Loblaws is a disgusting company, horrible to work for and for their vendors. Cheap cheap cheap and poorly run, run they dominate so much that they don't care. I worked for Superstore in 2000 and it was full of scumbags then, from store managers all the way up to corporate it had a terrible reputation, which was substantiated by many (of course that's subjective, but seeing the public's reaction to Galen isn't surprising, since they have always been known as slimy). Tone deaf is right, he is so unbelievably off-putting to see AND listen to (the radio ads are just as unbearable just with his voice, so that says something).
The comparisons between Jim Pattison and Galen Weston are that they are billionaires and have grocery operations. That's as far as it goes. The Weston's are a family enterprise and quite an elitist bunch who never really say their employees or the public as equals, to say the least. Their charity and community involvement are pretty shabby considering the company's size, it is more just lip service and tax write-offs, rather than being genuinely neighbourly. Considering just how much of the grocery market they control, the scrutiny on him is understandable. Granted I am biased because I hated his guts even before this latest drama between him and the government/the people, but I do think the hatred towards him is justified.
Jim Pattison is a totally different story. Grew up rural, not rich, and worked like crazy from a young age, in manual labour and otherwise. He truly made his empire from nothing, his hard work is well documented, and it continues to today. Still goes into work daily more or less, and has an active role in the company. But just because someone's self made doesn't automatically make them good or better. It's not the fact that he earned it from the ground up, it's that he really built his company in a decent way, and didn't only look at profits when making decisions (obviously he's not stupid and wants to make the company money, but it is through wise investments and an extremely diverse portfolio, rather than price gauging). As people have said, Save On isn't cheap, yet people never seem to complain much about any of the JP brands. And they range a lot in target market and price (ie, Save On, Buy-Low, Nesters, Quality Foods, PriceSmart, Urban Fair, Choices, Natures Fare, Reinhardt are all Pattison companies, and people continue to shop at these even when cheaper alternatives exist all over BC). But more than price, I think people's perception of Jim Pattison is very different than Weston. If people didn't know, Pattison is enormously philanthropic, probably one of the most in the country. He's funded the construction of most of Metro Vancouver's hospitals (ie. VGH, the new St. Paul's, a huge part of Surrey Memorial, and the upcoming Royal Columbian hospital were all from him). Also a big donation in Saskatchewan, where he's originally from. Also, unlike Weston, his business empire has tons of divisions, grocery is just one part. So Weston is really putting himself from and centre to see his company (and its groceries), whereas Pattison would never dream of being the face of his grocery division, even if he were younger. Despite him looking like a scrooge, he's the opposite (he's 94 and still works, commutes to his office, runs the company, runs charities, is married to someone he met at 13 and has been married for like 70 years, I think he looks good considering).
I do happen to work for a Pattison company, but truly I am not the kind of person to drink the Kool Aid at a job. I am not saying this out of some company allegiance, it's because he is not like the Weston family figures, at all. I think there's a reason why politicians and the public are targeting Weston and not people like Pattison
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