1y ago

Who here's committed to not shop at Loblaws' companies this month (and beyond)?

Including their brandname chains:

Atlantic Cash & Carry
Atlantic Superstore
Axep
Bloor Street Market
Dominion
Les Entrepôts Presto
Extra Foods
Fortinos
Freshmart
L'Intermarché
Loblaws / Loblaw GreatFood / Loblaws CityMarket
Lucky Dollar Foods
Maxi / Maxi & Cie
NG Cash & Carry
No Frills
Provigo
Real Canadian Superstore
Shop Easy Foods
Shoppers Drug Mart / Pharmaprix
SuperValu
T & T Supermarket
Valu-mart
Wholesale Club / Club Entrepôt
Your Independent Grocer / Independent CityMarket
Zehrs Markets

Yes there are other big oligopoly chains like metro, Sobeys/Safeway, Pattison, but I think it's best to start with one major chain to see how much coordinated action can affect them.

55 comments

Started switching away from all of their stores last month in anticipation. I try to get everything I can from Costco, and use FreshCo for everything else.
- Saying farewell to Zehrs will be easy but I could never give up my beloved Costco!
  
  Costco are known for treating their staff unusually well compared to other retailers, so I think that's fine.
  
  100%. They're the only ones making a decent rotisserie chicken these days, and it's only $8!?
- Boycotts work if you isolate one company or one brand .... then they would either be forced to change ... or go out of business.
  Once one company or brand is severely affected or goes under, then everyone moves on to a new target.
My mental health can't even take walking into the store that considered us all thieves. I get so pissed off and irrationally angry seeing a Loblaws store let alone walking in...I'll never go back even if they 'fix the prices' (sadly this pun isn't intended...)
- I see what you did there
  Loblaws has stolen plenty from Canadian farmers, suppliers, store owners, grocery workers and consumers over the years. It's time to treat the Weston family as the thieves they are.
- The unpleasant experience is one of the main reasons I haven't shopped there in many years.
Literally every wholesaler is owned by one of the big companies, so it's still coming from there even at an independent grocer. No, I will not be expending effort on this, personally. Downvote me if you need.
- I agree that avoiding any of the big companies is nearly impossible, and if we switch for a month from one big company to another it seems pointless, but my hope is that if Loblaws sees a real impact from this boycott it will put a bit of fear into any of them that they could be next. I could be naive, but it seems worth trying (if you can, I understand some cannot).
- Most people don't have a choice. Where I live there's a food basics next door, and the next closest is a metro that's like a 20 minute bus ride away+waiting for the bus.
  
  Yeah. My one local store is independant, and as a result it's super expensive and mostly sells produce already going bad. Y'know, because whichever wholesaler punishes them for not being in the club.
  What we actually need is for those new competition laws parliament passed this year to be applied.
  
  If you're doing grocery shopping once a every two weeks then it's not too bad.
  
  This argument comes up a lot. MOST people are suburbanites who drive to a grocery store and in a major urban area. They can probably switch to something else with a slightly further drive. Rural folks and urban folks without a car are definitely going to experience a greater challenge on this.
The only one I visit at all is Shoppers Drug Mart, and that one's not going to be an issue to cut out. Kinda tweaked that my local post office is operating out of it, though, and directly funneling public dollars into Galen Weston's pockets.
I don't drive, I'm too poor to live anywhere well connected, and I'm disabled. So I rely on delivery and need my groceries to be as cheap as possible. That means No Frills. I buy from there or starve, I'm afraid. I'd be more inclined towards a guillotine based solution for Loblaws and Pattison anyway.
100% on board. First stop is to local grocers, then Costco, and if those fail, then I'll resort to Sobeys.
I will join!
Aren't all the chains and other corporations doing the same price fixing? Or did Loblaws do something extra shady?
- This decade and a half long bread price fixing scheme was something that set Loblaws apart
  Profits were up 9.8% over last year, and dividends to shareholders just announced to increase 15%.
  Earlier this year they were going to lower the "near-spoiled" discount from 50% to 30% but cancelled that after backlash. So none of the increase in sales/profits seem to be going to anyone other than shareholders and the Weston family.
  Also Galen Weston has been going on a PR tour past couple of years to say "nothing to see here" "we totally aren't gouging you on the necessities".
  
  I go to food basics and it's worse. I constantly find expired food in the fridges and shelves, items 2-3 weeks past. I went to buy fresh English muffins and found them frozen, when I asked they told me they freeze them and then thaw them out and shelf then when they're low, so they're charging me fresh food prices for frozen bread. They also never clean their produce shelves. There are stains on the shelves I've been looking at for 2 years.
- They are all the same. But that Weston guy is extra unlikeable and visible.
Grocery Alternatives:
Costco
~~Walmart~~
Save On Foods
- Walmart
  The human rights violation company.
  
  totally fair, not sure why that escaped me
  I've edited the original comment👍
- There's a lot of options, including big and small chains and local independents depending on your needs. It may be worth boycotting other chains in some order to keep everyone on their toes, but none have been as blatantly greedy as Loblaws for sure.
In it 100%
They're greedy AF
My wife and I have been spitefully avoiding loblaws for a while now. We get most of our meat & produce from the weekend market, bread from the local bakery, and anything else from the Asian/Indian supermarket or Metro if it can’t be found elsewhere.
The last straw was the prison gates and the receipt checking. Show some dignity.
- Is Metro any better though?
  
  It depends. I’d say on average it’s higher for “convenience” items but the cost of milk, cheese, rice, pantry staples, etc seems to be about the same.
  If there was a food basics nearby I’d probably go there, but in my city that means driving another 15 minutes.
The only alternatives in my town are Walmart (the human rights violation company) or Sobeys (the wallet rapists). Maybe I can eat Shin-cup noodles for a month.
I already don't shop at any of those, and will continue not to.
My wife and I agreed not to. We live in a small community, but have the following:
A small, independent market Your Independent Grocer (owned by loblaws) IGA (mostly independent)
Definitly options even in a community of only 10k people.
My wife and I are joining the boycott. Who knows what will come of it, but this might be a good reminder for the big grocery retailers that they don't have a right to our patronage.
100% committed to the boycott. Haven't shopped there since it was first suggested. We scan everything to avoid supporting genocide in Gaza as well. I'm old and cranky and just not having it.
In my part of QC, the only "Loblaws" around me is a Maxi, it's pretty cheap certainly one of the most affordable groceries here. But I can go to a nearby SuperC just to boycott Galen.
- Every bit helps. Even a 3% drop at the Q2 report in a few months will be noteworthy for shareholders.
100%, but I'm in USA, so not really the target audience.
Great list. In my area, I only need to avoid Maxi and Provigo.
There are so many small "dépanneurs" and specialty grocery stores.
They all have amaizing deals on their niche products:
rice, lentils, dehydrated beans, spices, chili, bitter gourd >>>> indian store
rice, sauces, noodles, mushroom, fish/seafood, daikon >>>> asian store
beans, spices, coconut, plantain, okra, eddo leaf >>>> jamaican store
arabic, latin american, senegalese, etc. grocery stores in addition to bakeries, fish mongers, butcher shops, etc.
Every speciaty store has their own fresh produces from typical fruits and vegetables we see everywhere to uniques ones found nowhere else.
I haven't been to a Loblaws in ages, but I'm happy to continue with that.
I tend to get my groceries from local independent (not Independent) stores and Giant Tiger. They're closer so I can walk anyway.
Not living in Canada anymore, but when I visit in June they won't get a cent from me.
I already stopped using them so I don’t matter to the boycott
None of the grocery stores or drug stores in my town are associated with Loblaws and the one grocery store on my way home from work is Costco, so I already don't shop at Loblaws 99%+ of the time.
However if I'm out and about I'm not going out of my way to avoid it.
I haven't set foot in one for many years.
Yeah I'm in it for a month now. I shop at my local green grocers, Food Basics and Freshco now. And I live damn close to nofrills. Bastards
- Every middle finger (real or imaginary) you give the Westons as you pass by NoFrills helps.
I am. There are alternatives and I can easily avoid them. Others may not be in the same position.

55 comments

Grocery Alternatives: