Canadian Retail Thread

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I see HBC is selling the furniture in order to be able to pay suppliers. The end of the beginning of the end?

When a retailer touts how much they made from selling off real estate you know they're starting to circle the drain. We saw it happen in Vancouver with Woodwards and then nationally with Eatons. They need to be laser focused on retail to succeed.

[SpongeG]

I hope the bay lasts, I do like it. Unfortunately, the stores vary so much.

In the report I heard this morning on the radio it said that they had still been owing suppliers from spring.

[ivegotaname]

Should there be a redlight district in maritimes ?

[1overcosc]

Has anyone noticed that there has been a huge decline in quality of produce at grocery stores? Its becoming disturbingly common to buy a sack of potatoes, bring them home, open them up, and find that a bunch of them are rotten.

[Wigs]

Which store?

I recall that happened a "few" weeks ago (could have been a month or two ago) with a 5 lb bag of potatoes: one or two were rotten upon opening, but can't recall which store I purchased it from.

I was at Food Basics today and noticed that the store is seriously lacking in being stocked.
The fruits and vegetables were well stocked, but the fresh meat area looked 20-25% empty, milk needed to be replenished. I did notice both onions and radishes looked noticeably smaller than usual.

In the junk food aisle half of the chips and pop looked ransacked as if someone said "there's a blizzard coming you'll be stuck at home for a couple of days"

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Has anyone noticed that there has been a huge decline in quality of produce at grocery stores? Its becoming disturbingly common to buy a sack of potatoes, bring them home, open them up, and find that a bunch of them are rotten.

I have noticed it for some things and potatoes was definitely one of them. Walmart here is really bad when it comes to potatoes. What I found out was that older bags were just being left at the bottom of the piles and nobody was putting them on top which is supposed to be done with the older product when the new stuff arrives.

I've also found that the prices for produce can vary a lot between stores and it seems that the expensive stores are not replenishing as often as before.

[SpongeG]

I've noticed that for sure, we had some onions recently that went bad really fast and some were bad as soon as we opened the bag.

[Acajack]

I find grocery quality and selection is very up and down here.

This started during the pandemic and has never truly recovered.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I've noticed that for sure, we had some onions recently that went bad really fast and some were bad as soon as we opened the bag.

If consumers put up with it, retailers will keep selling us sub standard products. They count on consumers letting it go/not bothering. People need to go back to these stores for a refund every time.

I suspect few do this though. Half the time I go for a refund the cashier seems shocked that I want my money back. One time they seemed especially reluctant, I had to embarrass them into giving me a refund. Pouring rotten food on the conveyor belt and saying ROTTEN FOOD loudly, does the trick every time.

[WhipperSnapper]

I bought a sack of onions and every single one was bad a few days later. The next bag were good but old. I typically hand pick onions from the bin so I wasn't sure if this was normal

[WhipperSnapper]

I suspect few go back to the store as it's not worth the time and money to take a couple dollar item back to the store for a refund.

Posting on local social media sites is better at making a point. I've done it once or twice for royally bad service and both times was contacted by the restaurateur offering comp meals and girt cards.

[Wigs]

It does seem like 2019/pre covid stores were better stocked and the proper way, putting new stock on the bottom (in the bunkers) or behind (on shelf space) and existing older goods on top (bunkers) or in front (shelf space).

Whereas now it appears more rotting and/or expired products are left in the bunkers, displays, shelves like stores just gave up and stopped caring during Covid

isaidso makes a good point. Canucks need to be more American and speak up. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, or non rotting/expiring food items

Social media shaming grocery corporations can really help. For mom and pops probably better to speak to the manager or department manager directly.

[WhipperSnapper]

Mom and pops operations are not different from larger franchises. They are tuned to their community social media presence. You'll get a reaction than going to the store ( time plus transit/fuel) and hoping the owner/manager is on site.

That could be produce isn't being rotated properly. That's a failure between both management and staffing.

[Wigs]

Sorry I meant shaming local businesses can be worse than a corporation because of the smaller customer base and potential customer backlash can crush a small business. Whereas Galen Weston doesn't give a rat's ass if you are upset and loses a customer. They control a huge share of the grocery (and pharmacy) market.

[WhipperSnapper]

Agreed. Keep in mind the vast majority of Loblaw stores are also owned by small businessmen that have sold their souls to the President Choice overlords. Many of those owners do care about their reputation.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Agreed. Keep in mind the vast majority of Loblaw stores are also owned by small businessmen that have sold their souls to the President Choice overlords. Many of those owners do care about their reputation.

I was under the impression it was just No Frills stores and the rest: Loblaws, Zehrs, Real Canadian BusyAFstore, etc were Corporate owned

[casper]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Agreed. Keep in mind the vast majority of Loblaw stores are also owned by small businessmen that have sold their souls to the President Choice overlords. Many of those owners do care about their reputation.

Loblaws is a very flexible organisation. They let you chose to what degree you want sell your soul.

As an independent you can chose to operate under your own brand and for the most part do your own thing and buy product from whoever you want.

If your willing to slightly sell your soul, they let you use a banner like ExtraFoods or SuperValu and give you access to sell some of the no-name product.

If your willing to completely sell your soul and sign up for something like "Your Independent Grocer" or "No Frills", they let you access Presidents Choice product.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by casper

Loblaws is a very flexible organisation. They let you chose to what degree you want sell your soul.

As an independent you can chose to operate under your own brand and for the most part do your own thing and buy product from whoever you want.

If your willing to slightly sell your soul, they let you use a banner like ExtraFoods or SuperValu and give you access to sell some of the no-name product.

If your willing to completely sell your soul and sign up for something like "Your Independent Grocer" or "No Frills", they let you access Presidents Choice product.

Both of our Loblaws brand grocery stores here are independently owned as we have Your Independent Grocer and No Frills. And our Shoppers Drug Marts are also independently owned just like most if not all are. From people I know who previously had a franchise, Loblaws is quite difficult to deal with in so many ways. The big advantage of course is that it's the largest retailer in Canada with major brand recognition.

Loblaws tends to only have corporate owned stores in areas with larger populations where there is little risk.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Both of our Loblaws brand grocery stores here are independently owned as we have Your Independent Grocer and No Frills. And our Shoppers Drug Marts are also independently owned just like most if not all are. From people I know who previously had a franchise, Loblaws is quite difficult to deal with in so many ways. The big advantage of course is that it's the largest retailer in Canada with major brand recognition.

Loblaws tends to only have corporate owned stores in areas with larger populations where there is little risk.

Each of Loblaws franchise banners has different rules. Some are more demanding and restrictive than others. They are very protective of their President Choice brand and unless your in one of those restrictive banners they will not provide access to those products. No-name is a mix.

If you don't want to follow those rules and operate under your own name, Loblaws or Sobeys will also sell to you at wholesale (perhaps charge a bit more) but they will severely limited access to their house brands.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Wigs

I was under the impression it was just No Frills stores and the rest: Loblaws, Zehrs, Real Canadian BusyAFstore, etc were Corporate owned

Off the top of my head, the independently owned brands include:

Your Independent Grocer
No Frills (all the ones I've seen)
Valumart (in medium to larger towns)
Freshmart (in smaller towns)
Provigo (some smaller store locations in Quebec but the larger ones tend to be corporate)

And there may be a few more.