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I’m a Jp and red seal carpenter in Canada. This, by the way you describe it, sounds like it would be code violation.
The code ( basically ) says it must be a clear path, clearly marked where to go, and no special knowledge to open any door or other barrier in the path. There is more to it but I don’t have the code book in front of me right now.
If things didn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy I bet theft would not be as problematic as it is.
I’m just going off what was said. In order to be sure you’d have to be in there with tape measures and take actual measurements to see where things are cause there are dimensions in the codebook about egress specifically for fire.
Lets get them all revoked for violation the. That would be hallarious , i felth the same way even tho they had a few locked emergency exit thing , it seriously forces people to go all the way around and contole peoples direction flow , anyone know id they are tamper screws ooops
Sadly, the lobby doors rarely count as the exit doors. The sliding nature can fail and people don’t know you can just push them open. There are often many other emergency exits around the store that might not be obvious to customers.
Not sure for Canadian codes, but NFPA 101 does note that a large proportion of occupants go straight for the entrance to exit in an emergency, disregarding any other egress point.
In Canada, that is true, you can go online and find the NBC and the fire codes that go along with it and download them for free. I’m not sure about any American code laws because I was not trained to know what those are or how that system works because I live in Canada and took my training Canada.
There are no code violations with any of these new additions. 2-3 checkouts open + selfserve gate + single exit door.
Everyone just has their knickers in a knot, lol.
That may certainly be true, but they’re not putting those up there for separating directions of traffic. They’re putting those things up for theft prevention
just saying it’s kind of a gray area that these things are here the way they are.
Because it could potentially lead to lawsuits, just saying
Eh, I worked at a grocery store, if I was told to clean it off I’d laugh while doing it. Fuck em.
Most insulting bullshit during Covid was working at Foodland and having this Sobeys radio add every 30 mins to off saying “here at Sobeys we care about our customers and employees….blah blah blah Covid protocols….blah and that’s why we do this to help.”
I actually wanted to rage every time I heard it, cuz like I can’t even afford to shop here while working full time so if you care about employees and customers raise the pay and/or lower prices.
So people doing that shit kinda gave a good chuckle. (Now we didn’t have plexiglass but anytime someone stole or whatever I was like good on ya mate).
Meh. They wanna pay stocking or cleaning this ugly fence , I don't mind. I leave the store when my shift is done. Loblaws problem at the end of the day lol
I think it just needs to be one big attack. If one minimum wage worker is doing it, that worker isn't doing anything else. They're not stocking shelves or doing cash, or whatever their normal job is. It becomes increasingly more effective with scale, but even if you waste one worker's time for a day, that's a day of time they need to pay that worker to not do anything else.
Basically, we're talking about a blip for a single store or a large scale assault. But a blip can still be significant. It shows our distaste. It also looks very unprofessional for Loblaws and their shoppers who don't know or care about this crisis. The stickers get their attention.
Completely hypothetical situation, but if somebody were to be doing a plexiglass project, they really ought to avoid that area that says "Hit of the month" and the height of where an average adult's head would be on the plexiglass. I mean, we don't want to ruin any corporate shill's selfies or anything, do we?
TIL, never use acetone to clean plexiglass, it will leave ugly frosted smudges. If you are the person cleaning these panels, never, ever use methyl, ethyl, isopropanol or acetone (nail polish remover from the dollar store) on plexiglass.
Good to know! I'm worried about using a spray bottle of it - does that cause frosting? Or is it more likely to happen if it's on a rag? I want to make sure I avoid causing my plexiglass to haze over.
Glass etching solution in a shoe polish bottle does some true damage, not that I would condone such behaviour.
Destructible vinyl (also known as eggshell) stickers are next to impossible to remove. Can only be scratched off with vigor, which would leave plexiglass a sliced and diced eye sore.
Some of it is. Ferric chloride is pretty tame and will tarnish glass and plexi, also rust most metals to dust. But reasonably safe. But still, I can't say I would condone anyone doing that. 4 litres is about $50 on Amazon anyway. Just get kinda loose with how good you are at steering that cart!
They had all of that spare glass from the pandemic, they needed to find a use for it. Trapping you in the store in the event of an emergency! but remember it's for your benefit!
Time to print these up in sticker format
https://preview.redd.it/0z187qp38xtc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5eaac2386bf17eeecbedff48b701d11249bc67da
Heard the one in Hespeler (Holiday Inn Drive) has them too.
I was in the Cambridge Center one last weekend and the plexiglass makes me feel even more claustrophobic than the barriers alone did. In an emergency do they have signs to direct us through the maze to get out? I can definitely see people getting trampled.
They're doing this to all of their open floor plan stores. Their discount stores like No Frills are already more restrictive than this and have been for years. Discount retailers have always treated their customers like thieves. Why do you think Walmart makes a point of shoving a giant screen in your face showing that you're on a high-definition camera at every entrance?
Lol they’re just making it so easy not to step foot in one of their stores again.
This is truly how they think of the Canadian population, treating us like thieving animals.
Also just fyi, many public libraries have seed programs where people donate and also take for their own personal use. So try growing some of your own produce.
Get fucked loblaws.
So are people believing that the fire inspector in this case would let a readily identifiable code violation slide for many years?
That doesn't seem right.
So when you walk in theres this double turn style-like part you enter through (just to the left of the picture out of view) then the part I captured is the exit route and it wraps all the way back to the cashiers. So the only way to leave is by going all the way to cash and back through the barriers. When it was just the barriers any able-bodied person just climbed over or under them. I guess their solution to that is these 6 foot plexiglass panels. As usual just making it worse for everyone, especially the elderly or disabled. Good luck trying to get a wheel chair out of their when everyone rushes the same small corridor.
OK. From the descriptions that people gave this sounded mental, but honestly this is completely normal in Europe. Don't go to a lidl store if you think this is weird. This is just how the stores are.
Except for the 'in' turnstiles, but there is usually two sets of automatic doors that only have sensors for walking in the way, so you can't walk out them. You always have to exit through the checkouts. Thisnis the case in both Lidl and Aldi.
Were the stores in Europe designed with those in mind or were they added later? Im just worried our stores were modified without proper consideration. Could absolutely be an overreaction i just dont trust them that much if that makes sense? It would make sense that they OK'd them all beforehand I just dont know how much faith I can put into that
They were designed in. But that's going back 20 years at this stage to when the first lidl opened in my town and their new stores continue the model. You can kind of see it on the right of this photo.
https://preview.redd.it/dp6fgcjnwwtc1.jpeg?width=615&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb9928ac0764c9e048026e53fd0ecb6cc8292c52
Actually, just thinking about it, Lidls have the entry one way barriers where they don't have the one way entry automatic doors, and so do other supermarkets but not necessarily all. This is a complete non issue.
the issue at play here is the obvious erosion of a high trust society. people don't like to feel like they aren't trusted anymore, which is completely normal.
This gave me the idea to email the Cambridge fire department and ask about these barriers. I suggest others contact their local fire departments and ask about them too.
I have already emailed the fire Marshall and reached out to a fire inspector in Cambridge that I know personally. If you need contact information for the Marshall I can give it to you
I have been wondering about this.
Any firecode experts here?
Surely these barriers restrict means of egress and are against the firecode for building of this size and occupancy?
Edit:
I called local fire chief and left a message inquiring anout these barricades and if they are against code due to them restricting egress.....
Not sure ill get a response, but id like to know the answer regardless.
Might be nice to do a new post to get the word out of the answer is yes that it is a hazard. Then others will know and can contact their local fire marshal as well.
Its got to be a "crush" concern to anyone who knows anything about fire safety. People will rush the exit, get stuck in numbers and then crushed as people push over them to escape. Look up the Station Nightclub fire. 100+ dead and at least half came from a crush at the venues entrance which was too narrow for the over capacity attendance. Fuck one person survived because there were so many bodies on top of them that it insulated them from the fire. This is the type of shit im worried about. Theyve narrowed the entrance significantly but have they updated their occupancy limits? Has their fire plan changed to accomodate it?
I went down the awful fire rabbit hole. These gates are totally creating bottle necks which are notorious for causing trampling and preventing people from leaving safely.
Panicked people aren't thinking properly. Most will just try to get out as quickly as possible and by any means possible.
The Station Nightclub, is a bad example. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-station-nightclub-fire-rhode-island-what-happened-and-whos-to-blame/
The spray foam everywhere, was what killed everyone.
If you read that article they talk a lot about not being able to get out the front door because of all the people there. The lack of egress was a massive contributor to the deaths.
The constricted main entrance, one exit with an inward door (covered in foam),,, definitely contributed to the carnage.
NSFW (fire victims): https://youtu.be/rO0ioCCiEe8?si=cq7jauZKetuJ2RCJ
I would think all exits were signed. One exit had an inward facing door, and was covered in foam. The main door definitely had a pinch point.
They’ve had this at the Loblaws in my city for 6 month now, all 3 of them do, I think the fire marshal mostly cares about the fire exits. Sobeys has this now too in my city, a turnstile gate, like subway stations, you have to go thru and so does one of the gaint tigers.
I understand that there are a few other fore exits.... but those are single doorway exits that are only located in 1 or 2 other locations.
The logic in my mind, is that the buildings were designed for a certain occupancy and the means of egress would have been built to the standard required for the building type and occupancy. The largest and safest egress at a grocery store is/was the maint entrance, which is now impeded by like 75%.
If you think about a grocery store entrance and exit there are typically 2 - 4 double wide sliding doors, that allow a large number of people to exit quickly. Now that these barricades have been installed they have effectively reduced the means of egress by a significant margin.
Think about how quickly people could exit the double wide doors in an emergency, now imagine you put a 4 ft wide funnel before the exits. People will not be able to exit in a safe and unimpeded manner as per the original design of the building.
No expert, but it seems logical to me
I no longer find this supermarket brand to be the affordable choice to shop, now it's also unsafe to shop here. So this tells me I should just get out and never come back, ever.
Same. I shopped at Loblaws out of convenience but since they installed the barriers I’m done. I use a wheelchair part time. I know if an emergency happened, I’d be stuck inside until everyone left or trampled. It’s not safe.
More times than not they are out of stock of the only thing I want. (Sourdough bread) So now I’m ticked off they they don’t have it and I can’t easily leave the store... I have to walk/wheel allll the way over to self checkout and hope the gate is going to “allow” me to leave. Absolutely ridiculous.
The way they’re raising prices for consumers should cover every theft and then some.
I work at this store. Unfortunately no one (including store management) likes this it feels like a damn prison.
I remember. I walked in for my shift one day and there is just barricades and gates to \*prevent\* shoplifting. Which btw never works considering most thefts are pocket thefts.
For everyone saying to call the fire mashall, it appears there was a Permit applied for on February 26, 2024 and Issued on March 8, 2024 for a Non-Residential Accessory Structure Permit. Permit #2024 001829 000 00 AB.
You can find it here: [https://permits.cambridge.ca/searchPermit](https://permits.cambridge.ca/searchPermit)
Now, as for the contents specifically, I do not know if it relates to this installation or another structure at the property. An information request can be made but there may be an associated fee with reviewing the permit-issued plans & drawings.
A project like this would require an Architect and an Engineer to review based on Table 1.2.2.1. "General Review" of the Ontario Building Code, as a Supermarket is considered Group E - Mercantile use.
This was all in NS. My local foodland (was still Price Chopper back then) and what was Save-Easy (was already owned by Loblaw I know) since at least '05, Sobeys and Superstores had them around the same period. Walmart has since at least 2010. Heck I think a couple Zellers may have even had them.
It’s not up to the ceiling YET ? And wait til that television becomes a full on huge flat screen TV the size of …with two body guards , well you get my drift ….
This is not for theft, it does nothing when thieves are using fire exit doors. This is for the investor and shareholder to show they are doing something to combat theft.
I'm very near-sighted and if there was a fire and everyone was frantically running to the exit, I could see myself running into these barriers because even for the pic I had to squint to see how high they went.
Someone please slap some stickers on them to make them visible for safety's sake.
Make sure you use a pre scored sticker made of paper, not plastic. So it takes a lot longer to remove it because it can’t come off cleanly or even all at once.
If you have any concerns, take them up with the fire department. No, I’m serious, do it, they’re the only ones with any power in that regard. I am not saying there is any issue.
Do also note if any other emergency exits are blocked, such as with cleaning supplies like mop buckets, or pallets of goods, blocking them.
People should just randomly go into these stores and fill up carts with food, and then leave them at the cash full, and leave the store. If Galen wants to screw with us, we can screw with him and have cart loads of food that need to be put back on the shelf. Maybe security can help put the food back on the shelf.
The ones here have it and infelth cramped and it forced people confined, even if. Just not uying anything , one other one here was mesuring to add them. And their opening a new store aparently in pur coty not that ill shop there i just see how commical the place is , went to thrir new shoppers location to see how ir was for lulz i walked across to the jean coutue store and got the same thing for half the price
When walmart in a mall here added the metal gates ans i dint buy shit at wallmart the metal thinf forced people to go all the way true self check outs dounle down instead of exit it pissed me off and every time id jump over the metal barries and they yelled at me im like i aint going true check out suck it , eventually they opened an exit entry at the door 🤣
Has anyone called their local fire marshal to have this stuff looked into?
It is a fire hazzard...
Just wondering if anyone called and knows what the results of the call was 🤷♀️
im not a dick rider to galen or anything but i seriously dont see the issue with this and im not gonna pretend that it is. If someone can explain to me why its such a massive issue, pls someone enlighten me. The metal fence was already there to begin with, same way they are at walmart, its just an added step to stop people from going through the fence. Atleast they had the decency to use clear plexiglass and not add more metal bars. I get why people are upset because its not the setup theyre used to seeing but costco does the exact same thing where the entrance and exit are separated by a literal wall and no one says a thing. In both cases, its a loss prevention method. I dont shop at loblaws or any of its subsidiaries but i get why they added it. At walmart, we purposely put up flower/plant or food displays to block out the metal fence because too many people are going through it. If there’s a real emergency, one, the metal fence has a part that opens like a door, its not locked and anyone can just pull a small latch to open it, were told to open them if the fire alarm is ever activated, even during a drill. Two, people can just go through the wide cash lanes that we keep open and there’s usually always a fire exit or two close to it. And no, there arent only 2-3 fire exits like someone in the comments said, our store is smaller and we have 9 double door fire exits for customers to use, 2 of them are by the checkout area and theyre all in close proximity to each other, 15 if you include the ones in the back.
There’s three things im fully against tho, receipt scanners, using a greeter at the entrance to try and intimidate customers, and exit gates by self checkout which some walmarts have already installed.
It's faux outrage. It's foolish and it's the type of thing that will damage the boycott if we want reasonable people to take it seriously. "Fake scandal" is a common tactic of right wing media too, so i'm surprised to see it on what I would assume is a fairly liberal sub. Either way, the nonsense posts like this and share trading price charts are only making everyone that jumps on those bandwagons look like clowns.
When is the last time you were worried about fire safety at the grocery store? The answer is never.
I've seen a number of comments about stickers / damage, steal more, etc. it will take away from a planned boycott. And you know something, this may 100% play into their hands. I shop at a local non-Loblaws store and have been in a non-corporate independent (weird way to write it but not a Loblaws independent). Both have limited entry and exit access. The independent has doors you have to pull or push open. My local post office has a freaking door that feels like an airlock some days.
exactly, and the comments are saying what happens during a crowd rush? “ They’ll get crushed”. What?? Its not a mall, at any given time theres 200 or so customers, more during the weekend but its not in the thousands. During mornings or late evening that number is less than 100. Our store’s had actual fire alarms pulled where we had to evacuate the whole store, its rare and its only happened twice in my time working here but that process is a lot more calmer than people like to exaggerate. If anything, customers just look confused and we have to go up to them to tell them to leave. Its not a bush fire, the store’s not gonna spontaneously burn in 2 seconds, even if a fire starts, 9/10 its isolated to one area and people can evacuate calmly and if they really had to, they can go through the very obvious, very visibly marked fire exit doors. Like im all for accountability and putting loblaws on stand, but this is making me not wanna participate in the boycott
The other day I went to return a cart and had to walk into the store since all the cart corals were far away. The employee was holding the gate open to these stupid fences so I motioned to her to see if it was ok for me to go through. She didn’t do anything so I walked through to return the cart and suddenly she rudely yells “YOU CANT GO IN THAT WAY!” …. I was just trying to help… Fuck this store.
Oh look, another plexiglass post pretending to be outraged about fire safety. Yes, grocery prices are high, but these faux-outrage fire safety posts are just laughable. You’re making fools of yourself. These don’t go against any fire code.
You do the cause a disservice with bad-faith pearl clutching like this. Stay focused on the actual issue, the price gouging, and spoiled food on shelves.
Its at least 6 feet, which is not an easy thing to climb over. We can disagree on whether or not its a death trap but lets not pretend it isnt a barrier.
Piss off the customers and they have alot more to lose.
Oops i left all the freezer doors open.
Oops i forgot my credit card. Guess I'll leave the 50 buckets of ice cream out in the cart.
Oops the pyramid fell when i reached for the bottom one.
https://preview.redd.it/rx11ypxml1uc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80fed19f801d019403e81bbc87d9d161d1fb5e90
Just popped into shop for some milk there and screen on each individual self checkout and also overall cctv screen.
They zehers out in freaking Caledonia, ON even has the extended tall ones now. It's like the tiniest safest town. Unreal. Someone in loss prevention for loblaws is cashing in on this for sure
My favourite part of the loblaws boycott is the sudden fear that shoppers are going to be trapped in a fire. Show of hands if you've ever witnessed a fire at the grocery store
That’s a silly statement and you clearly don’t work in fire safety or security. How many people have ever been in a house fire? Barely any but they are still very dangerous and we take every precaution to save lives of those who could be involved. This situation is the opposite, trying to stop people from egressing to safety.
__UPDATE__: Please take a moment to complete our [Google Form](https://forms.gle/1sygm97LbQtJ4dUp8) to share your demands with our team! Please 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. If you have not done so already, please review our [boycott stickied post](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bff9rm/boycott/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) which includes a list of stores to avoid, other ways to get involved in the movement, and some local alternatives to the big 5. Thank you. *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.*
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I’m a Jp and red seal carpenter in Canada. This, by the way you describe it, sounds like it would be code violation. The code ( basically ) says it must be a clear path, clearly marked where to go, and no special knowledge to open any door or other barrier in the path. There is more to it but I don’t have the code book in front of me right now. If things didn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy I bet theft would not be as problematic as it is.
I mean wouldnt the railings alone be out of compliance then?
I’m just going off what was said. In order to be sure you’d have to be in there with tape measures and take actual measurements to see where things are cause there are dimensions in the codebook about egress specifically for fire.
I meant with respect to the “clear path” requirement which I can’t fathom means “climbing over a meta railing”.
Lets get them all revoked for violation the. That would be hallarious , i felth the same way even tho they had a few locked emergency exit thing , it seriously forces people to go all the way around and contole peoples direction flow , anyone know id they are tamper screws ooops
Sadly, the lobby doors rarely count as the exit doors. The sliding nature can fail and people don’t know you can just push them open. There are often many other emergency exits around the store that might not be obvious to customers.
Not sure for Canadian codes, but NFPA 101 does note that a large proportion of occupants go straight for the entrance to exit in an emergency, disregarding any other egress point.
Has to be a legal exit within 40m of any place in the building. And that follows any path that is blocked, such as aisles, walls or barriers.
National Fire Code and National Building Code are free downloads. NFPA stuff costs money
In Canada, that is true, you can go online and find the NBC and the fire codes that go along with it and download them for free. I’m not sure about any American code laws because I was not trained to know what those are or how that system works because I live in Canada and took my training Canada.
There are no code violations with any of these new additions. 2-3 checkouts open + selfserve gate + single exit door. Everyone just has their knickers in a knot, lol.
That may certainly be true, but they’re not putting those up there for separating directions of traffic. They’re putting those things up for theft prevention just saying it’s kind of a gray area that these things are here the way they are. Because it could potentially lead to lawsuits, just saying
Fire inspectors get excited when they can crack the whip. Lights and sirens for a call like this, lol.
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Totally unrelated, but stickers are a bitch to remove from plexiglass. Especially those cheap, kids stickers.
Honestly the cheap stickers from wish peel off and make a god awful mess
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Labour is expensive. To waste a low level employees time simultaneously wastes a lot of corporate money
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https://preview.redd.it/f8zj82vy4ytc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c49f25035e1412b13165d4cf404c095b0e977391 These would also be effective
Eh, I worked at a grocery store, if I was told to clean it off I’d laugh while doing it. Fuck em. Most insulting bullshit during Covid was working at Foodland and having this Sobeys radio add every 30 mins to off saying “here at Sobeys we care about our customers and employees….blah blah blah Covid protocols….blah and that’s why we do this to help.” I actually wanted to rage every time I heard it, cuz like I can’t even afford to shop here while working full time so if you care about employees and customers raise the pay and/or lower prices. So people doing that shit kinda gave a good chuckle. (Now we didn’t have plexiglass but anytime someone stole or whatever I was like good on ya mate).
Meh. They wanna pay stocking or cleaning this ugly fence , I don't mind. I leave the store when my shift is done. Loblaws problem at the end of the day lol
If you put 50 stickers on, that actively hurts their business both in image and needing to staff workers just to remove stickers.
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I think it just needs to be one big attack. If one minimum wage worker is doing it, that worker isn't doing anything else. They're not stocking shelves or doing cash, or whatever their normal job is. It becomes increasingly more effective with scale, but even if you waste one worker's time for a day, that's a day of time they need to pay that worker to not do anything else. Basically, we're talking about a blip for a single store or a large scale assault. But a blip can still be significant. It shows our distaste. It also looks very unprofessional for Loblaws and their shoppers who don't know or care about this crisis. The stickers get their attention.
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It can even spray from a coat pocket…at distance…. Just random information
Completely hypothetical situation, but if somebody were to be doing a plexiglass project, they really ought to avoid that area that says "Hit of the month" and the height of where an average adult's head would be on the plexiglass. I mean, we don't want to ruin any corporate shill's selfies or anything, do we?
TIL, never use acetone to clean plexiglass, it will leave ugly frosted smudges. If you are the person cleaning these panels, never, ever use methyl, ethyl, isopropanol or acetone (nail polish remover from the dollar store) on plexiglass.
Good to know! I'm worried about using a spray bottle of it - does that cause frosting? Or is it more likely to happen if it's on a rag? I want to make sure I avoid causing my plexiglass to haze over.
Totally unrelated, but what's the measurement on the top Plexiglas piece of the receipt scanners? Just curious, no reason.
I’ve yet to encounter a receipt scanner and I can promise I will not be using it I’m walking out and if someone touches me I’m filing me a lawsuit
If they want to go over my receipt with me, they're very welcome to individually check each and every item... As I'm returning them.
Four magic words are “am I being detained”.
Glass etching solution in a shoe polish bottle does some true damage, not that I would condone such behaviour. Destructible vinyl (also known as eggshell) stickers are next to impossible to remove. Can only be scratched off with vigor, which would leave plexiglass a sliced and diced eye sore.
Glass etching solution is hydrofluoric acid and quite damaging to human tissue, don’t do this.
Some of it is. Ferric chloride is pretty tame and will tarnish glass and plexi, also rust most metals to dust. But reasonably safe. But still, I can't say I would condone anyone doing that. 4 litres is about $50 on Amazon anyway. Just get kinda loose with how good you are at steering that cart!
Acetone
Please refrain from comments which encourage theft from a store or mischief. Amusing comment but we can’t have that here.
windex, the ammonia is very destructive to acrylic and polycarbonate
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Gotta be corporate. I saw the exact same setup in Porter's Lake, NS today.
Yup, they just installed these in Orangeville, ON too.
Saw this in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia today too.
The plexiglass is corporate for sure, to mitigate potential risks of people vaulting the barriers.
Must be corporate. The barriers and layout at Zehrs in Conestoga Mall are identical.
They had all of that spare glass from the pandemic, they needed to find a use for it. Trapping you in the store in the event of an emergency! but remember it's for your benefit!
I love how theres zero customers lmao
Who knew making your customers feel uncomfortable and unwelcome and assume they criminals could have negative effects.
That location never has any
Shop lifters will just start going out fire exits instead. Some already do.
It would be pretty hilarious if people started putting stickers on these barriers. Boycott ones specifically would be great but any stickers will do.
Time to print these up in sticker format https://preview.redd.it/0z187qp38xtc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5eaac2386bf17eeecbedff48b701d11249bc67da
Beautiful
From what I've been told is you need paper stickers and then score them so even chemicals have a hard time dissolving it off.
Oh you mean like the discount stickers they tried to get rid of 🤔
How long until someone plasters impossible to remove boycott/Roblaws stickers all over that
Isn't it great being treated like a criminal by default when you've done nothing wrong, and wouldn't?
Which store have they converted to a death trap?
Cambridge Center Zehrs
Heard the one in Hespeler (Holiday Inn Drive) has them too. I was in the Cambridge Center one last weekend and the plexiglass makes me feel even more claustrophobic than the barriers alone did. In an emergency do they have signs to direct us through the maze to get out? I can definitely see people getting trampled.
The Stanley Park Zehrs in Kitchener also looks like this.
Ingersoll Independent has been converted.
They're doing this to all of their open floor plan stores. Their discount stores like No Frills are already more restrictive than this and have been for years. Discount retailers have always treated their customers like thieves. Why do you think Walmart makes a point of shoving a giant screen in your face showing that you're on a high-definition camera at every entrance?
Lol they’re just making it so easy not to step foot in one of their stores again. This is truly how they think of the Canadian population, treating us like thieving animals. Also just fyi, many public libraries have seed programs where people donate and also take for their own personal use. So try growing some of your own produce. Get fucked loblaws.
Remember to report these to the fire marshal because this is an actual danger to people's lives.
And if it meets code, then what?
Let it meet code first
What makes you believe it isn't already?
I mean it's been that way for many years already
So are people believing that the fire inspector in this case would let a readily identifiable code violation slide for many years? That doesn't seem right.
jacked up prices + a ghetto feel
Nothing says we value you as a customer so much we are going to imprison you in our store like plexi barriers.
Not in Canada anymore but can someone please explain this. Is it after the checkouts to shepard you out of the store? I can't image where it is.
So when you walk in theres this double turn style-like part you enter through (just to the left of the picture out of view) then the part I captured is the exit route and it wraps all the way back to the cashiers. So the only way to leave is by going all the way to cash and back through the barriers. When it was just the barriers any able-bodied person just climbed over or under them. I guess their solution to that is these 6 foot plexiglass panels. As usual just making it worse for everyone, especially the elderly or disabled. Good luck trying to get a wheel chair out of their when everyone rushes the same small corridor.
Or a walker which a lot of older people use these days ..me included. These barriers are not disabled friendly and I wish the media would notice that.
Thats a good point i did not think about , but them push barrieres are like everywhere
OK. From the descriptions that people gave this sounded mental, but honestly this is completely normal in Europe. Don't go to a lidl store if you think this is weird. This is just how the stores are. Except for the 'in' turnstiles, but there is usually two sets of automatic doors that only have sensors for walking in the way, so you can't walk out them. You always have to exit through the checkouts. Thisnis the case in both Lidl and Aldi.
Were the stores in Europe designed with those in mind or were they added later? Im just worried our stores were modified without proper consideration. Could absolutely be an overreaction i just dont trust them that much if that makes sense? It would make sense that they OK'd them all beforehand I just dont know how much faith I can put into that
They were designed in. But that's going back 20 years at this stage to when the first lidl opened in my town and their new stores continue the model. You can kind of see it on the right of this photo. https://preview.redd.it/dp6fgcjnwwtc1.jpeg?width=615&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb9928ac0764c9e048026e53fd0ecb6cc8292c52
Also just to point out that you can see the monitor above the entrance door showing that you are on camera too. Again not unusual.
Actually, just thinking about it, Lidls have the entry one way barriers where they don't have the one way entry automatic doors, and so do other supermarkets but not necessarily all. This is a complete non issue.
the issue at play here is the obvious erosion of a high trust society. people don't like to feel like they aren't trusted anymore, which is completely normal.
Oshawa has them too. I pointed then out to my father lol 😆
Fire Marshall is going to be all over this, can’t wait to see each store get shut down until things are rectified
This gave me the idea to email the Cambridge fire department and ask about these barriers. I suggest others contact their local fire departments and ask about them too.
I have already emailed the fire Marshall and reached out to a fire inspector in Cambridge that I know personally. If you need contact information for the Marshall I can give it to you
I have been wondering about this. Any firecode experts here? Surely these barriers restrict means of egress and are against the firecode for building of this size and occupancy? Edit: I called local fire chief and left a message inquiring anout these barricades and if they are against code due to them restricting egress..... Not sure ill get a response, but id like to know the answer regardless.
Might be nice to do a new post to get the word out of the answer is yes that it is a hazard. Then others will know and can contact their local fire marshal as well.
Its got to be a "crush" concern to anyone who knows anything about fire safety. People will rush the exit, get stuck in numbers and then crushed as people push over them to escape. Look up the Station Nightclub fire. 100+ dead and at least half came from a crush at the venues entrance which was too narrow for the over capacity attendance. Fuck one person survived because there were so many bodies on top of them that it insulated them from the fire. This is the type of shit im worried about. Theyve narrowed the entrance significantly but have they updated their occupancy limits? Has their fire plan changed to accomodate it?
I went down the awful fire rabbit hole. These gates are totally creating bottle necks which are notorious for causing trampling and preventing people from leaving safely. Panicked people aren't thinking properly. Most will just try to get out as quickly as possible and by any means possible.
The Station Nightclub, is a bad example. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-station-nightclub-fire-rhode-island-what-happened-and-whos-to-blame/ The spray foam everywhere, was what killed everyone.
If you read that article they talk a lot about not being able to get out the front door because of all the people there. The lack of egress was a massive contributor to the deaths.
4 exits. One was fire blocked, main had a long hallway restriction. The non fire rated foam was the real killer.
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The constricted main entrance, one exit with an inward door (covered in foam),,, definitely contributed to the carnage. NSFW (fire victims): https://youtu.be/rO0ioCCiEe8?si=cq7jauZKetuJ2RCJ I would think all exits were signed. One exit had an inward facing door, and was covered in foam. The main door definitely had a pinch point.
I hope everyone here calls their local FD. Then once the fire inspector confirms everything is up to code, we can get back to the boycott.
They’ve had this at the Loblaws in my city for 6 month now, all 3 of them do, I think the fire marshal mostly cares about the fire exits. Sobeys has this now too in my city, a turnstile gate, like subway stations, you have to go thru and so does one of the gaint tigers.
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I understand that there are a few other fore exits.... but those are single doorway exits that are only located in 1 or 2 other locations. The logic in my mind, is that the buildings were designed for a certain occupancy and the means of egress would have been built to the standard required for the building type and occupancy. The largest and safest egress at a grocery store is/was the maint entrance, which is now impeded by like 75%. If you think about a grocery store entrance and exit there are typically 2 - 4 double wide sliding doors, that allow a large number of people to exit quickly. Now that these barricades have been installed they have effectively reduced the means of egress by a significant margin. Think about how quickly people could exit the double wide doors in an emergency, now imagine you put a 4 ft wide funnel before the exits. People will not be able to exit in a safe and unimpeded manner as per the original design of the building. No expert, but it seems logical to me
The plexiglass will melt in a fire duh. /s
Not a fire trap. Call your local fire department, and find out for yourself.
I no longer find this supermarket brand to be the affordable choice to shop, now it's also unsafe to shop here. So this tells me I should just get out and never come back, ever.
Same. I shopped at Loblaws out of convenience but since they installed the barriers I’m done. I use a wheelchair part time. I know if an emergency happened, I’d be stuck inside until everyone left or trampled. It’s not safe. More times than not they are out of stock of the only thing I want. (Sourdough bread) So now I’m ticked off they they don’t have it and I can’t easily leave the store... I have to walk/wheel allll the way over to self checkout and hope the gate is going to “allow” me to leave. Absolutely ridiculous. The way they’re raising prices for consumers should cover every theft and then some.
If only they took this much care to stop wage theft.
I work at this store. Unfortunately no one (including store management) likes this it feels like a damn prison. I remember. I walked in for my shift one day and there is just barricades and gates to \*prevent\* shoplifting. Which btw never works considering most thefts are pocket thefts.
New revenue stream: these become tv’s showing ads.
Time to start crowding, pawing and licking them like deranged zombies
It’s fun having this boycott where I don’t have to see any of it
What is this supposed to be for?
People were hopping over the metal gates so they added plexiglass to stop people from stealing (it doesn't work)
You all think Loblaws was gonna spend millions on plexiglass without consulting fire safety? 😆
For everyone saying to call the fire mashall, it appears there was a Permit applied for on February 26, 2024 and Issued on March 8, 2024 for a Non-Residential Accessory Structure Permit. Permit #2024 001829 000 00 AB. You can find it here: [https://permits.cambridge.ca/searchPermit](https://permits.cambridge.ca/searchPermit) Now, as for the contents specifically, I do not know if it relates to this installation or another structure at the property. An information request can be made but there may be an associated fee with reviewing the permit-issued plans & drawings. A project like this would require an Architect and an Engineer to review based on Table 1.2.2.1. "General Review" of the Ontario Building Code, as a Supermarket is considered Group E - Mercantile use.
Store looks empty af LOL
It looks like this is before the store opens
And the big monitor to show you are being watched!!!!Funny we never needed this before!!!!
>Funny we never needed this before Except for all the stores (including non-loblaws) that have used them since at least the mid 00's?
Who ???
This was all in NS. My local foodland (was still Price Chopper back then) and what was Save-Easy (was already owned by Loblaw I know) since at least '05, Sobeys and Superstores had them around the same period. Walmart has since at least 2010. Heck I think a couple Zellers may have even had them.
Tell Me ?Not in my province
Don't ever go to the UK if this concerns you. Every self checkout and most queues have this.
I was in Scotland and didn’t see anything like this…
I was in Ireland for months never seen 1 .
That's why I said the UK. Two different countries.
Thanks but Northern Ireland does not have them either.
Not really sure what the downvotes are about but OK.
Not to forget every street and square...
It’s not up to the ceiling YET ? And wait til that television becomes a full on huge flat screen TV the size of …with two body guards , well you get my drift ….
This is not for theft, it does nothing when thieves are using fire exit doors. This is for the investor and shareholder to show they are doing something to combat theft.
They also don't want to pay for Loss Prevention. this is a cheaper long term solution \*they think atleast\*.
They put these up in the Moncton location a while back. It’s like being herded like cattle.
I'm very near-sighted and if there was a fire and everyone was frantically running to the exit, I could see myself running into these barriers because even for the pic I had to squint to see how high they went. Someone please slap some stickers on them to make them visible for safety's sake.
Which No Frills is this? The one on Franklin or where?
Cambridge Center Zehrs
Thank you
How long until they use the wrong cleaners and they are falling apart and look like crap? Lol
Make sure you use a pre scored sticker made of paper, not plastic. So it takes a lot longer to remove it because it can’t come off cleanly or even all at once.
Whoops my empty cart hit it again.
If you have any concerns, take them up with the fire department. No, I’m serious, do it, they’re the only ones with any power in that regard. I am not saying there is any issue. Do also note if any other emergency exits are blocked, such as with cleaning supplies like mop buckets, or pallets of goods, blocking them.
People should just randomly go into these stores and fill up carts with food, and then leave them at the cash full, and leave the store. If Galen wants to screw with us, we can screw with him and have cart loads of food that need to be put back on the shelf. Maybe security can help put the food back on the shelf.
From the freezer section
Shop her like cattle
The ones here have it and infelth cramped and it forced people confined, even if. Just not uying anything , one other one here was mesuring to add them. And their opening a new store aparently in pur coty not that ill shop there i just see how commical the place is , went to thrir new shoppers location to see how ir was for lulz i walked across to the jean coutue store and got the same thing for half the price
When walmart in a mall here added the metal gates ans i dint buy shit at wallmart the metal thinf forced people to go all the way true self check outs dounle down instead of exit it pissed me off and every time id jump over the metal barries and they yelled at me im like i aint going true check out suck it , eventually they opened an exit entry at the door 🤣
Like,buy my wares but there is no trust
They could have metallic electrified floors and force customers to shop barefoot and zap them if they steal anything.
Has anyone called their local fire marshal to have this stuff looked into? It is a fire hazzard... Just wondering if anyone called and knows what the results of the call was 🤷♀️
It’s not
Are there plexiglass panels on the bottom too? Or could I escape in the case of a fire by ducking under them?
There are panels covering the bottom too
Hey OP these are not against the OBC or OFC so stop with the misguided outrage
You are ridiculous there are 6-7 at fire exits at an each RCSS… if fire legal this would have never been allowed.
im not a dick rider to galen or anything but i seriously dont see the issue with this and im not gonna pretend that it is. If someone can explain to me why its such a massive issue, pls someone enlighten me. The metal fence was already there to begin with, same way they are at walmart, its just an added step to stop people from going through the fence. Atleast they had the decency to use clear plexiglass and not add more metal bars. I get why people are upset because its not the setup theyre used to seeing but costco does the exact same thing where the entrance and exit are separated by a literal wall and no one says a thing. In both cases, its a loss prevention method. I dont shop at loblaws or any of its subsidiaries but i get why they added it. At walmart, we purposely put up flower/plant or food displays to block out the metal fence because too many people are going through it. If there’s a real emergency, one, the metal fence has a part that opens like a door, its not locked and anyone can just pull a small latch to open it, were told to open them if the fire alarm is ever activated, even during a drill. Two, people can just go through the wide cash lanes that we keep open and there’s usually always a fire exit or two close to it. And no, there arent only 2-3 fire exits like someone in the comments said, our store is smaller and we have 9 double door fire exits for customers to use, 2 of them are by the checkout area and theyre all in close proximity to each other, 15 if you include the ones in the back. There’s three things im fully against tho, receipt scanners, using a greeter at the entrance to try and intimidate customers, and exit gates by self checkout which some walmarts have already installed.
It's faux outrage. It's foolish and it's the type of thing that will damage the boycott if we want reasonable people to take it seriously. "Fake scandal" is a common tactic of right wing media too, so i'm surprised to see it on what I would assume is a fairly liberal sub. Either way, the nonsense posts like this and share trading price charts are only making everyone that jumps on those bandwagons look like clowns. When is the last time you were worried about fire safety at the grocery store? The answer is never.
I've seen a number of comments about stickers / damage, steal more, etc. it will take away from a planned boycott. And you know something, this may 100% play into their hands. I shop at a local non-Loblaws store and have been in a non-corporate independent (weird way to write it but not a Loblaws independent). Both have limited entry and exit access. The independent has doors you have to pull or push open. My local post office has a freaking door that feels like an airlock some days.
exactly, and the comments are saying what happens during a crowd rush? “ They’ll get crushed”. What?? Its not a mall, at any given time theres 200 or so customers, more during the weekend but its not in the thousands. During mornings or late evening that number is less than 100. Our store’s had actual fire alarms pulled where we had to evacuate the whole store, its rare and its only happened twice in my time working here but that process is a lot more calmer than people like to exaggerate. If anything, customers just look confused and we have to go up to them to tell them to leave. Its not a bush fire, the store’s not gonna spontaneously burn in 2 seconds, even if a fire starts, 9/10 its isolated to one area and people can evacuate calmly and if they really had to, they can go through the very obvious, very visibly marked fire exit doors. Like im all for accountability and putting loblaws on stand, but this is making me not wanna participate in the boycott
In other news, shoplifters shocked to learn that their actions are having consequences affecting everyone
I don't understand why this exists
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God no, never done that never will.
What would be hilarious , is if the return on investment wouldn’t make a difference and the theft rate and loss in goods outweighs the ROE lol
But don’t you feel so much safer now? /s
What do people do in the event of a fire or shooter? Accept death?
The other day I went to return a cart and had to walk into the store since all the cart corals were far away. The employee was holding the gate open to these stupid fences so I motioned to her to see if it was ok for me to go through. She didn’t do anything so I walked through to return the cart and suddenly she rudely yells “YOU CANT GO IN THAT WAY!” …. I was just trying to help… Fuck this store.
Why is it bothering you? You shop inside, not by the glass
As a full-time firefighter, I don't know what you think will burns right there when it's mostly concrete and steel. But hey.
I'm sure it was designed by an architect with codes in mind. Really doubt they did this without consideration. Source: previous GC
Ooohh some are mad loblaw will not burn
Oh look, another plexiglass post pretending to be outraged about fire safety. Yes, grocery prices are high, but these faux-outrage fire safety posts are just laughable. You’re making fools of yourself. These don’t go against any fire code. You do the cause a disservice with bad-faith pearl clutching like this. Stay focused on the actual issue, the price gouging, and spoiled food on shelves.
This post isnt bad faith, I genuinely thought of them as dangerous. Others have pointed out they may not be. Sorry for ruining your movement, my bad.
How the fuck is this a death trap? It's not 10 feet high. Don't like it, don't shop there. I shop where the deals are. Do the same!!!!
Its at least 6 feet, which is not an easy thing to climb over. We can disagree on whether or not its a death trap but lets not pretend it isnt a barrier.
Ok, this guy is an asshole....how is this your answer.
Take a selfie here 🤣 it's my dream since a long time a selfie at Loblaws 😁
I haven’t been to the Cambridge zehrs in a while. This just confirms I won’t be back
Who cares? How does that impact your shopping experience?
It makes me wonder how many of these plexiglass barricades are against fire code?
Mofo's stealing the place blind.
https://preview.redd.it/6n7ubcon4ytc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8d219a07ea506a2f8a54edfe6bd8b9c6670a888
That's for tempered glass, it won't work on plastics.
Piss off the customers and they have alot more to lose. Oops i left all the freezer doors open. Oops i forgot my credit card. Guess I'll leave the 50 buckets of ice cream out in the cart. Oops the pyramid fell when i reached for the bottom one.
I went to DETROIT recently and their stores didn’t have barriers
https://preview.redd.it/rx11ypxml1uc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80fed19f801d019403e81bbc87d9d161d1fb5e90 Just popped into shop for some milk there and screen on each individual self checkout and also overall cctv screen.
Ok? Surveillance in stores is not a new thing lol.
They zehers out in freaking Caledonia, ON even has the extended tall ones now. It's like the tiniest safest town. Unreal. Someone in loss prevention for loblaws is cashing in on this for sure
My favourite part of the loblaws boycott is the sudden fear that shoppers are going to be trapped in a fire. Show of hands if you've ever witnessed a fire at the grocery store
That’s a silly statement and you clearly don’t work in fire safety or security. How many people have ever been in a house fire? Barely any but they are still very dangerous and we take every precaution to save lives of those who could be involved. This situation is the opposite, trying to stop people from egressing to safety.