power centre environment. I don't know how my local Delta 9 store is profitable. It is sparsely merchandised for an approximately 2000 sq foot store.

Is cannabis low or high margin product?

I’m not a cannabis user. When I first saw a Tokyo Smoke store from the outside, I seriously thought it was a sushi restaurant. Even thought of ordering lunch from there.

[MolsonExport]

Glad to hear of it. I don't understand why pot stores can openly advertise their wares in a manner that is prohibited for cigarettes.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Glad to hear of it. I don't understand why pot stores can openly advertise their wares in a manner that is prohibited for cigarettes.

Probably because cigarette smoke is considered more harmful than cannabis smoke, not only because nicotine is highly addictive and has risks that THC and CBD lack, but also the other substances in cigarette smoke such as tar. No kind of smoking is "safe" but comparing the two is like comparing an automatic machine gun with a hunting riffle. And perhaps the bigger reason being that the majority of cannabis products don't involve smoking. Vaping is probably the leading option since it's a more efficient delivery mechanism getting more active ingredient into one's system for the same amount of plant product making it cheaper. And edibles are also popular and provide a different experience than either.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Probably because cigarette smoke is considered more harmful than cannabis smoke, not only because nicotine is highly addictive and has risks that THC and CBD lack, but also the other substances in cigarette smoke such as tar. No kind of smoking is "safe" but comparing the two is like comparing an automatic machine gun with a hunting riffle.

A machine gun and a hunting rifle can both kill you quite effectively. Also, cannabis has it's own unique inherent liabilities separate from smoking, such as the effect on the juvenile brain, and, the risk of unlocking psychosis in predisposed individuals.

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

And perhaps the bigger reason being that the majority of cannabis products don't involve smoking. Vaping is probably the leading option since it's a more efficient delivery mechanism getting more active ingredient into one's system for the same amount of plant product making it cheaper. And edibles are also popular and provide a different experience than either.

Vaping is a disgusting habit. The essential oils in vaping products can cause lung injusry on their own. You should look up "vape lung." I've seen the effects on CT examinations of the chest. It can be quite nasty.

As for edibles. Looks like candy! Children like gummies. They also like brownies. Accidents can and do happen. We also see this at the hospital.

Recreational cannabis has very little to commend it. I accept medicinal cannabis use as a necessary evil.

[Nouvellecosse]

I'm not saying that cannabis doesn't have risks and potential harms. I'm simply pointing out that it isn't on the same level as cigarettes in response to the question of why it wouldn't be treated the same as cigarettes. There are lots of things that have risks including alcohol and various types of foods such as sugary and salty junk foods. Alcohol isn't treated the same as cigarettes despite having particularly high risks, not just for health but for people's behaviour. Yet you see see beer commercials all the time. So obviously having risks warrants a bit more nuance than one size fits all. Hence my comparison to assault riffles vs hunting riffles which tend to be regulated differently as well.

[MolsonExport]

As a former cigarette smoker (until my late 30s) and former frequent pot smoker (until my mid 30s), I am aware of the worst aspects and addictive qualities of both.

I was and remain in favour of the legalization of pot.

What I take issue with is the normalizing of dope smoking. Maybe it is because I have one teenage child and another one that is a young adult, but christ all mighty, these pot shops seem to be everywhere, with huge signage.

[Wigs]

Since marijuana was legalized, during Covid I became an occasional recreational user of lower dose (5mg) marijuana gummies, particularly the Indica variety.

Benefits I've found include:
- reduces anxiety
- makes you mellow
- music sounds amazing (you really notice the instrumentation in anything from rock to classical)
- food taste is heightened (no I don't eat an entire bag of Doritos while high)
- sexual arousal, intimacy/activity is heightened (only those that have experienced this know what I'm talking about).
Seriously, not enough people talk about this amazing benefit

- if outside or by a campfire it makes you appreciate nature
- you feel at Peace with your place in the Universe, even as insignificant as we humans may feel on the daily basis living in one solar system in one galaxy among Billions of galaxies, that may be one Universe as part of a multiverse
As Carl Sagan said "The cosmos is within us. We are all made of star stuff"

Indica strain makes you sleepy. Sativa strain can make you chatty and find things ridiculously funny. Unlike alcohol you don't wake up the next morning with a massive headache or hangover.

Use it responsibly and in moderation. Keep it occasional and low dose if you imbibe. Your mileage may vary and everyone's body reacts differently.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Probably because cigarette smoke is considered more harmful than cannabis smoke, not only because nicotine is highly addictive and has risks that THC and CBD lack, but also the other substances in cigarette smoke such as tar. No kind of smoking is "safe" but comparing the two is like comparing an automatic machine gun with a hunting riffle. And perhaps the bigger reason being that the majority of cannabis products don't involve smoking. Vaping is probably the leading option since it's a more efficient delivery mechanism getting more active ingredient into one's system for the same amount of plant product making it cheaper. And edibles are also popular and provide a different experience than either.

I have known some people who have too much pot, are addicted, and seemed to decline cognitively from using it. I think both are bad and cigarettes are worse but that the bad effects of cigarettes are relatively better understood and publicized. Severe cancers are very obvious and gross, people are bad at assessing risk (such as a high increase in risk of a low probability illness), and cognitive impacts are harder to measure than outcomes like death.

[Acajack]

Smoking cigarettes just isn't cool anymore. It went out of style long ago.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Smoking cigarettes just isn't cool anymore. It went out of style long ago.

even in Montreal, which for years a smoker's paradise, long after other cities shut smokers out in the cold.

Austria is still quite welcoming to cigarette smokers.

[Wigs]

On the topic of smoking rates the Canadian rate in general was rapidly declining and amongst youths was declining... until vaping came on the scene. I don't know what the stats are but it sure seems like a lot of 16-24 year olds vape.

I thought it was interesting among Palestinians that smoking rates in West Bank are significantly higher than Gaza. And they were on the rise, generally from 2010-2021. Data from 2021, Pre Oct 7/War/flattening of Gaza.

https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/def...en&ItemID=4246

[harls]

Coming back home from the bar used to mean smelling like an ashtray. I don't miss those days, and I never smoked (ok, maybe at the end of the night but those were NOT my cigarettes!)

My teenage boys have no desire to smoke or drink.. same with their friends. It's a consequence of technology.. or more specifically in my case - gaming. The escape from reality that their parents got with alcohol and weed has just been replaced by something else.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Benefits I've found include:
- reduces anxiety
- makes you mellow
- music sounds amazing (you really notice the instrumentation in anything from rock to classical)
- food taste is heightened (no I don't eat an entire bag of Doritos while high)
- sexual arousal, intimacy/activity is heightened (only those that have experienced this know what I'm talking about).
Seriously, not enough people talk about this amazing benefit

- if outside or by a campfire it makes you appreciate nature
- you feel at Peace with your place in the Universe, even as insignificant as we humans may feel on the daily basis living in one solar system in one galaxy among Billions of galaxies, that may be one Universe as part of a multiverse
As Carl Sagan said "The cosmos is within us. We are all made of star stuff"

A very good description of the benefits of recreational cannabis.. especially the amazing one

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Changing City

SuperValu in Vancouver never participated in any Loblaws loyalty program, and still doesn't, having rebranded to Freshmart. SuperValu was created by Loblaws in the 1950s as a franchise chain, so the stores are independently owned. Your Independent Grocer was created by Loblaws more recently, in the 1990s, and operates across Canada (although there are none in Quebec or Manitoba). They're also often franchises, but are part of the Optimum Card program. No Frills stores are also franchised.

I remember Your Independent Grocer having a lot of stores in Ottawa when I was young. I think I remember it being there back in the late 1980s and definitely by the early 1990s. The YIG store in Timmins opened sometime around 1993 or 1994 and was the largest grocery store in Northern Ontario at the time. I remember the original "Your" logo which I can't even find online.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

A very good description of the benefits of recreational cannabis.. especially the amazing one

Oh you've had some elevated intimate experiences with it too?

[jonny24]

I've been smoking close to daily since I was about 17. I agree with most of what you said except this one:

Originally Posted by Wigs

- sexual arousal, intimacy/activity is heightened (only those that have experienced this know what I'm talking about).
Seriously, not enough people talk about this amazing benefit

everyone's body reacts differently.

I get far too self conscious to be able to enjoy myself, to the point where if I don't smoke, I pretty much write off having sex that night (unless I'm also drunk enough to overcome the self consciousness, but that comes with its own sexual side effects). For similar reasons I don't really like to smoke if I'm not in my own house, except for parties that are only close friends and even then I'll wait till it's close to the end night.

That's not to say I don't enjoy weed. I think it's great, offering most of the same positives as alcohol without many of the drawbacks. No hangover, no physical addiction, you can't die from having too much at once, not inherently caloric (if you can stave off the muchcies), less expensive for the same buzz, personally it makes me terrified to drive instead of thinking I'm really good at driving.

And yet I still like alcohol more

And I hate most video games, so maybe there is acorrelation there...

Ever played "drinking and driving" Mario Kart? You have to start and finish a beer during the race, but you can't drink and drive at the same time, have to put the controller down to drink.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

A machine gun and a hunting rifle can both kill you quite effectively. Also, cannabis has it's own unique inherent liabilities separate from smoking, such as the effect on the juvenile brain, and, the risk of unlocking psychosis in predisposed individuals.



Vaping is a disgusting habit. The essential oils in vaping products can cause lung injusry on their own. You should look up "vape lung." I've seen the effects on CT examinations of the chest. It can be quite nasty.

As for edibles. Looks like candy! Children like gummies. They also like brownies. Accidents can and do happen. We also see this at the hospital.

Recreational cannabis has very little to commend it. I accept medicinal cannabis use as a necessary evil.

In Germany vaping seems very popular with young people. Walking through the cotton candy smoke almost made me puke.