The not-so-Great Canadian Corporate Greed thread

[urbandreamer]

I live exactly 1km south, in a flat straight line from a No Frills I've shopped at for 17 years, mostly on foot with a cart. It's a pleasant, relaxing walk through a red brick Victorian neighborhood, past a TPL I frequent. Less than 300m north of that NF is The Sweet Potato, an expensive organic grocery store good for meat and fish. 1.2km west of me, on a hillier walk, is No Frills Bloor West Village. 1km east of me, probably Ontario's worst Freshco and 1.4km SE an overpriced, very empty Loblaws. There's a Robba 200m from me, but again it makes Loblaws look cheap. Then 3 green grocers within 400m.

Thus, I tend to spend 80% of my $ at No Frills in the Junction. If I'm driving, I often stop at random Walmarts for a washroom break and grab a few items. Overall, Walmart mostly sells mainstream Fortune 500 "junk food," although they often have excellent ethnic food aisles especially in the GTA, and also in Toronto have quality extensive produce selection. Costco is for restaurant owners and wealthy homeowners, and I've always found it mediocre, mainstream Fortune 500 food.

Generally, Sobeys and Metro are consistently most expensive, followed by Your Independent Grocer, Valumart, Foodland and Loblaws.

[MolsonExport]

Actually, my last choice would be Mad Max, followed by Galenflation, followed by Peevish Polyester, followed by Trudoh.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

new cibc logo:

[O-tacular]

Galen is an easy target with his Poilievre level insufferable spoiled nerd face, but this sack of shit charges double the price of Galen’s stores:



Darrell’s “Deals” are the old full price. Or a dollar more than the old price. $13.00 for vegan butter that costs $7.99 at Superstore.

[MolsonExport]

Darrell reminds me of the MOGA (make Ontario Great Again) deplorable.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4594540.152211802...ford-rally.jpg

I could post that photo directly, but I don't want to be Asseaud.

[MolsonExport]

Spend-on-Foods (and Overweighty). I found that grocery prices were outrageous in British Columbia, back when I lived there (94-98).

[GlassCity]

It's funny how Save-on-Foods has completely outgrown its name as one of the most expensive chains out there, and has taken on a semi-premium brand image as it's expanded east, but is still seen as "regular" in BC despite its prices.

"Thrifty" Foods is another one where the name does not match reality at all.

[WarrenC12]

There is a Save-On across the street from a Whole Foods in my area. I tell anyone who will listen to cross shop between them and it will blow your mind. WF has way better quality for stuff like fruits and veggies, sometimes cheaper.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

There is a Save-On across the street from a Whole Foods in my area. I tell anyone who will listen to cross shop between them and it will blow your mind. WF has way better quality for stuff like fruits and veggies, sometimes cheaper.

For quality stuff Whole Foods is decent value at this point. Amazon doesn't seem to care about it especially in Canada so some of their prices are pretty stagnant. Their meat is higher quality objectively (many banned chemicals etc.) and handling and maybe grading makes veggies better too for similar prices.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

For quality stuff Whole Foods is decent value at this point. Amazon doesn't seem to care about it especially in Canada so some of their prices are pretty stagnant. Their meat is higher quality objectively (many banned chemicals etc.) and handling and maybe grading makes veggies better too for similar prices.

I would argue it has been like this for a while, even pre-inflation. This is the problem with the reputation on both sides. WF is in the higher end of the market for sure (prices), but so is Save-On, but their quality and shopping experience sucks.

[theman23]

?
Save On Foods is a vastly superior shopping experience compared to Superstore or even Safeway. Prices are high, but things are on sale all the time. Thrifty Foods is also fairly nice. We don't get Loblaws here unless you live in the west end, but its decidedly more up market on this side of the country.

Whole Food is honestly a waste of money. I'll gladly pay less for food that has "chemicals". It's honestly shocking that in this day and age that they refuse to sell anything with artificial sweeteners in them.
Good pizza and hot food section, though.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by theman23

?
Save On Foods is a vastly superior shopping experience compared to Superstore or even Safeway. Prices are high, but things are on sale all the time. Thrifty Foods is also fairly nice. We don't get Loblaws here unless you live in the west end, but its decidedly more up market on this side of the country. .

Superstore is a gong show, but it's cheap. Save-On is WF pricing with an experience marginally better than Superstore.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Superstore is a gong show, but it's cheap. Save-On is WF pricing with an experience marginally better than Superstore.

Which Save-On do you go to? I've got four within driving distance to where I live (off Royal Ave in New West), and none are that busy. Superstore is essentially on the same level as Walmart at this point. Also maybe it's because I'm lucky, but pretty much everything I buy ends up being on sale all the time so the prices aren't bad.

Actually, more recently I've started going to City Ave Market. For a small chain, they manage to have some great selection of vegetarian products. Prices are very strong and their produce is generally pretty good. If only they had better meat selection...

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by theman23

Which Save-On do you go to? I've got four within driving distance to where I live (off Royal Ave in New West), and none are that busy. Superstore is essentially on the same level as Walmart at this point. Also maybe it's because I'm lucky, but pretty much everything I buy ends up being on sale all the time so the prices aren't bad.

Actually, more recently I've started going to City Ave Market. For a small chain, they manage to have some great selection of vegetarian products. Prices are very strong and their produce is generally pretty good. If only they had better meat selection...

Well, I don't go to Save-On much anymore. But the one I was referring to is Cambie and West 7th. I've also been into the old one on Main and 15th.

We shop a mix of Whole Foods, Costco, and small markets on Main St. The latter have great prices on a few things.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I left CIBC half a lifetime ago when they behaved assholish towards me when I tried moving my account from Montreal to Vancouver (where I was then based). Walked across the street to the RBC, and been with them ever since (3 mortgages, many mutual funds and RRSP accounts, RESPs, etc., etc. over the years). I would not say that RBC is amazing: it is very mediocre at the very best. But there is something rotten about CIBC.

Hey, at least they're not launderering money for Chinese drug pushers!

TD Bank probe tied to laundering of illicit fentanyl profits, WSJ reports
Reuters
Thu, May 2, 2024 at 1:09 p.m. PDT

(Reuters) -A U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation into TD Bank is focused on how Chinese drug traffickers and crime groups used the Canada's second-largest lender to launder their money from fentanyl sales, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The bank disclosed last year that it was cooperating with authorities in an investigation into its anti-money laundering compliance program by the DoJ.

The investigation was initiated after agents uncovered an operation in New York and New Jersey that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from illicit narcotics through TD and other banks, the WSJ reported, citing court documents and people familiar with the matter....

... Earlier on Thursday, Canada's anti-money laundering agency imposed its biggest-ever penalty of nearly C$9.2 million ($6.71 million) on TD Bank over non-compliance of anti-money laundering regulations....

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/td...200945774.html

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Spend-on-Foods (and Overweighty). I found that grocery prices were outrageous in British Columbia, back when I lived there (94-98).

Lol! Yes MOGA indeed. They should call them “Darrell’s Squeals”.

Their sale prices work for a few items but for the vast majority the new ‘sale’ price is just the regular price from before Christmas. Their produce used to be fantastic. Then they switched to some AI bullshit stock program and since then it sucks.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The Maritimes are basically stuck with the Sobeys/Loblaws duopoly (I use Sobeys myself, supplemented heavily by Costco). Of course, there is also Walmart.

There are strong rumours that Moncton will be getting the regions first Metro store. It will be interesting to see how that shakes up the marketplace.

We have a Metro store as well as two locations of Food Basics which is owned by Metro. The Metro store is definitely not competitive and worse than the other chains for prices but Food Basics can have good deals but the stores kind of suck in my opinion for selection. The FB location near downtown is full of shoplifters and addicts and there almost always seems to be an incident when I'm there. Syringes can often be found on shelves.

We have a Your Independent Grocer, No Frills for Loblaws brand and the only Sobeys one here is the Foodland in my neighbourhood. Oh and there is Walmart and Giant Tiger.

The only one that has impressed me lately is Giant Tiger. They have expanded their grocery offerings and sell so many items for considerably less than other chains. Less greedy I guess?

I'm am very surprised that Metro isn't in the New Brunswick market. If the stores are more like the Quebec ones then they will be really nice. The Ontario ones can really vary and are inferior to most Quebec locations. Most locations in Ontario used to be A&P stores.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Don't blame the consumer for the business practices of the grocery chains.

For real.

People "vote" with their wallets with every purchases your household makes.

It has nothing to do with harming the retail workers. It has everything to do with one giant Canadian grocery chain (Loblaws) price gouging even more than the other 2 Big Grocers (Sobeys and Metro). It's not the customer's fault for the corporation's excessive greed and then resulting backlash by Canadians.

If Loblaws come 2Q are affected by people avoiding their stores and say "This quarter was really bad for Loblaws we've got to change things as we're losing market share" hopefully they've listened.

[urbandreamer]

My brief experience at Loblaws wasn't a picnic. A 17 year warehouse employee was fired for showing up late two days in a row for the first time - apparently he was going through a divorce. Also, their efficiency lags behind Sobeys, Metro & especially Walmart. And their union reps were real pieces of . TFW students from India were slowly replacing FT and PT workers, of course all working 2-3 part time jobs.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Wigs

For real.

People "vote" with their wallets with every purchases your household makes.

It has nothing to do with harming the retail workers. It has everything to do with one giant Canadian grocery chain (Loblaws) price gouging even more than the other 2 Big Grocers (Sobeys and Metro). It's not the customer's fault for the corporation's excessive greed and then resulting backlash by Canadians.

If Loblaws come 2Q are affected by people avoiding their stores and say "This quarter was really bad for Loblaws we've got to change things as we're losing market share" hopefully they've listened.

Not so. It has to do with being the biggest and therefore most obvious target.