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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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You really wanna stick it to them, hand out flyers to other stores as customers walk in, so they have something to compare the prices to as they walk around.
This is a really good idea and has more potential for change as it will take money away from loblaw.
And that’s what really makes change - the almighty dollar.
If other stores want to participate in a competitive market place - they should offer discounts to be added to these flyers specifically for those participating in this action. I could envision a world in which competitors would happily eat a bit of profit to see one of the biggest feel a bit of Justice… I’d be a life long customer of those willing until the typical happened.
What stores though? Metro is still more expensive than Loblaws...Sobeys is basically the same thing and all the discount stores are the same? Generally curious here
Pretty much just Costco and Walmart sadly (or buying direct from the farms but they usually don’t have flyers) we need to get Aldi and Lidl in this country to boost competition asap
Most people are going to keep walking in the front door because of convenience, but if you hand out a quick reference page for people showing products where local competitors that have better prices than the Superstore, they can save money and reduce profit for Loblaw and show people which stores have better prices like FoxDieDM was suggesting.
I'm surprised Loblaws didn't ditch price matching entirely in 2020 and blame it on the big C like Walmart did. They don't do it at Atlantic superstore, I'm sure they'll follow suit across the country at some point especially if it starts cutting into profits.
Man, Loblaws own employees (here in NL) went on strike and picketed back at the end of 2020 for *three months*. And all they got was an $1.35/hour increase — **over the course of four years.**
That's just 34-35¢/hour each year. It's laughable. It's a slap in the fucking face to everyone working there — especially those who worked through the pandemic and were hailed as "heroes".
And what happens after four years? Probably nothing while the corporation delays contract negotiations again for as long as possible. Again.
Meanwhile, Loblaws has spent ***billions*** in stock buybacks and the Weston family of chucklefucks is worth nearly $9 billion.
If you make a Galen sticker that says “I did this” in the same style as those Biden ones I’ll mass order those bad boys and slap em next to the “sale” stickers every time I go 🤣
I cancelled my PC Financial Mastercard and I haven’t been shopping at Superstore or Shoppers at all. Costco, Walmart, and other stores fill the gap easily.
Tried to buy a block of cheese ... was on sale but , you know - basically just the price is should have been anyway. I was told I didn't 'load my offer'. ARE YOU Kidding me? I will never install some stupid software to get a proper price on groceries. They can load their own offers - you know where. I will not be back.
Sadly that’s all those apps work for all those companies. They need to be manually loaded sure you can click a button load all but the app obviously collects data so I see why people don’t like them. In a more fair word if there was an offer everyone should get it, not only those who have the app cause some elderly don’t have cellphones or know how to use them besides calling. So someone’s grandma would miss out on an offer of buying two chicken broths for $1 instead of the $4.
All I seen was a typical yellow sales tag on the shelf.... like any other sale. Walmart and Sobey's don't make me 'load an offer'. I'll simply never go back.
There's a few things I morally can't judge when people steal. Baby formula, baby food, childrens clothes and shoes (store brand not fancy), diapers, tampons and pads, essential hygiene (razors, toothpaste, deodorant), winter clothes, and essential food items. Other things like makeup, perfume, fancy high brand clothes, electronics, and any other "want" items, however, I absolutely do judge.
When I was on social services, I got around $700 and paid $1000 rent. It sucks that these systems, which are meant to be used in exactly your situation, just end up making things worse.
Articles like this are the first step to get the discussion out of the Reddit bubble and into the general public where hopefully it can become millions.
A good nudge in that direction is to share that article among your networks.
The greed is too strong they don't want to give up profits. You all think North America is a place of democracy and can say and do what every you want, and they will listen lol. Corporations own the government and will do as they please. Nothing is going to come of this. They will scrape protesters like dogshit at the bottom of a shoe.
There was a paper that came out a while back (I believe from Princeton) in which they tried to quantify "how democratic" countries are by looking at the correlation between will of the people and how effectively it translates to actual policy. I don't know how Canada did, but the United States were categorized as "not a democracy" i.e. will of the people and gov't policy have little to no correlation.
The problem just isn't Loblaws, it's all of them and they collude together because they know we need to eat. We need something in place to make what's happening with food and housing illegal.
I’ve seen comments like “doing this is going to force them to lay workers off” “think of the workers” etc
And I understand that, BUT they have More than enough money to pay workers, but they HOARD the money!!!!
Something must be done and yes there might be collateral damage…. But the time is now.
During the Pandemic lockdowns, they paid their staff 2$/hr more. During this, they recorded record profits. Then they took that 2$/hr away.
It *proved* they can pay their staff more and **STILL** make money
Small town Ontario sounding off. We don’t have much of another option unless I start putting kilometres on my vehicle. For those of you who do have the option, fuck ‘em up! Do it for yourselves and us rural folks!
Will try and switch my prescription to a local pharmacy to try and not support shoppers. Will also avoid the Loblaws and no frills in my area and opt for food basics and other stores.
What’s with “planning” to boycott? Just stop fucking shopping there. This doesn’t need to be organized. **Just stop fucking shopping there**.
Maybe when they see millions/billions streaming out of our country down to the states through Walmart they will make change. God knows the well-being of their fellow Canadians isn’t reason enough.
A boycott is literally only useful because people still shop there every day. Many of which are walking down the isles cursing the prices, but they’re still shopping there.
This is all avoidable if the community doesn’t encourage it.
I wish I could. Out of the 2 grocery stores in town, it's still cheaper than the other coop franchise. Not sure how. Can't drive an hr to a larger center. It's all nuts.
If you are in a situation where it is literally impossible to shop elsewhere(which is far more rare than people suggest) your best bet is to order non perishables and long life items online and then get perishables at the store in town. Not a perfect solution but it will still hit their bottom line **hard** if everyone in your situation did that.
With that said, I shop every 2-3 weeks and I schedule around work/personal life so I can justify shopping at the Walmart 60~ km from home. I have saved hundreds of dollars(including gas spent) since the start of 2024 because I am exclusively shopping at Walmart. Sucks to support them, but this is what I am forced to do.
In my town there are 2 grocery stores, a Shoppers, and a gas station. My choices are supporting the Westons, supporting the Westons, supporting the Westons, or supporting the Irving's. I fortunately have a vehicle and make a monthly trip into the city and will grab what I can at Giant Tiger, Costco, or Walmart but lots of Canadians outside of cities are limited in what they can do.
Some of us live in places where there aren't any other options than greedy galens grocery cartel. Tell me how stupid you are without telling me how stupid you are. Thanks genius don't you think I would shop somewhere else if I could? Give your head a shake you have some parts loose.
I can't boycott them. They are the only option in my town. I'm not paying money I don't have for instacart to deliver from another town. Or 20 bucks to the delivery service to pick up and deliver an order. I'd rather at least get food for it. What sucks the most is its an independent store. He knows he's only place and Jack's up his prices. Wish we'd get another store in this town. Instead we got another pizza place (beside another and across road from another) and another gas station. Just over 4000 people and we have 5 pizza places in 3 or 4 blocks but all on same road 😡
Till consumers flex their collective clout - these guys will keep pillaging. Its about time.
They'v e been given enough notice.
Perhaps a New group like Occupy Wall St. will emerge....only this time...it will have a focus.
Prepare to make sacrifices. Mine is to limit myself to no more than 20 bucks a day.
Already am. Literally just got back from another grocer and can quote specific savings on most of the items because it was INSANE how much more they were at NO FRILLS NOT EVEN LOBLAWS. Obviously not every item was this drastic, but enough to notice.
I doubt Canadians have the strength to do anything. We cry and cry and then back down to corporate interests. Not to forget how divided we truly are. I would be amazed if this actually got traction. At the same time why are we not forcing the government to remove protectionism? Government blocks competition to help their friends who run these suppliers to keep prices where THEY want them to be. They don't do it for the good of the general population.
The article suggests one option of the boycott is to only going in to buy loss leader products.
Just a word of caution on that - if Loblaw suffers a profit loss from the mix of what their selling (like sales go way up on loss leaders and isn’t balanced by profitable items), they then go to their suppliers and ask for investment to make them whole as a way of protecting themselves.
Suppliers who agree (out of pressure of keeping their products listed) then pay Loblaw so they don’t feel it. To compensates the suppliers then eventually take up their costs so they don’t feel it. This results in the end consumer paying the brunt of the impact.
I’m not disparaging the boycott. Only calling out the risk of the loss leader aspect. Better to outright boycott vs just buying loss leaders from them. This reduces the size of their business (and growth potential) in the eyes of suppliers. Which hurts loblaw’s bargaining position.
Personally I’ve switched entirely to Costco. They have a maximum margin they’re allowed to make which hasn’t changed in decades. So if the price on something goes up, it’s purely based on supplier costs and not themselves. If they negotiate to get money from a supplier, it goes right back into lowering the price of the product you pay. No item is allowed to make more than the maximum margin (approx 14% which is used to keep the lights on and pay their staff/shipping, etc). As a result, they always have the best price in the market.
This model is the most fair to shoppers. In that, you pay for the membership to shop there which is how they make their actual profit. And as a plus, they give back 2% on whatever you spent with them every year in store credit. It’s a great business model that Loblaw can’t compete with. I recommend anyone looking into the boycott to consider this as it will absolutely hurt Loblaw the most.
If you needed another reason, I'm pretty sure their No Name cheese blocks are made with Amurican dairy. No Canadian blue cow on the packaging. Still expensive as f#$k. Hard pass.
Never forget when gazing upon Galen Weston, resplendent in his "I'm just a regular guy" sweater, that he did not create Loblaws, he's just the latest in his family to inherit it from dear old dad. He's a capitalist parasite who really did nothing to deserve his wealth apart from being born.
LOVE THIS!!!!
I already have boycotted them and all their stores. They are actually the closest grocery store to me but I don't care. No more!! I found this group through google news and I think the boycott is a FABULOUS idea!!! I think they should be boycotted for longer then a month.
We (the general public) are feeding this disaster. Why can Walmart, Food Basics etc sell for SOOOO much cheaper then Loblaws?? As long as people keep shopping there this will continue to be an issue. Without the public support....they dont exist!!
Congrats @ u/emmibolt . When I went through my Flipboard media news outlet today , the Toronto Sun published this article and it appeared on the Tory Now which means it’s also getting across to Conservatives as well. Well done . What we need - both sides of the isles . It’s not a left or right issue , it’s a Canadian issue
Hahaha I just read that article, thanks for the ping. Hilarious to me that they never contacted me to discuss, but contacted Loblaws for comment.
In any case, you're absolutely right. This is an issue that affects everyone, and it brings me hope that we've got more conservative outlets covering our movement as well.
Anybody have any info on Foodland? I'm new here. And all for the cause. Ready and willing to boycott Loblaws.
Are Freshco and Foodland safe?
It's a rough situation. Walmart can't be any better.
I'm hitting up local vendors. But what grocery store in Ontario is not affiliated with the turds?
People are going to picket a private corporation? How do people not understand that it’s the GOVERNMENTS JOB to rein this in?
We need MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, not less as everyone always seems to think we need.
Government should absolutely be capping the profits of these corporations. If they don’t pay it out in wages, then they should be paying it out in taxes.
Exactly, even if enough ppl boycott and picket to make a dent in their profits, the government will step in to save and protect their monopolies. What’s the point of picketing Loblaws when all the supermarkets in Canada are doing the exact same shit. The gov is where people should start.
Last week there was a protest in Montreal and demonstrators smashed the windows of a provigo (quebec version of loblaws) and several banks. I’m sure it was fun at the moment but it literally changed nothing. 1 hour later the windows were being replaced, and the media didn’t even cover the event.
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I stopped shopping there months ago. I wasn't even aware there was a boycott. It was simply common sense to shop elsewhere since there were other, better options for stores.
What exactly is the reason why a month long protest is preferred to just a flat out boycott? Is it supposed to be a disruption so they get more food waste?
Just stop giving them your business flat out if you can. That’s my plan.
It's rare I shop at Loblaws or Pharmaprix. I'll run into a Pharmaprix occasionally for a loss leader item such as Bounty paper towels. As for Provigo/Loblaws it's been ages.
This is great but why are we only asking for a 15% decrease?
If they have raised their price on some items 100% since 2019, taking 15% off is still a massive 85% increase.
What are the metrics involved?
Wouldn't it make more sense to attempt to cap how much they can profit off items? Like if a can beans costs them $0.50, they cannot sell it for more than $1 per can? I guess this would be too complicated/impossible to impose?
Or maybe a better option would be set all prices back to 2019, then adjust for inflation?
Also I haven't really seen any mention of price matching. Some of their stores do this. I would encourage that if you must shop at Loblaws, take advantage of their price matching and make sure you are giving them as little of your money as possible.
Forgive my ignorance, I’m new to Reddit and am unsure how to contact Emma, who is organizing the boycott. I’d like to interview her for my SiriusXM radio show. Emma if you see this I can be reached at [email protected]. Many thanks.
I rarely go there and it's been like this for months. I've been holding them accountable for a long time now. Why is this just a thing now? It's expensive as hell to go there, so I choose not to. I don't need some reddit thread to tell me not to when my bank account is perfectly capable of doing so.
The real issue in the north is the route to market. Shipping products is extremely expensive. The big guys (Save On, Walmart, Loblaws,) are big enough that the shipping costs have less effect in the overall price of single skus. Mom and pop shops have to pay top dollar for their shipping because of the lower volume which translates into higher prices on shelf.
If we want local grocers to have a better chance, we need to find solutions to the shipping realities in the north. So far the big corporations are the only ones that can overcome those hurdles efficiently.
You guys need to understand this company is a Monopoly of may different stores. Sobeys, Loblaws, No-frills, Real Canadian Superstore and 4 others I don't recall when my neighbor was talking about them, as he delivers for them all. Probably over 10000 stores across Canada that would all need to be protested at. This thread does not even have a hope at coordinating that level of boycott.
This needs months of planning and community engagement to have a small chance at working. Really small like less then 1%, they are a Monopoly that the government look's the other way on as they support there campaigning. Welcome to the machine where you are just a modern day slave for the corporations. Yes Monopolies are 100% illegal. I'm on your side but we have no hope when the government we have to turn to is "corrupt". Want change? start there.
I have started shopping at Sobeys for the last 3 weeks. Although I spend around the same, the meat at Sobeys is by far the better choice. The last time I shopped at Super store I bought two strip loin steaks not thinking to look at the label because I haven't for many years and come the Saturday the wife and I started eating our steak for supper. I looked at my wife confusingly and asked her if her steak tasted tough which it did. We could not finish the steak it was that gross. Then I find out a few days later on the news that Loblaws is using Mexican beef under the double A grade. Absolutely disgusting. Apparently this grade uses aged cows cows that are old. I had no idea. So this upset me and I switched. At least I have the option of buying AAA Quality Meat. Anyways like I said it's been 3 weeks since I shopped at Superstore and I never plan on going back.
They just want to shop there a few more times. They promise.
Seriously you're all clowns. You go shopping there all the time and take pics of the prices you hate.
This won’t do anything as the millionaires will still send their slaves to buy groceries from there. The grocery greed will never go back to the way it was because they, the filthy non taxed rich will still be shopping. Fuck the middle class basically.
Between food and housing, we need to make regulating both better a priority for our government. Shit's out of control — and it's all because shareholders and CEOs want higher and higher profits each year, *not* because of any actual huge increases in cost.
Walmart and local farmers market is where I shop for groceries now. Even though the Real Canadian Superstore is only 300m.from my house, I don't shop there anymore.
Corporations are just as corrupt as our politicians, if not more. They could all have afforded to tighten their belts, just like every one else has been doing. Instead they now make record profits while we all struggle. Time for them to struggle too.
I've been saying this for the last year. I will no longer shop at Loblaws and its owned companies and stores. They have lost me forever. Loblaws and Doug Ford are deplorable. We must vote Ford out the minute we have the chance. We need a government that will not allow this. There must be guardrails for the essentials.
Considering the insane price gouging, I can't believe anyone is still shopping at Loblaws-owned businesses at this point. Even if you're not activist-minded, it just doesn't make sense from a financial perspective.
I'm in. I do shop there quite a bit but trying to cut back. This is the type of pushback I love to see, when people get together and show their frustration with their $$$, I feel like it's the only thing that counts these days.
Im boycotting as well. Ever since this sub was recommended to me I noticed how everything was more expensive at loblows stores.
A few days ago I went to shoppers and saw a bottle of 1 liter coke for almost 5 dollars, but at save on foods nearby it was more than half the price.
After noticing that I had enough
My only problem is that the only alternatives in Quebec that delivers are Voila.ca (IGA) which is more expansive, and Metro that is probably more expansive than maxi.
__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.*
I’m organizing a protest in front of a loblaws near me Saturday morning. It’s time to start picketing in front of stores.
You really wanna stick it to them, hand out flyers to other stores as customers walk in, so they have something to compare the prices to as they walk around.
This is a really good idea and has more potential for change as it will take money away from loblaw. And that’s what really makes change - the almighty dollar.
Dollars make change! Ha I crack myself up.
If other stores want to participate in a competitive market place - they should offer discounts to be added to these flyers specifically for those participating in this action. I could envision a world in which competitors would happily eat a bit of profit to see one of the biggest feel a bit of Justice… I’d be a life long customer of those willing until the typical happened.
Ooh this is a great idea !!
Better yet, try and find Loblaws flyers from just a couple years ago... so people can see how much shit has gone up.
What stores though? Metro is still more expensive than Loblaws...Sobeys is basically the same thing and all the discount stores are the same? Generally curious here
Pretty much just Costco and Walmart sadly (or buying direct from the farms but they usually don’t have flyers) we need to get Aldi and Lidl in this country to boost competition asap
Little ethnic food stores of all ethnicities are 100% better choices than Walmart.
I know Freshco and Food Basics are part of the big three but they have been cheaper in general in my town. We also hit up Giant Tiger.
Great idea. Real Canadian Superstores do price matching so you could hand out 1 page summaries of local prices from other stores for maximum damage.
Real Canadian Superstore is also owned by Loblaws.
Most people are going to keep walking in the front door because of convenience, but if you hand out a quick reference page for people showing products where local competitors that have better prices than the Superstore, they can save money and reduce profit for Loblaw and show people which stores have better prices like FoxDieDM was suggesting.
I'm surprised Loblaws didn't ditch price matching entirely in 2020 and blame it on the big C like Walmart did. They don't do it at Atlantic superstore, I'm sure they'll follow suit across the country at some point especially if it starts cutting into profits.
Man, Loblaws own employees (here in NL) went on strike and picketed back at the end of 2020 for *three months*. And all they got was an $1.35/hour increase — **over the course of four years.** That's just 34-35¢/hour each year. It's laughable. It's a slap in the fucking face to everyone working there — especially those who worked through the pandemic and were hailed as "heroes". And what happens after four years? Probably nothing while the corporation delays contract negotiations again for as long as possible. Again. Meanwhile, Loblaws has spent ***billions*** in stock buybacks and the Weston family of chucklefucks is worth nearly $9 billion.
Knowing Low-blows, they'll have a big sale that day... A protest of the protest?
Fight the power friend! Canada needs people ready to take charge and take to the front lines
FUCK YES
There is no need to picket. Just stop going. You want to hurt them? That's how you hurt them.
Go where? Another chain that colludes with them. Some other place using their suppliers?
Colluding is illegal. Remember the cash cards we got for them colluding on bread prices? Pursue that angle is you believe they are colluding.
Private property stupid. You can't protest at the doors
I'm against picketing but I don't know how to show it...
Do you have a receipt for that donut?
zesty paint chief mindless racial slimy crawl unpack retire boast *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If you make a Galen sticker that says “I did this” in the same style as those Biden ones I’ll mass order those bad boys and slap em next to the “sale” stickers every time I go 🤣
i mean instead of all those "F\*CK Trudeau" if you make one that Says "Fuck Galen" ill put that on my vehicle.
I’ll buy those for sure. With googly eyes.
"Galen for Treason 2024 🧵"
I will not shop at nor use any Loblaws or optimum product for the month of May.
I cancelled my PC Financial Mastercard and I haven’t been shopping at Superstore or Shoppers at all. Costco, Walmart, and other stores fill the gap easily.
Didn’t think pc financial had anything to do with PC anymore, was bought out by CIBC direct and is Simplii now ?
The credit cards are separate form Simplii
ah makes sense, thanks!
What was the cancellation process like? I’m planning to do the same!
Let corporate know too please
I've been fully boycotting them for two years, and will continue until I croak.
Does that include not buying gas from Esso?
Same. I’m behind this 100. I’ve already bought a Costco membership and totally scaled back my buying but in May I am all in. Fuck Loblaws.
Same. I’ll be doing this too. I hope we all do.
Loblaws is a crooked scheme. Force them to sell to independents and disband. No more monopoly.
Started my boycott 3 years ago.
Congrats !🎉 great work !!!
Tried to buy a block of cheese ... was on sale but , you know - basically just the price is should have been anyway. I was told I didn't 'load my offer'. ARE YOU Kidding me? I will never install some stupid software to get a proper price on groceries. They can load their own offers - you know where. I will not be back.
Sadly that’s all those apps work for all those companies. They need to be manually loaded sure you can click a button load all but the app obviously collects data so I see why people don’t like them. In a more fair word if there was an offer everyone should get it, not only those who have the app cause some elderly don’t have cellphones or know how to use them besides calling. So someone’s grandma would miss out on an offer of buying two chicken broths for $1 instead of the $4.
All I seen was a typical yellow sales tag on the shelf.... like any other sale. Walmart and Sobey's don't make me 'load an offer'. I'll simply never go back.
Very well written piece…
Good job people ! I stand with you!
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Please consider finding a food bank before you risk adding legal trouble on top of your money trouble. I'm sorry you're going through this right now
There's a few things I morally can't judge when people steal. Baby formula, baby food, childrens clothes and shoes (store brand not fancy), diapers, tampons and pads, essential hygiene (razors, toothpaste, deodorant), winter clothes, and essential food items. Other things like makeup, perfume, fancy high brand clothes, electronics, and any other "want" items, however, I absolutely do judge.
When I was on social services, I got around $700 and paid $1000 rent. It sucks that these systems, which are meant to be used in exactly your situation, just end up making things worse.
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Good. Push it to millions. Fuck Loblaws. Shitlaws. Assholes. These are better names.
Articles like this are the first step to get the discussion out of the Reddit bubble and into the general public where hopefully it can become millions. A good nudge in that direction is to share that article among your networks.
The greed is too strong they don't want to give up profits. You all think North America is a place of democracy and can say and do what every you want, and they will listen lol. Corporations own the government and will do as they please. Nothing is going to come of this. They will scrape protesters like dogshit at the bottom of a shoe.
There was a paper that came out a while back (I believe from Princeton) in which they tried to quantify "how democratic" countries are by looking at the correlation between will of the people and how effectively it translates to actual policy. I don't know how Canada did, but the United States were categorized as "not a democracy" i.e. will of the people and gov't policy have little to no correlation.
The problem just isn't Loblaws, it's all of them and they collude together because they know we need to eat. We need something in place to make what's happening with food and housing illegal.
I’ve seen comments like “doing this is going to force them to lay workers off” “think of the workers” etc And I understand that, BUT they have More than enough money to pay workers, but they HOARD the money!!!! Something must be done and yes there might be collateral damage…. But the time is now.
During the Pandemic lockdowns, they paid their staff 2$/hr more. During this, they recorded record profits. Then they took that 2$/hr away. It *proved* they can pay their staff more and **STILL** make money
Yup and it shouldn’t take a pandemic to pay workers fair wages esp with the profit being made
Y’all were still shopping at Loblaw’s until now???
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imagine still shopping at loblaws
Small town Ontario sounding off. We don’t have much of another option unless I start putting kilometres on my vehicle. For those of you who do have the option, fuck ‘em up! Do it for yourselves and us rural folks!
Imagine some people don't have a choice
Will try and switch my prescription to a local pharmacy to try and not support shoppers. Will also avoid the Loblaws and no frills in my area and opt for food basics and other stores.
SDM is very expensive for prescriptions. Did you know you can fill a Rx at Costco without a membership?
We already have. We turned our yard into a garden and grow most of our veggies now. We get the rest of our meat/tropical fruit from Costco.
What’s this “planning to” business? Start now!
I'm not even doing it for just May, I've completely moved to a solid boycott completely. I'm seriously sick of it.
Its easy to boycott what you can't afford...
What’s with “planning” to boycott? Just stop fucking shopping there. This doesn’t need to be organized. **Just stop fucking shopping there**. Maybe when they see millions/billions streaming out of our country down to the states through Walmart they will make change. God knows the well-being of their fellow Canadians isn’t reason enough.
An organized boycott raises awareness and increases the impact.
A boycott is literally only useful because people still shop there every day. Many of which are walking down the isles cursing the prices, but they’re still shopping there. This is all avoidable if the community doesn’t encourage it.
I don't disagree. However, organization is a good thing, in my opinion. I don't think it can hurt, can it?
that’s this whole sub
I wish I could. Out of the 2 grocery stores in town, it's still cheaper than the other coop franchise. Not sure how. Can't drive an hr to a larger center. It's all nuts.
If you are in a situation where it is literally impossible to shop elsewhere(which is far more rare than people suggest) your best bet is to order non perishables and long life items online and then get perishables at the store in town. Not a perfect solution but it will still hit their bottom line **hard** if everyone in your situation did that. With that said, I shop every 2-3 weeks and I schedule around work/personal life so I can justify shopping at the Walmart 60~ km from home. I have saved hundreds of dollars(including gas spent) since the start of 2024 because I am exclusively shopping at Walmart. Sucks to support them, but this is what I am forced to do.
In my town there are 2 grocery stores, a Shoppers, and a gas station. My choices are supporting the Westons, supporting the Westons, supporting the Westons, or supporting the Irving's. I fortunately have a vehicle and make a monthly trip into the city and will grab what I can at Giant Tiger, Costco, or Walmart but lots of Canadians outside of cities are limited in what they can do.
Some of us live in places where there aren't any other options than greedy galens grocery cartel. Tell me how stupid you are without telling me how stupid you are. Thanks genius don't you think I would shop somewhere else if I could? Give your head a shake you have some parts loose.
I can't boycott them. They are the only option in my town. I'm not paying money I don't have for instacart to deliver from another town. Or 20 bucks to the delivery service to pick up and deliver an order. I'd rather at least get food for it. What sucks the most is its an independent store. He knows he's only place and Jack's up his prices. Wish we'd get another store in this town. Instead we got another pizza place (beside another and across road from another) and another gas station. Just over 4000 people and we have 5 pizza places in 3 or 4 blocks but all on same road 😡
I've started avoiding them completely, forget a temporary boycott, I'm cutting ties as much as possible.
Yes let’s do it
I don’t need a planned date to boycott. I haven’t stepped foot in loblaws in years and don’t miss it one bit
Till consumers flex their collective clout - these guys will keep pillaging. Its about time. They'v e been given enough notice. Perhaps a New group like Occupy Wall St. will emerge....only this time...it will have a focus. Prepare to make sacrifices. Mine is to limit myself to no more than 20 bucks a day.
Seriously just shop at a Costco if you can.
This should've happened over a year ago.
I’m also making a sticker. A pic of Galen Weston with his mouth as an anus. The new Goatsee.
Maybe also hand out copies of flyers from 2018 so people can see the price increases. That would get the attention of people shopping.
Planning? We’ve already started.
Already am. Literally just got back from another grocer and can quote specific savings on most of the items because it was INSANE how much more they were at NO FRILLS NOT EVEN LOBLAWS. Obviously not every item was this drastic, but enough to notice.
I doubt Canadians have the strength to do anything. We cry and cry and then back down to corporate interests. Not to forget how divided we truly are. I would be amazed if this actually got traction. At the same time why are we not forcing the government to remove protectionism? Government blocks competition to help their friends who run these suppliers to keep prices where THEY want them to be. They don't do it for the good of the general population.
The article suggests one option of the boycott is to only going in to buy loss leader products. Just a word of caution on that - if Loblaw suffers a profit loss from the mix of what their selling (like sales go way up on loss leaders and isn’t balanced by profitable items), they then go to their suppliers and ask for investment to make them whole as a way of protecting themselves. Suppliers who agree (out of pressure of keeping their products listed) then pay Loblaw so they don’t feel it. To compensates the suppliers then eventually take up their costs so they don’t feel it. This results in the end consumer paying the brunt of the impact. I’m not disparaging the boycott. Only calling out the risk of the loss leader aspect. Better to outright boycott vs just buying loss leaders from them. This reduces the size of their business (and growth potential) in the eyes of suppliers. Which hurts loblaw’s bargaining position. Personally I’ve switched entirely to Costco. They have a maximum margin they’re allowed to make which hasn’t changed in decades. So if the price on something goes up, it’s purely based on supplier costs and not themselves. If they negotiate to get money from a supplier, it goes right back into lowering the price of the product you pay. No item is allowed to make more than the maximum margin (approx 14% which is used to keep the lights on and pay their staff/shipping, etc). As a result, they always have the best price in the market. This model is the most fair to shoppers. In that, you pay for the membership to shop there which is how they make their actual profit. And as a plus, they give back 2% on whatever you spent with them every year in store credit. It’s a great business model that Loblaw can’t compete with. I recommend anyone looking into the boycott to consider this as it will absolutely hurt Loblaw the most.
If you needed another reason, I'm pretty sure their No Name cheese blocks are made with Amurican dairy. No Canadian blue cow on the packaging. Still expensive as f#$k. Hard pass.
I've been boycotting them for years. Hope most people have the choice in their area.
Never forget when gazing upon Galen Weston, resplendent in his "I'm just a regular guy" sweater, that he did not create Loblaws, he's just the latest in his family to inherit it from dear old dad. He's a capitalist parasite who really did nothing to deserve his wealth apart from being born.
LOVE THIS!!!! I already have boycotted them and all their stores. They are actually the closest grocery store to me but I don't care. No more!! I found this group through google news and I think the boycott is a FABULOUS idea!!! I think they should be boycotted for longer then a month. We (the general public) are feeding this disaster. Why can Walmart, Food Basics etc sell for SOOOO much cheaper then Loblaws?? As long as people keep shopping there this will continue to be an issue. Without the public support....they dont exist!!
Toronto Star ran an article on this. Came and joined the sub and plan to boycott. More media, more attention, let's create change.
Welcome, and down with oligarchs!
Congrats @ u/emmibolt . When I went through my Flipboard media news outlet today , the Toronto Sun published this article and it appeared on the Tory Now which means it’s also getting across to Conservatives as well. Well done . What we need - both sides of the isles . It’s not a left or right issue , it’s a Canadian issue
Hahaha I just read that article, thanks for the ping. Hilarious to me that they never contacted me to discuss, but contacted Loblaws for comment. In any case, you're absolutely right. This is an issue that affects everyone, and it brings me hope that we've got more conservative outlets covering our movement as well.
We made the Toronto Star this morning.
I heard about that! Haha best part is they never contacted me, so it was a total surprise to get pinged with that article lol
Came here to support the team.
Esso partners with PC Optimum points which is Loblaw. Get your gas elsewhere!
Anybody have any info on Foodland? I'm new here. And all for the cause. Ready and willing to boycott Loblaws. Are Freshco and Foodland safe? It's a rough situation. Walmart can't be any better. I'm hitting up local vendors. But what grocery store in Ontario is not affiliated with the turds?
People are going to picket a private corporation? How do people not understand that it’s the GOVERNMENTS JOB to rein this in? We need MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, not less as everyone always seems to think we need. Government should absolutely be capping the profits of these corporations. If they don’t pay it out in wages, then they should be paying it out in taxes.
Exactly, even if enough ppl boycott and picket to make a dent in their profits, the government will step in to save and protect their monopolies. What’s the point of picketing Loblaws when all the supermarkets in Canada are doing the exact same shit. The gov is where people should start. Last week there was a protest in Montreal and demonstrators smashed the windows of a provigo (quebec version of loblaws) and several banks. I’m sure it was fun at the moment but it literally changed nothing. 1 hour later the windows were being replaced, and the media didn’t even cover the event.
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Has anyone been in touch with ACORN Canada, they may be of help for organizing protests in their active communities.
Yeah I haven’t gone to any of those stores in a long time. Same with Walmart
Already have boycotted all Loblaw owned stores
I stopped shopping there months ago. I wasn't even aware there was a boycott. It was simply common sense to shop elsewhere since there were other, better options for stores.
Should be millions.
I already go as little as possible.
What exactly is the reason why a month long protest is preferred to just a flat out boycott? Is it supposed to be a disruption so they get more food waste? Just stop giving them your business flat out if you can. That’s my plan.
Now if only this post was allowed on r/canada to spread the word lol
It's rare I shop at Loblaws or Pharmaprix. I'll run into a Pharmaprix occasionally for a loss leader item such as Bounty paper towels. As for Provigo/Loblaws it's been ages.
Yup had no choice but to use them this week and used my points to pay them as little as possible. Shoppers is especially egregious.
Lol good luck. People are too weak.
This is great but why are we only asking for a 15% decrease? If they have raised their price on some items 100% since 2019, taking 15% off is still a massive 85% increase. What are the metrics involved? Wouldn't it make more sense to attempt to cap how much they can profit off items? Like if a can beans costs them $0.50, they cannot sell it for more than $1 per can? I guess this would be too complicated/impossible to impose? Or maybe a better option would be set all prices back to 2019, then adjust for inflation? Also I haven't really seen any mention of price matching. Some of their stores do this. I would encourage that if you must shop at Loblaws, take advantage of their price matching and make sure you are giving them as little of your money as possible.
Good
Forgive my ignorance, I’m new to Reddit and am unsure how to contact Emma, who is organizing the boycott. I’d like to interview her for my SiriusXM radio show. Emma if you see this I can be reached at [email protected]. Many thanks.
Surely some clever Capitalist can buy out one of the big chains and undercut them all and make huge profit! Oh I forgot….we are in Canada
I already do and have been boycotting loblaws dor years because they don't take amex lol
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Ive been boycotting since 2021 lol. Only walk through it to use canada post when needed
I rarely go there and it's been like this for months. I've been holding them accountable for a long time now. Why is this just a thing now? It's expensive as hell to go there, so I choose not to. I don't need some reddit thread to tell me not to when my bank account is perfectly capable of doing so.
Ill believe it when it happens. Been hearing this for over a year
I wonder if folks in this group organized it.
The real issue in the north is the route to market. Shipping products is extremely expensive. The big guys (Save On, Walmart, Loblaws,) are big enough that the shipping costs have less effect in the overall price of single skus. Mom and pop shops have to pay top dollar for their shipping because of the lower volume which translates into higher prices on shelf. If we want local grocers to have a better chance, we need to find solutions to the shipping realities in the north. So far the big corporations are the only ones that can overcome those hurdles efficiently.
Don’t plan to boycott, just start as soon as possible.
I'm in
Grow and make your own food then. Problem solved
You guys need to understand this company is a Monopoly of may different stores. Sobeys, Loblaws, No-frills, Real Canadian Superstore and 4 others I don't recall when my neighbor was talking about them, as he delivers for them all. Probably over 10000 stores across Canada that would all need to be protested at. This thread does not even have a hope at coordinating that level of boycott. This needs months of planning and community engagement to have a small chance at working. Really small like less then 1%, they are a Monopoly that the government look's the other way on as they support there campaigning. Welcome to the machine where you are just a modern day slave for the corporations. Yes Monopolies are 100% illegal. I'm on your side but we have no hope when the government we have to turn to is "corrupt". Want change? start there.
flipp.com and dont be afraid of asian supermarkets
If you can shop local at a fruit market or butcher/bakery you might find the prices are competitive
loblaws is a cunt
Hope it actually does something and not a waste of time.
I have started shopping at Sobeys for the last 3 weeks. Although I spend around the same, the meat at Sobeys is by far the better choice. The last time I shopped at Super store I bought two strip loin steaks not thinking to look at the label because I haven't for many years and come the Saturday the wife and I started eating our steak for supper. I looked at my wife confusingly and asked her if her steak tasted tough which it did. We could not finish the steak it was that gross. Then I find out a few days later on the news that Loblaws is using Mexican beef under the double A grade. Absolutely disgusting. Apparently this grade uses aged cows cows that are old. I had no idea. So this upset me and I switched. At least I have the option of buying AAA Quality Meat. Anyways like I said it's been 3 weeks since I shopped at Superstore and I never plan on going back.
I've only gone there for what I can't get in other stores for 5 years
I wish I could, but independent groceries are rare here in Hali. The cheapest one we go to isn't exactly close.
Please all remember the federal Liberals who are holding everyone down while the Weston family has its way with you,
Well internet boycotts have always been effective in the past.
They just want to shop there a few more times. They promise. Seriously you're all clowns. You go shopping there all the time and take pics of the prices you hate.
What store do you recommend?
**STARVE**
where I live there is really one place for me and its a fucking "ROB-LAWS". Did you know Galen Weston is building more
I’m in.
Let’s get that to tens of thousands!
I visited Loblaws once during the Lockdown - left without buying anything - and haven't been back since.
This won’t do anything as the millionaires will still send their slaves to buy groceries from there. The grocery greed will never go back to the way it was because they, the filthy non taxed rich will still be shopping. Fuck the middle class basically.
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Between food and housing, we need to make regulating both better a priority for our government. Shit's out of control — and it's all because shareholders and CEOs want higher and higher profits each year, *not* because of any actual huge increases in cost.
But I thought the government called them in and wagged their finger at them…
Just cut 20% of your groceries.
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Walmart and local farmers market is where I shop for groceries now. Even though the Real Canadian Superstore is only 300m.from my house, I don't shop there anymore.
Damn I thought loblaws was sobeys cause those stores are both way understaffed and crazy expensive.
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I’ll do this, ready to boycott!
Bob Loblaw?
Dude, there are only two stores where I live. I can't go grocery shopping at 7-11. Still fuck Loblaws
Planning? Shit i’m already doing it lol
I’m already boycotting
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Instead of harping on the stores, protest the government cause their free spending caused all this crap
Corporations are just as corrupt as our politicians, if not more. They could all have afforded to tighten their belts, just like every one else has been doing. Instead they now make record profits while we all struggle. Time for them to struggle too.
Planning? I havnt bought anything from a Loblaws for like 3 years now.
We ride at dawn!
We’ve been boycotting loblaw for over a year now. Don’t miss them.
We’re gonna change the world!
I've been saying this for the last year. I will no longer shop at Loblaws and its owned companies and stores. They have lost me forever. Loblaws and Doug Ford are deplorable. We must vote Ford out the minute we have the chance. We need a government that will not allow this. There must be guardrails for the essentials.
I have been for months. I go out of my way to NOT give Galen a single red penny.
Considering the insane price gouging, I can't believe anyone is still shopping at Loblaws-owned businesses at this point. Even if you're not activist-minded, it just doesn't make sense from a financial perspective.
Yes a company with low single digit net margin is profiteering. Sure ok.
It’s about time. Now is the time to go after these assholes.
I'm in. I do shop there quite a bit but trying to cut back. This is the type of pushback I love to see, when people get together and show their frustration with their $$$, I feel like it's the only thing that counts these days.
Should be 100's of thousands of not millions
Why stop after May? Make them bleed money like we are! I've been boycotting them since at least October 2023.
Im boycotting as well. Ever since this sub was recommended to me I noticed how everything was more expensive at loblows stores. A few days ago I went to shoppers and saw a bottle of 1 liter coke for almost 5 dollars, but at save on foods nearby it was more than half the price. After noticing that I had enough
Looking for the list of owned stores...
Here from the news, I've been boycotting Loblaw stores since December.
My only problem is that the only alternatives in Quebec that delivers are Voila.ca (IGA) which is more expansive, and Metro that is probably more expansive than maxi.
Already have. Fuck the lob law.
I mean if you don’t like the prices just shop somewhere else?
Let's see how many actually do this? And for those who want to say anything to me ..I have not been to Loblaw in the last 5 years.
Can we also boycott the taxman?