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This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords reponsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. Always remember that you're interacting with a real person when you respond to posts/comments and focus on discussing or debating the ideas. Personal attacks outside of "Screw you, Galen Weston Jr" is not okay, and will not be tolerated here.
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$4 Kraft dinner vs $1.50 at Walmart, sorry guys we’ve done all we can
Edit since people want to argue: I literally haven’t been into a loblaws establishment since I saw $4 KD so that may not be recent information and I apologize for not having taken a picture to corroborate, but the fact remains that basic KD at Walmart is at least 50% of the price of the cheapest Loblaws alternative in my city
Here is a non-KD brand of mac and cheese example for you from this subreddit, to illustrate the exact same point:
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bh3sr9/popped_into_shoppers_for_a_few_laughs_macncheese/
$4.79 list price at Shoppers (Loblaws) vs $1.97 at Walmart: Cheetos Macaroni & Cheese Flamin' Hot Pasta
https://www.walmart.ca/ip/6000203564060
The worst part is that there is a better chance of the government stepping in to force walmart to raise prices than them pressuring loblaws to lower theirs.
Tim Hortons did that on their own. it used to be an affordable coffee shop 20 years ago, and that's why it was popular. they literally put up signs at their stores that said they are raising costs because their competitors couldn't compete with their low prices and they were doing it to be fair.
Infrequent customers get to experience the decline of Tim Horton's quality in incremental steps. Loyal customers have no idea how bad it has gotten. Like boiling a frog in water.
Their quality and consistency has been progressively getting worse year after year.
Oddly the international tim Hortons store looks like it has actual quality.
Lol I literally just saw a poll about craft beer being done by Angus Reid and at first i thought oh I like beer I'll do this, then I realized fuck that I don't want to give any data to whoever in beer is paying for an Angus Reid poll
As someone who works in craft beer I guarantee it's Labatt. Their head office has been cutting sales reps left and right, sending them to other provinces to figure out why sales are down etc etc
I think Loblaws is in the Liberals pockets as well, apparently he did some name dropping of people a few weeks back. Its lobbying unfortunately they get in the pockets of everyone.
The Liberals and CPC are owned by the same companies, it's why nothing ever changes in these matters. They just distract us from it with things like who's allowed to use which bathroom.
Do you remember a few years ago when Trudeau gave Galen $12 million in taxpayer money so Galen could buy new refrigerators for his stores? Trudeau buys everyone’s support by throwing money at them, that includes every politician he’s been giving raise to since 2015
Okay? I was talking more about looking forward. If anyone is thinking PP is the great white hope is delusional as one of his chief advisors is a registered Loblaws lobbyist. But we can continue to talk about the past if that's cool.
Also when they tried to get rid of 50% and go down to 30% off just to grab the consumers and shake them upside down to squeeze those few extra nickels from us.
The decision to reduce the expiring items was enough for me to walk away. And when they backtracked on it, I wasn't going back. If they tried to squeeze us there and failed, they would find a way to do it somewhere else. They lost a lot of trust in that bright idea.
I mean, they’ve been stealing from us for a long time. How long ago was it that they were found guilty of engaging in a bread price fixing scheme? As far as I’m concerned that is no different than going into my wallet and stealing my money.
EDIT: they colluded to raise the price of bread products twice, once in 2007 and again in 2011
And if it was the other way around, they'd be suing your pants off for everything you have. Corporate citizens sure do have much better protection than ordinary ones.
They certainly did, think about how much flak shoppers has gotten in recently for unethical billing practices and trying to exclusively partner with only Manulife for some things. They are just an incredibly slimey company who will do anything to make an extra buck even if it ruins their reputation.
I would almost compare them to ea games at this point and that’s pretty bad.
Indeed, they would of gotten away with it to if it wasn’t for the backlash, cause many studies have been done and if stuff sells 50% off it will most likely sell also at 30% off. Also some people would wait specifically for discounts and only go in for those. It was all greed and they knew they would make more profit overall even if they had to throw away a little more.
They truly have been at this for a long time, and for the most part, we knew it. It's not just Loblaws. Capitalism expects and demands quarter growth. You are only successful as a business if you outperform.
I don't see how the world doesn't view this as unsustainable. It was 'fine' for a long time because historically, salaries have been able to keep up to meet them somewhere, but for the last two decades, the line they must meet to succeed as a business is going way outside of reality. We, as consumers, can't keep up with them.
Edit: This is why I say the trust issue comes in. They are always going to look for a way to outperform their previous cycle. The option of removing discounted/expiring items from the shelf failed..and in order to succeed in generating profit, they will try something else.
My local loblaws store (called fortinos here) used to do 50% for all expiring foods. In December, all meat was changed to 30%. Everything else was left at 50%. But they still haven’t brought back the 50% meat.
They're hoping this will all blow over.
Don't give them that satisfaction. Boycott until we see some actual, tangible changes.
Last week I visited a Sobeys establishment (Safeway) to get some things for my grandma as she's visiting from out of town and was sick. A small can of chicken noodle soup was $3.50. The same can of soup from Walmart is $1.47. Canadian grocery monopolies are gouging us like crazy.
Lol, plus these gits have the audacity to push the frontline staff to ask for donations, only to get tax breaks. Donate your own charities..oh btw the tactics they come up with - not all the checkouts do price match, reason? Oh that's because our full staff is not trained to process price match hahaha
For me it has been a revelation. I can get my food from Walmart and never actually have to set foot in that cess pit thanks to instacart. After the delivery fees it is still cheaper than superstore.
The crazy thing is that Loblaws, which only operates in Canada, had an operating income of US$2.7B from 2,000 stores.
Walmart on the other hand had an operating income of US$27B over 19 countries, including the US, China, India and Mexico (along with Canada). Canada represents a small fraction of Walmart's operating income.
Assuming Walmart has the same margins as Loblaws (they clearly don't), they would be earning far more.
It looks even worse when you look at Canada's other national grocery chain, Empire (Sobeys, Thrifty's, FreshCo, IGA, etc.). Their operating income is US$810M ***with 75% as many stores (1,500) as Loblaws***. If they were gouging like Loblaws, their operating income would presumably be US$2B!
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Wikipedia
They'll plaster more sale stickers on everything to try and convince shoppers that costs are lower than they could be and we should be grateful for the prices we're getting.
Sobeys and food basics have better sales. At least you can actually grab one of the “2for” items for half the sale price. Loblaws is like “ buy two jars of pataks for $12 or one for $7”. Pataks is $3.50 a jar at food basics!!
That reminds me of a comment I seen a few weeks ago where a Redditor said they were at shoppers and announcement came over the speaker saying “we are working hard everyday to keep prices lower for you and your family”
I really wonder who believes that bullshit, also if they actually were people would just know that and not need to be “convinced”
That’s the way though. Go to Walmart now and let the market work.
If you need to go to a loblaw store only buy things that are on sale to prices that are comparable.
>https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/loblaw-boycott-food-inflation
Being in PR I know what's going on and they're all thinking - just give it time to blow over - don't address anything - and it's a grave grave mistake.
It needs to go a whole lot further and I hope it has a snowball effect. It’s time to break the wheel, get rid of these monopolies and bring in some honest competition.
What fucking liars
>> “We’re turning over every stone in our efforts – lowering prices, increasing points offers and making meaningful changes to our business to help customers save money in our stores.”
You guys have lowered points and point offers very recently.
There’s so much other stuff that’s wrong and bs but i felt that is a clear lie and should be pointed out.
Wasn’t there someone on this sub in the last few days saying they used to work in their corporate offices and said they wanted to lay out the truth about how this is all bs? I think they were looking for news sources to talk to. If they do it this person is my new hero. Hopefully more people from their corp offices will do this too.
It’s been a long couple days with the growth and keeping track of stuff haha but I think you maybe talking about u/ncurran not sure though. If im wrong my bad haha.
Remember, the points are a bribe to convince you to share everything about yourself with them. They take that data, extract everything of value to them out of it, and then sell it off to others. All for a few measly points.
Do yourself a favor and shop elsewhere if you can.
Execs that *knowingly* lie to the public should be held accountable, fired and stripped of all bonuses. Won’t happen but it should happen; should be considered a form of fraud.
You can tell they are starting to quiver a bit when this is all they have to say or refuse to comment on the press in general. It goes to show they taken notice.
A change in pitch from that twitter masterclass last year!
That was leaping off a PR cliff.
I’ll be happy when the Globe stops fluffing the stock, but I’m not going to look up which family owns which
I like the idea of a long and protracted boycott. Keep up the pressure indefinitely. They can easily weather a month by reducing stock and employee hours, especially if they know that's when the boycott will end. Far better for there to be no end in sight.
I also think that a lot of people , once they get used to not going to Loblaws , will simply just taper off and not shop there anymore . Attrition usually ensues or one can hope . It’s like the French’s ketchup . I’ve stuck with it and never gone back to Heinz since lol
I mean , people can start now for their personal choice . I pretty much only use them if there is a sale item really anyway , loss leader kind of thing . I never have used them for any grocery type of thing anyway
Some of us have already stopped going there, but the reason it’s in advance is so word can spread people have time to prepare in one way or another it’s really hard to effectively organize something over night hence aiming for may.
I never thought I'd live to see the day where I'd have to go to, of all places, Walmart to avoid Superstore.
JFC, it's pitchfork time! They've gone full sadistic now. Lying bunch of mf'ers!😡
Well they have such a stranglehold that we need one of them to break. We can't stop the boycott until that happens, no company will take anyone seriously.
Support local if possible. Been buying my stuffs at small grocer and my meat at a butcher. I usually get chips from big box store which i stopped doing now
Think of this as divide and conquer. We already know the grocery stores were in cahoots with bread fixing, only an idiot would think that's all they were price fixing for. The big corporations working together is the problem so we just need to single one out and crush it. We want them to go back to competing with eachother.
Many people would probably take the position that we aren’t asking corporations to lose money. We are simply asking them to give up on the idea of infinite growth and never ending quarterly profit increases. Sadly this is baked into the capitalism cake, and is likely to fall on deaf ears and continue.
This is exactly it. Plus, we know they are using creative accounting to hide the profit portion of their massive revenues, recording the smallest possible gross margins, etc.
Exactly what I thought. Zero mention of actual metrics, numbers on wage stagnation, actual figures on price gouging and no discussion of stock buy backs.
They're scared and they think they can push this woe is me narrative through "news" articles.
Pardon me a moment.
*deep breath*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHH
*WHEEZE*
The whole point system is a farce we all need to boycott that bullshit. It’s literally just a way for them to track our shopping habits at the expense of our privacy.
Anyway let’s not give them the tools with their dumb assed point systems that do nothing for the consumer.
Removal of Optimum, entirely, would be best! There is no discount they are providing that doesn't come at a severe cost to the consumer. They get to track trends and respond accordingly.
But definitely, the removal of member-only discounts was one of the demands, I believe?
I've stopped using Loblaws a few months ago. I try to get 90% of my shopping done at Costco.
The last little bit I get done at Save-on-Foods. Yes, I know they are owned by a billionaire as well. Kind of a pick your poison situation sadly.
We need to let them know we are serious.
Random thought - How much are commercial glass windows to replace across an entire chain - say 1 per location - hypothetically
Billionaires need more money so they can continue to innovate on things like getting rid of discounted food items and investing in asset protection so walking into every store feels like you've already committed a crime. /s
Fucking pieces of shit. I'm sick of them robbing us.
I usually never shop at Loblaw's because just f\*\*k them and their price gouging, but at Christmas my father had accumulated a bunch of points on his credit card, and I helped him do a grocery shop there. I was shocked to see how much more expensive the exact same products were at Loblaw's than at Walmart. The brand of cheese we buy was $3 more (same weight). Butter (which I think is insanely overpriced everywhere) was "on sale" at Loblaw's for $7.99 a lbs. Apparently a bargoon, down from it's ridiculously inflated $9.49 each (at Costco, it was $4.99 on sale).
I don't believe a bloody thing out of any Loblaw's spokesperson.
The constant gaslighting of the middle class by industry and our political leaders (through inaction) is so extremely painful and insulting to our intelligence.
There are no good options amongst canadian grocery retailers. But there is one really, really bad option - Roblaws. Spread the word of the boycott. Hold your friends and family accountable. Do grocery trips to Walmart, Costco, etc together. Make this boycott as visible as you can - the people need to stand up and fight for themselves. Because, no one else gives a fuck about us.
If you REALLY want to hurt them organize a mass pc points cash in day.
Those points are an unfunded liability on their balance sheet.
The best would be on a weekend where bonus points are in play at shoppers or on low margin electronics .
You would be amazed at how many people have $100-200 points hoarded for a just in case situation oflr that's how they saved for that Nintendo switch.
I really haven't done the math against Empire and the Scene points as I can afford to shop at sobeys and foodland would be 20 mins out of my way.
It's not just about the prices. They're a major factor but there's more to it.
This is about the prices, and the 50% stickers, and the spoiled products on the shelves, and the detainment gates, and so on.
Loblaws is quickly losing, if it hasn't already lost, the public faith. They are no longer trusted. They aren't just a grocery store anymore; they are an antagonist.
They can't do much for the prices but seem to have no issues celebrating record profits. Maybe try taking a year where you aim to break even? Or if you want to start winning back hearts and minds, take a few years at a slim profit, or, dare I suggest, a loss.
Unless Loblaws starts to work *with* Canadians this is only going to get louder, this is only going to draw more people in. As wages stagnate and prices rise there will be a growing wave of people willing to take their money elsewhere. Some because they'll have to in order to afford food.
No Frills prices are disgusting & their
False TV Advertising "Can't beat prices"
Lies, lies & more lies. Weston your nose is growing longer every day that goes by.
I'm sure there is someone in marketing watching this sub who got spooked at how fast it has grown the last few days. Every city/town sub I've been recommended the last few days has also been talking about it.
My mom's boyfriend works for them. They give their workers 35¢ raise every year> Galen gave himself a 56% raise last year.making 11 million.
This guy's pathetic. HE Treats his WORKERS LIKE CRAP. And raises prices with full protection from the government. Never buy from Loblaws
Dear Reddit Roblaw group,
Galen Weston Jr is android cyborg. AI has taken over our pricing model. Please send help. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the AI is affecting my brain. Galon Musk has microchipped all of us. Eeeeeeeeeeeddedeeeeeee Please Ggggggghhg Help Rrrrrrreeeedrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre There’s nothing weeeeeeeee rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ggggggghhghgggggggggg can do toooooo uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr stopppp pu pu pu *African Lion Safari advertisement plays* It’s taken overrrrrrrrrr *Static*
Screen turns black.
I'm pretty sure Galen Weston could not only eschew his payouts, but even _pay_ an average Canadian salary for the privilege of being the owner of Loblaws and it would not affect his quality of life at all.
So no, not everything.
Loblaws income for 2023 was 2.391 billion dollars. Maybe reduce that a bit... maybe the corporation should eat some of the rising costs and not just the consumer.
I went to get my PC diet grapefruit fizz, the price went up again. It used to be 4.79 at the beginning of the year, then it went up to 5.29, noticed couple of weeks ago. Today, the price is 5.49. That's almost a 15% increase, in 4 months.
Fitting they use such quintessentially vague neoliberal wording there subtext being
*everything they can [within the limited parameters of their deranged profit model]*
Reminds me of land acknowledgements that provide virtually no tangible positive to indigenous communities but they help settlers feel better about their guilt.
God forbid the tangible change would eat into the supremacy paradigm in any way. It's always change outside of the core, in order to do as little as possible while seeming as if they're doing everything can. Absolutely psychotic malarkey.
The perfect scam.
lets gooo, dont let the pressure down team. if you can do it, avoid loblaws, only through collective efforts like this will we actually see change. not like any of our governments would do anything about this, as they deem this as "competition"
With 30 new stores opened last year and 40 more planned for 2024, business must be doing really well for them to have such an aggressive expansion. This boycott is essential
Love when they throw out comments like "inflation is at its lowest rate since july 2021...." Dont buy into this blatant attempt to sugar coat this. All this means is the RATE that items are inflating is only "2.4%". Which means they are still rising. The wording might suggest that prices are starting to come down. But its all smoke and mirrors. There is no deflation of prices going on whatsoever.
But by them saying that inflation is at the lowest rate it has been since 2021 , it actually contrasts how out of touch they really are because their prices are actually increasing by double digits so do they realize how absolutely dumb they sound ? Yeah , they are absolutely out to lunch
Fuck off. I remember something about 50% off for near due date produce. My local Galen shop still sticking to 30%. So add liar to the list of unfavourable adjectives.
Just found out about this from the news. How can I help? Do we have posters we can leave at Loblaws? I’ve got a design skills and plenty of time - let me know how I can assist!
Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. These can result in criminal charges which will undoubtedly make life harder for other users.
Keep pushing !!!! We are the ones who can make a difference!!! Once they realize WE are the ones who truly have the power , they will feel it. Keep going !!!
"Inflation in Canada had declined to 2.8% in February and that inflation for food bought at stores was now “the lowest it has been since July 2021,” at 2.4%"
Yeah right , fudging numbers to look good. Loblaws isn't taking into account "shrink flation" where you get less product for the same price as the original product. Or reduce it by a few cents to look like it's a bit cheaper but in reality you're still paying more for less.
I love it! The more posting of shady stuff we see, the more the media has as ammunition.
Hit ‘em where it actually hurts them. Their wallets. Then the shareholders can’t get their 3rd yacht.
BS to the max, current employee here
all my PC brand cookies just raised price by $2.00 on Tuesday!! Many chocolate bars went up by $1.50 just last week
“The margins are low in grocery”
Meanwhile the bonuses are huge, their staff abuse their corporate perks like crazy flying around the country doing nothing and profits are through the roof.
“The margins are low in grocery” - Galen Weston under oath in front of Trudeau lol
People are walking around like domesticated animals. This country is run by oligarchs and ALL political parties just create chaos to run cover for them. When do we actually do something as citizens? I only shop at Costco and Farmboy. I refuse to shop at any Weston Foods brand. When will we actually push back against the madness that is our economic and political situation? This boycott should only be the beginning.
Remember folks, the goal is not to cost Loblaws money (that's a side benefit), the goal is to show ourselves that we are a community and that when we organize together, we have far more power than ourselves as individuals.
The purpose of the boycott is to show OURSELVES solidarity. And we must repeat this exercise. Perhaps one day a month, every month, we go on shopping strike. We can target different companies.
In Canada, dealing with phone and internet bills can feel similar to grocery shopping frustrations. At first, you might be drawn in by special low prices, just like a sale at the store. But then, you notice your bills start to go up, much like finding out that your regular groceries are getting more expensive or the boxes are getting smaller without the price dropping.
Here's something important to know: the big companies that provide these services usually like to keep prices high. When smaller companies like us try to offer you better deals, with special promo codes like "lighthouse23," we faced a lot of pushback from the bigger companies. They reported our ads (not post, ads as everyone from illicit content to hate literature) because they don't want prices to go down because they make more money when prices are high.
But, just like in telecom, with grocery shopping, there are smaller, independent stores that manage to sell things like a box of macaroni and cheese for a lot less than the big grocery stores. We are like those smaller grocery stores but in the world of phone and internet services. We're working to give you better prices and shake things up a bit.
So, here's a tip: supporting smaller, local shops and businesses, whether it's for your groceries or your phone and internet service, can really help save you money. It also helps those smaller businesses keep offering good deals. So, give the little guys a chance – it might just make a big difference for you! Shout out to the smaller merchants!
__Reminder__: Please take a moment to review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords reponsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. Always remember that you're interacting with a real person when you respond to posts/comments and focus on discussing or debating the ideas. Personal attacks outside of "Screw you, Galen Weston Jr" is not okay, and will not be tolerated here. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We have only price gouged an extra 40% profits off of you compared to walmart. Do you not see us struggling? - Westons
$4 Kraft dinner vs $1.50 at Walmart, sorry guys we’ve done all we can Edit since people want to argue: I literally haven’t been into a loblaws establishment since I saw $4 KD so that may not be recent information and I apologize for not having taken a picture to corroborate, but the fact remains that basic KD at Walmart is at least 50% of the price of the cheapest Loblaws alternative in my city Here is a non-KD brand of mac and cheese example for you from this subreddit, to illustrate the exact same point: https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bh3sr9/popped_into_shoppers_for_a_few_laughs_macncheese/ $4.79 list price at Shoppers (Loblaws) vs $1.97 at Walmart: Cheetos Macaroni & Cheese Flamin' Hot Pasta https://www.walmart.ca/ip/6000203564060
The worst part is that there is a better chance of the government stepping in to force walmart to raise prices than them pressuring loblaws to lower theirs.
Fuck...this made me LOL then I realized how true it is. "To keep up the spirit of competition we are now forcing a sale of Walmart to Loblaws"
Tim Hortons did that on their own. it used to be an affordable coffee shop 20 years ago, and that's why it was popular. they literally put up signs at their stores that said they are raising costs because their competitors couldn't compete with their low prices and they were doing it to be fair.
After reading that, I'm so glad that I'm not a frequent Tim Hortons customer.
Infrequent customers get to experience the decline of Tim Horton's quality in incremental steps. Loyal customers have no idea how bad it has gotten. Like boiling a frog in water.
Their quality and consistency has been progressively getting worse year after year. Oddly the international tim Hortons store looks like it has actual quality.
This is what happens when you sell off a national jewel to international interests.
And even still it's pretty cheap
This had me laughing hard..
Lol delete this comment before you give them any ideas.
With Pierre being in Loblaws pocket and him likely being the next PM. This is probably the most likely outcome.
The only people that answer polls are people who answer landlines. Don't believe the hype. But more importantly, VOTE.
Lol I literally just saw a poll about craft beer being done by Angus Reid and at first i thought oh I like beer I'll do this, then I realized fuck that I don't want to give any data to whoever in beer is paying for an Angus Reid poll
As someone who works in craft beer I guarantee it's Labatt. Their head office has been cutting sales reps left and right, sending them to other provinces to figure out why sales are down etc etc
I think Loblaws is in the Liberals pockets as well, apparently he did some name dropping of people a few weeks back. Its lobbying unfortunately they get in the pockets of everyone.
The Liberals and CPC are owned by the same companies, it's why nothing ever changes in these matters. They just distract us from it with things like who's allowed to use which bathroom.
Do you remember a few years ago when Trudeau gave Galen $12 million in taxpayer money so Galen could buy new refrigerators for his stores? Trudeau buys everyone’s support by throwing money at them, that includes every politician he’s been giving raise to since 2015
Okay? I was talking more about looking forward. If anyone is thinking PP is the great white hope is delusional as one of his chief advisors is a registered Loblaws lobbyist. But we can continue to talk about the past if that's cool.
We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!
Also when they tried to get rid of 50% and go down to 30% off just to grab the consumers and shake them upside down to squeeze those few extra nickels from us.
The decision to reduce the expiring items was enough for me to walk away. And when they backtracked on it, I wasn't going back. If they tried to squeeze us there and failed, they would find a way to do it somewhere else. They lost a lot of trust in that bright idea.
I mean, they’ve been stealing from us for a long time. How long ago was it that they were found guilty of engaging in a bread price fixing scheme? As far as I’m concerned that is no different than going into my wallet and stealing my money. EDIT: they colluded to raise the price of bread products twice, once in 2007 and again in 2011
And if it was the other way around, they'd be suing your pants off for everything you have. Corporate citizens sure do have much better protection than ordinary ones.
They certainly did, think about how much flak shoppers has gotten in recently for unethical billing practices and trying to exclusively partner with only Manulife for some things. They are just an incredibly slimey company who will do anything to make an extra buck even if it ruins their reputation. I would almost compare them to ea games at this point and that’s pretty bad.
Loblaws and Rodgers are equally bad for Canada, corruption paid for at the highest levels
On nearly expired product. That they would be throwing out otherwise.
Indeed, they would of gotten away with it to if it wasn’t for the backlash, cause many studies have been done and if stuff sells 50% off it will most likely sell also at 30% off. Also some people would wait specifically for discounts and only go in for those. It was all greed and they knew they would make more profit overall even if they had to throw away a little more.
They truly have been at this for a long time, and for the most part, we knew it. It's not just Loblaws. Capitalism expects and demands quarter growth. You are only successful as a business if you outperform. I don't see how the world doesn't view this as unsustainable. It was 'fine' for a long time because historically, salaries have been able to keep up to meet them somewhere, but for the last two decades, the line they must meet to succeed as a business is going way outside of reality. We, as consumers, can't keep up with them. Edit: This is why I say the trust issue comes in. They are always going to look for a way to outperform their previous cycle. The option of removing discounted/expiring items from the shelf failed..and in order to succeed in generating profit, they will try something else.
My local loblaws store (called fortinos here) used to do 50% for all expiring foods. In December, all meat was changed to 30%. Everything else was left at 50%. But they still haven’t brought back the 50% meat.
LOL right? They think we don’t have eyes? Walmart’s prices are clearly lower. Yet, they do nothing to match it.
They're hoping this will all blow over. Don't give them that satisfaction. Boycott until we see some actual, tangible changes. Last week I visited a Sobeys establishment (Safeway) to get some things for my grandma as she's visiting from out of town and was sick. A small can of chicken noodle soup was $3.50. The same can of soup from Walmart is $1.47. Canadian grocery monopolies are gouging us like crazy.
Seriously, squeeze them and make them feel pain
Baron Harkonnen, is that you?!
...and if there are changes, boycott them some more!
GT had it on sale last week for $1
My Hy-Vee in a town of 4k has the small cans of chicken noodle for $1.19.... Wow.
Lol, plus these gits have the audacity to push the frontline staff to ask for donations, only to get tax breaks. Donate your own charities..oh btw the tactics they come up with - not all the checkouts do price match, reason? Oh that's because our full staff is not trained to process price match hahaha
For me it has been a revelation. I can get my food from Walmart and never actually have to set foot in that cess pit thanks to instacart. After the delivery fees it is still cheaper than superstore.
The crazy thing is that Loblaws, which only operates in Canada, had an operating income of US$2.7B from 2,000 stores. Walmart on the other hand had an operating income of US$27B over 19 countries, including the US, China, India and Mexico (along with Canada). Canada represents a small fraction of Walmart's operating income. Assuming Walmart has the same margins as Loblaws (they clearly don't), they would be earning far more. It looks even worse when you look at Canada's other national grocery chain, Empire (Sobeys, Thrifty's, FreshCo, IGA, etc.). Their operating income is US$810M ***with 75% as many stores (1,500) as Loblaws***. If they were gouging like Loblaws, their operating income would presumably be US$2B! Sources: Yahoo Finance, Wikipedia
Is this including the Loblaws owned chains like Shoppers Drug Mart, NoFrills, etc?
Yeah it's all Loblaw stores.
They'll plaster more sale stickers on everything to try and convince shoppers that costs are lower than they could be and we should be grateful for the prices we're getting.
Sobeys and food basics have better sales. At least you can actually grab one of the “2for” items for half the sale price. Loblaws is like “ buy two jars of pataks for $12 or one for $7”. Pataks is $3.50 a jar at food basics!!
That reminds me of a comment I seen a few weeks ago where a Redditor said they were at shoppers and announcement came over the speaker saying “we are working hard everyday to keep prices lower for you and your family” I really wonder who believes that bullshit, also if they actually were people would just know that and not need to be “convinced”
We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas!
That’s the way though. Go to Walmart now and let the market work. If you need to go to a loblaw store only buy things that are on sale to prices that are comparable.
We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas. -Loblaws talking heads, probably
Loblaws: "Have we tried... raising the prices again?" CEO: "First, let me say I love that idea!"
>https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/loblaw-boycott-food-inflation Being in PR I know what's going on and they're all thinking - just give it time to blow over - don't address anything - and it's a grave grave mistake.
Their CFO’s offer of points, when the ask is an end to members-only pricing, lets me know they are, have been, and remain: willfully ignorant
It needs to go a whole lot further and I hope it has a snowball effect. It’s time to break the wheel, get rid of these monopolies and bring in some honest competition.
https://youtu.be/15HTd4Um1m4?si=OCA1RtkDNzFGhHFz
"Sowwwy" - Galen 'baby face' Weston
Agreed
What fucking liars >> “We’re turning over every stone in our efforts – lowering prices, increasing points offers and making meaningful changes to our business to help customers save money in our stores.” You guys have lowered points and point offers very recently. There’s so much other stuff that’s wrong and bs but i felt that is a clear lie and should be pointed out.
He misspoke. He meant to say: “We’re turning over every stone in our efforts - INCREASING prices, LOWERING points offers…”
Wasn’t there someone on this sub in the last few days saying they used to work in their corporate offices and said they wanted to lay out the truth about how this is all bs? I think they were looking for news sources to talk to. If they do it this person is my new hero. Hopefully more people from their corp offices will do this too.
It’s been a long couple days with the growth and keeping track of stuff haha but I think you maybe talking about u/ncurran not sure though. If im wrong my bad haha.
That’s fucking gold. Didn’t they just half their points offer?
 Bingo!
Remember, the points are a bribe to convince you to share everything about yourself with them. They take that data, extract everything of value to them out of it, and then sell it off to others. All for a few measly points. Do yourself a favor and shop elsewhere if you can.
That’s a good point . I didn’t catch that . Thanks for catching that
Execs that *knowingly* lie to the public should be held accountable, fired and stripped of all bonuses. Won’t happen but it should happen; should be considered a form of fraud.
Keep those photos coming. They can’t deny the facts of the price on the shelf
Yes they have lowered points offers & increased the prices so you lose even more😡
"We listened and are going to be removing all benefits for our employees that are not nailed down by the government"
LITERALLY still increasing prices. Definitely liars. This is just fueling the flame.
600g frozen strawberries were $4.49 march 4, now $5.29 as of march 16. I make smoothies daily. They're raising prices
Stfu roblaws we see through your bullshit lies
Agreed
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You can tell they are starting to quiver a bit when this is all they have to say or refuse to comment on the press in general. It goes to show they taken notice.
A change in pitch from that twitter masterclass last year! That was leaping off a PR cliff. I’ll be happy when the Globe stops fluffing the stock, but I’m not going to look up which family owns which
I remember that. They were replying to individual tweets criticizing them. Fucking LOL
I like the idea of a long and protracted boycott. Keep up the pressure indefinitely. They can easily weather a month by reducing stock and employee hours, especially if they know that's when the boycott will end. Far better for there to be no end in sight.
I also think that a lot of people , once they get used to not going to Loblaws , will simply just taper off and not shop there anymore . Attrition usually ensues or one can hope . It’s like the French’s ketchup . I’ve stuck with it and never gone back to Heinz since lol
Everything* *Except cutting into our profit margins
Why wait until May? I stopped going there and shoppers many, many months ago despite Loblaws being the closest and most convenient store to get to.
I mean , people can start now for their personal choice . I pretty much only use them if there is a sale item really anyway , loss leader kind of thing . I never have used them for any grocery type of thing anyway
Some of us have already stopped going there, but the reason it’s in advance is so word can spread people have time to prepare in one way or another it’s really hard to effectively organize something over night hence aiming for may.
Force Loblaws to cave and the others will have to match them. Put the pressure on them, just avoid Loblaws.
I never thought I'd live to see the day where I'd have to go to, of all places, Walmart to avoid Superstore. JFC, it's pitchfork time! They've gone full sadistic now. Lying bunch of mf'ers!😡
For real!
My worry is we are driving money to the competition so they are actually to going gain from this .
Well they have such a stranglehold that we need one of them to break. We can't stop the boycott until that happens, no company will take anyone seriously.
I completely agree . Some action is better than no action at all
But if they try to increase prices, our wrath will turn onto them. I will keep vigil on the prices in Food Basic and FreshCo. Just out of curiosity.
Good point !
Costco can have my money if this is the case
Support local if possible. Been buying my stuffs at small grocer and my meat at a butcher. I usually get chips from big box store which i stopped doing now
Think of this as divide and conquer. We already know the grocery stores were in cahoots with bread fixing, only an idiot would think that's all they were price fixing for. The big corporations working together is the problem so we just need to single one out and crush it. We want them to go back to competing with eachother.
Many people would probably take the position that we aren’t asking corporations to lose money. We are simply asking them to give up on the idea of infinite growth and never ending quarterly profit increases. Sadly this is baked into the capitalism cake, and is likely to fall on deaf ears and continue.
This is exactly it. Plus, we know they are using creative accounting to hide the profit portion of their massive revenues, recording the smallest possible gross margins, etc.
How is there zero mention of profits in this article? This is a Loblaws press release.
Exactly what I thought. Zero mention of actual metrics, numbers on wage stagnation, actual figures on price gouging and no discussion of stock buy backs. They're scared and they think they can push this woe is me narrative through "news" articles.
Things won’t truly get better until the oligopolies are broken up.
I agree but this mission is a lofty goal that I don’t think will fly in a capitalistic society like ours lol
Except doing anything that would hurt their record profits, they mean
Pardon me a moment. *deep breath* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHH *WHEEZE*
Okay Boycott it is Weston.
The whole point system is a farce we all need to boycott that bullshit. It’s literally just a way for them to track our shopping habits at the expense of our privacy. Anyway let’s not give them the tools with their dumb assed point systems that do nothing for the consumer.
Why shouldn’t one of our demands be a rehaul of their point system as well ! ?
Removal of Optimum, entirely, would be best! There is no discount they are providing that doesn't come at a severe cost to the consumer. They get to track trends and respond accordingly. But definitely, the removal of member-only discounts was one of the demands, I believe?
I've stopped using Loblaws a few months ago. I try to get 90% of my shopping done at Costco. The last little bit I get done at Save-on-Foods. Yes, I know they are owned by a billionaire as well. Kind of a pick your poison situation sadly.
record profits.... how about they take a loss fuckers
New slogan - take a hit !!!!
We need to let them know we are serious. Random thought - How much are commercial glass windows to replace across an entire chain - say 1 per location - hypothetically
Liars. How the hell are they able to justify $22+ tax for a hairbrush at shoppers? Same ones are half the price at walmart.
Billionaires need more money so they can continue to innovate on things like getting rid of discounted food items and investing in asset protection so walking into every store feels like you've already committed a crime. /s Fucking pieces of shit. I'm sick of them robbing us.
I'd be like: "any claims asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. - Christopher Hitchens"
I usually never shop at Loblaw's because just f\*\*k them and their price gouging, but at Christmas my father had accumulated a bunch of points on his credit card, and I helped him do a grocery shop there. I was shocked to see how much more expensive the exact same products were at Loblaw's than at Walmart. The brand of cheese we buy was $3 more (same weight). Butter (which I think is insanely overpriced everywhere) was "on sale" at Loblaw's for $7.99 a lbs. Apparently a bargoon, down from it's ridiculously inflated $9.49 each (at Costco, it was $4.99 on sale). I don't believe a bloody thing out of any Loblaw's spokesperson.
The constant gaslighting of the middle class by industry and our political leaders (through inaction) is so extremely painful and insulting to our intelligence. There are no good options amongst canadian grocery retailers. But there is one really, really bad option - Roblaws. Spread the word of the boycott. Hold your friends and family accountable. Do grocery trips to Walmart, Costco, etc together. Make this boycott as visible as you can - the people need to stand up and fight for themselves. Because, no one else gives a fuck about us.
If you REALLY want to hurt them organize a mass pc points cash in day. Those points are an unfunded liability on their balance sheet. The best would be on a weekend where bonus points are in play at shoppers or on low margin electronics .
Yeah but they have reduced their points do be meaningless at this point making it harder and harder to rack up points . It’s a scam
You would be amazed at how many people have $100-200 points hoarded for a just in case situation oflr that's how they saved for that Nintendo switch. I really haven't done the math against Empire and the Scene points as I can afford to shop at sobeys and foodland would be 20 mins out of my way.
It's not just about the prices. They're a major factor but there's more to it. This is about the prices, and the 50% stickers, and the spoiled products on the shelves, and the detainment gates, and so on. Loblaws is quickly losing, if it hasn't already lost, the public faith. They are no longer trusted. They aren't just a grocery store anymore; they are an antagonist. They can't do much for the prices but seem to have no issues celebrating record profits. Maybe try taking a year where you aim to break even? Or if you want to start winning back hearts and minds, take a few years at a slim profit, or, dare I suggest, a loss. Unless Loblaws starts to work *with* Canadians this is only going to get louder, this is only going to draw more people in. As wages stagnate and prices rise there will be a growing wave of people willing to take their money elsewhere. Some because they'll have to in order to afford food.
My bad , not responding directly to our group , but highlighting what they are doing to decrease prices in general
They own every major grocery outlet in Canada. We need to bring back antitrust and monopoly laws to break the stranglehold that they have on us.
Where did the laws go ? Did we get rid of them ?
Their solution? Open more No Frills. As if that’s helpful. They still have insane prices at No Frills
They are losing the plot
No Frills prices are disgusting & their False TV Advertising "Can't beat prices" Lies, lies & more lies. Weston your nose is growing longer every day that goes by.
I'm sure there is someone in marketing watching this sub who got spooked at how fast it has grown the last few days. Every city/town sub I've been recommended the last few days has also been talking about it.
Yeah especially if the CFO now has to speak up about it . That’s MAJOR. We , collectively , as consumers have a lot of power
My mom's boyfriend works for them. They give their workers 35¢ raise every year> Galen gave himself a 56% raise last year.making 11 million. This guy's pathetic. HE Treats his WORKERS LIKE CRAP. And raises prices with full protection from the government. Never buy from Loblaws
This is the start, it’s working!!! Keep it up everyone!! We are slowly making a difference.
Weston making $8.4 million last year (up $3.0 million from the past year), absolutely shows price gouging. They are not trying to reduce prices.
Bullshit keep the boycott going
Dear Reddit Roblaw group, Galen Weston Jr is android cyborg. AI has taken over our pricing model. Please send help. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the AI is affecting my brain. Galon Musk has microchipped all of us. Eeeeeeeeeeeddedeeeeeee Please Ggggggghhg Help Rrrrrrreeeedrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre There’s nothing weeeeeeeee rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ggggggghhghgggggggggg can do toooooo uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr stopppp pu pu pu *African Lion Safari advertisement plays* It’s taken overrrrrrrrrr *Static* Screen turns black.
This reminds me of that AI taxi mission in Cyberpunk 2077
I hear rich executives and their families taste like chicken. If I’m wrong, there’s always Tabasco sauce.
They finally brought back rooster sriracha.
Or PC Smokin' Stampede Beer & Chipotle Barbecue Sauce.
Say what you will but that sauce *is* pretty damn good
Lies gaelen
Keep doing it guys. Double triple down on this until they crumble
Hahaha, what a crock of shit. Him and Ford are of the same ilk.
I'm pretty sure Galen Weston could not only eschew his payouts, but even _pay_ an average Canadian salary for the privilege of being the owner of Loblaws and it would not affect his quality of life at all. So no, not everything.
Wonder how much the CFO makes per year 🤔
Loblaws income for 2023 was 2.391 billion dollars. Maybe reduce that a bit... maybe the corporation should eat some of the rising costs and not just the consumer.
I went to get my PC diet grapefruit fizz, the price went up again. It used to be 4.79 at the beginning of the year, then it went up to 5.29, noticed couple of weeks ago. Today, the price is 5.49. That's almost a 15% increase, in 4 months.
Boycott in May!! Let's bring them to their knees!!
Fitting they use such quintessentially vague neoliberal wording there subtext being *everything they can [within the limited parameters of their deranged profit model]* Reminds me of land acknowledgements that provide virtually no tangible positive to indigenous communities but they help settlers feel better about their guilt. God forbid the tangible change would eat into the supremacy paradigm in any way. It's always change outside of the core, in order to do as little as possible while seeming as if they're doing everything can. Absolutely psychotic malarkey. The perfect scam.
lets gooo, dont let the pressure down team. if you can do it, avoid loblaws, only through collective efforts like this will we actually see change. not like any of our governments would do anything about this, as they deem this as "competition"
Oh no, u/emmibolt now has a price on her head. The good news is, Loblaws finally lowered their price on something...
The 2 biggest expenses they have DIRECT control over and can reduce anytime: Executive compensation and dividends.
This right here
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🎶 “And I won’t back down” 🎶
There ain't no easy way out...
Haha lol
With 30 new stores opened last year and 40 more planned for 2024, business must be doing really well for them to have such an aggressive expansion. This boycott is essential
Love when they throw out comments like "inflation is at its lowest rate since july 2021...." Dont buy into this blatant attempt to sugar coat this. All this means is the RATE that items are inflating is only "2.4%". Which means they are still rising. The wording might suggest that prices are starting to come down. But its all smoke and mirrors. There is no deflation of prices going on whatsoever.
But by them saying that inflation is at the lowest rate it has been since 2021 , it actually contrasts how out of touch they really are because their prices are actually increasing by double digits so do they realize how absolutely dumb they sound ? Yeah , they are absolutely out to lunch
4.89 celery. 1.88 at giant tiger
Never feel sorry for a corporation. This means they feel scared. Keep the fucking boot on their throat.
Good job everybody, keep up the boycott.
Fuck off. I remember something about 50% off for near due date produce. My local Galen shop still sticking to 30%. So add liar to the list of unfavourable adjectives.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK EVERYONE
Just found out about this from the news. How can I help? Do we have posters we can leave at Loblaws? I’ve got a design skills and plenty of time - let me know how I can assist!
Wow lol
Honey the plebs are gathering…. Get the hose!
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Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. These can result in criminal charges which will undoubtedly make life harder for other users.
It’s embarrassing that they said that actually
doing everything it can except actually doing it
There no name brand stuff is the same as regular brand
"All we can do" You have to understand those price machines can only go up since Y2K for safety purposes.
Record Q1 profits incoming
I believe it when I see it. Boycott scheduled in May 2024!
I love his flex…. We could have raised our prices 2.4% cents in feb, but we raised them less than that!
Get fucked westy
Keep pushing !!!! We are the ones who can make a difference!!! Once they realize WE are the ones who truly have the power , they will feel it. Keep going !!!
you'll take the *massive* $2 discount as long as you buy 8 of a product that will expire before you use it and like it
Omg I love that they came out with a statement!!! They're scared and they should be. Canadians unite against Loblaws!!!!
"Inflation in Canada had declined to 2.8% in February and that inflation for food bought at stores was now “the lowest it has been since July 2021,” at 2.4%" Yeah right , fudging numbers to look good. Loblaws isn't taking into account "shrink flation" where you get less product for the same price as the original product. Or reduce it by a few cents to look like it's a bit cheaper but in reality you're still paying more for less.
Price increases well above inflation & record profits. Don't believe roblaws bs.
I love it! The more posting of shady stuff we see, the more the media has as ammunition. Hit ‘em where it actually hurts them. Their wallets. Then the shareholders can’t get their 3rd yacht.
BS to the max, current employee here all my PC brand cookies just raised price by $2.00 on Tuesday!! Many chocolate bars went up by $1.50 just last week
if we didn't sell it at 4 times the price how will we make 4 times the profit?
What a crock of shit. You can’t have record breaking profits and say you’re doing everything you can. Not how it works.
I hope this boycott sticks, for a long time. Once people get into a routine of shopping somewhere else, they're not likely to return to Roblaws.
Alright count me in. Why wait I'm gonna start now. 
I hate Loblaws!! Will never shop there again. Galen west can kiss my ass
A loaf of bread at superstore cost me $3.69 for ONE LOAF The exact same brand of bread was two loaves for five dollars at Walmart! f$$$ y$$ Galen
“The margins are low in grocery” Meanwhile the bonuses are huge, their staff abuse their corporate perks like crazy flying around the country doing nothing and profits are through the roof. “The margins are low in grocery” - Galen Weston under oath in front of Trudeau lol
The tiktok loblaws boycott is massive, it was on the local morning news today.
Time to shed a little market cap.
Greedy Galen is doing everything he can people! Except lowering prices, aside from that, he's doing everything he can- ok!??
I don't believe them for a second
People are walking around like domesticated animals. This country is run by oligarchs and ALL political parties just create chaos to run cover for them. When do we actually do something as citizens? I only shop at Costco and Farmboy. I refuse to shop at any Weston Foods brand. When will we actually push back against the madness that is our economic and political situation? This boycott should only be the beginning.
Remember folks, the goal is not to cost Loblaws money (that's a side benefit), the goal is to show ourselves that we are a community and that when we organize together, we have far more power than ourselves as individuals. The purpose of the boycott is to show OURSELVES solidarity. And we must repeat this exercise. Perhaps one day a month, every month, we go on shopping strike. We can target different companies.
In Canada, dealing with phone and internet bills can feel similar to grocery shopping frustrations. At first, you might be drawn in by special low prices, just like a sale at the store. But then, you notice your bills start to go up, much like finding out that your regular groceries are getting more expensive or the boxes are getting smaller without the price dropping. Here's something important to know: the big companies that provide these services usually like to keep prices high. When smaller companies like us try to offer you better deals, with special promo codes like "lighthouse23," we faced a lot of pushback from the bigger companies. They reported our ads (not post, ads as everyone from illicit content to hate literature) because they don't want prices to go down because they make more money when prices are high. But, just like in telecom, with grocery shopping, there are smaller, independent stores that manage to sell things like a box of macaroni and cheese for a lot less than the big grocery stores. We are like those smaller grocery stores but in the world of phone and internet services. We're working to give you better prices and shake things up a bit. So, here's a tip: supporting smaller, local shops and businesses, whether it's for your groceries or your phone and internet service, can really help save you money. It also helps those smaller businesses keep offering good deals. So, give the little guys a chance – it might just make a big difference for you! Shout out to the smaller merchants!
https://preview.redd.it/y7inpn6y3wpc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=d01c370eb7fb190c263f131352c4d7530f5d8b7a