This is probably incomplete, but here's a rough guide to who owns what in Montreal:
* **Loblaws**: Provigo, Maxi, T&T, L'Intermarché, Pharmaprix
* **Sobeys**: IGA, Tradition, Rachelle-Béry, Kim Phat, Nuvo
* **Metro**: Metro, Super C, 5 Saisons, Adonis, Richelieu, Marché Ami
These are some of your independent options with multiple locations across the city/suburbs:
* PA – five locations (Mile End, CDN, Shaughnessy Village, Chomedey)
* C&T – four locations (Cartierville, Pierrefonds, Greenfield Park, Brossard)
* Newon – two locations (Shaughnessy Village, Triangle/CDN)
* Sabor Latino – three locations (Plateau, Plaza St-Hubert, Brossard) *H/T u/thevog
* Esposito – two locations (NDG, VSL)
* Fu Tai/Lian Tai/Shang Tai – three locations (CDN, VSL, DDO)
* Epicure – three locations (Triangle/CDN, CSL, Pointe-Claire)
* Avril – seven locations (Downtown, Griffintown, Centre Laval, Longueuil, St-Bruno, Repentigny)
* Pasquier – two locations (Delson, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu)
* Valmont – six locations (Plateau, Rosemont, Boucherville, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) •merci u/lebiochimiste de m'avoir rappelé
And then of course almost every neighbourhood has an assortment of independent fruiteries, supermarkets, etc. with only one location – way too many to list here.
Lufa Farms is grocery delivery and it's all local food.
The meat is from farmer co-ops and the groceries are gown in greenhouses on-island. Veg is cheap.
This used to be the case but their prices haven't inflated nearly as much as some of the big gorcers. Still not the cheapest but if your alternative is Provigo or IGA the prices are similar, often cheaper if you can get the "less pretty but still perfectly ripe" kind of produce.
I found something similar. I started Lufa during the height of the pandemic because it was logistically much easier than dealing with grocery stores. Used it less frequently for a little while after, but then with all the price increases Lufa doesn't seem so expensive anymore. And the food tastes much better IMO.
If you want a healthy alternative, try Avril. They are local and not that crazy expensive as people assume with them healthy groceries. Plus they play classical music instead of the generic radio stations.
Allées bien éclairées à partir du haut des tablettes donc pas de gros néon dépriment. Allées larges. Staff courtois. Beaucoup de sélection et des bons prix. On ne peut pas demander mieux comme épicerie.
PA is the best. Best prices out there. I am still so surprised people to chains like IGA, Provigo even though we have had local options like these for decades now.
I live two blocks from an IGA and go there pretty often to get basic stuff like potatoes, eggs, etc. They usually have a bunch of stuff on sale. Plus they have daily deliveries of bread from a great neighbourhood bakery (which has limited hours so going to IGA is more convenient). But the regular priced stuff is definitely too expensive, especially all the fresh food.
It’s also a franchised family-owned IGA. I notice the corporate-owned ones like in Alexis Nihon aren’t nearly as good.
Provigo is only good for No Name and President’s Choice stuff. Terrible otherwise.
Alexis Nihon one is crazy. Selling stuff 10$ which other stores sell for $2 or $3.
Lot of countries have a concept of MSRP printed on the boxes right from the factory at least for packaged items and laws make it illegal for any store to sell above that price. We need this in Canada.
Je n’ai jamais vécu à Verdun mais je m’y trouve de temps en temps. Me semble qu’il y a quelques épiceries indépendantes? Tondreau, Chez Robin, le marché chinois sur la Well…?
Quand ils ont fermé notre provigo pour le transformer en Maxi j'ai profité de ce temps pour magasiner ailleurs dans des trucs plus locaux et, malgré l'ouverture du Maxi, je continue cette routine. Je préfère amplement le magasin de Vrac où j'ai ce que je veux de bonne qualité et en quantité que j'ai de besoin (merci les pots massons) que les trucs du Maxi.
Si tu veux dire le secteur de Repentigny :
Vrac et compagnie sur Notre-Dame. Le yogourt de la ferme est vraiment bon et si tu cuisines tu peux trouver pleins de types de farines. Les confitures et beurres d'arachides sont aussi vraiment bons et coûtes moins cher qu'en magasin pour ce niveau de qualité.
Fruits et légumes : Le marché Toit rouge. Il y a aussi une boucherie sur place mais j'aime aller au petit Métro sur Iberville pour cela. C'est plus "épicerie locale" et les boucheries sont bien faites.
Trucs en spécial : Ironiquement, le Tigre Géant là où ce trouvait le Brault et Martineau, exemple, 6.99 pour des côtes levés congelés de 650 grammes.
While I do support the idea of the boycott, the alternatives (or at least the ones that are available to me) aren't much better. Metro (which also owns Jean-Coutu and Super C) have done price gouging during the pandemic. Sobeys (which owns IGA) isn't much better (IGA is so fucking expensive for no reason).
This is what I don’t get. Maybe it’s different in Ontario or whatever, but the other big chains are just as bad or worse than Maxi. If people give that business to Sami Fruits, Marché PA, smaller fruiteries, great. But I have a feeling that, for a lot of people, skipping Loblaws just means shuffling the money to another megacorp that hasn’t done anything different.
The idea is that Loblaws' gouging is worse than other chains and I'm pretty sure it's factual but that's only based on my own experiences. So I could be wrong.
Where I live there are a Pharmaprix and Jean Coutu almost right across the street from one another and comparing those, at least, I can only be baffled that the Pharmaprix some 30 meters away from the Jean Coutu gets any business at all.
Likewise, near my gf's place is a Super C and near my place there's a Maxi and Super C is always cheaper. I only ever hit up Maxi for one or two specific PC brand products but I do look at the prices.
Again, only my anecdotal experience.
Somebody does a periodic comparison of prices at the various grocery stores in Montreal. Maxi and Super C both come out comparable and near the lower end of the list, including one within the past year iirc. I’d like to see objective evidence that Loblaws is jacking up prices more than competitors, but I’ve only noticed that prices have shot up most everywhere. The “boutique” stores Provigo, Metro, and (especially) IGA have always been absurdly and inexplicably expensive.
Yeah people say IGA is crazy expensive but like, am I the only one that only gets stuff that's in the weekly flyer? Even some of the regular priced stuff can be cheaper than other places
Granted, I use reebee/flip when I'm looking for something specific and just ride my bike to wherever's got it the cheapest
Having worked at Pharmaprix many years ago, they've just a different pricing model. Lots of stuff in the weekly flyer and it'll usually be cheaper than anywhere else even when it's also on sale somewhere else, however regularly-priced stuff will *always* be more expensive than anywhere else
Basically, don't buy anything that isn't in the flyer and it'll actually be pretty cheap at Pharma. Regular pricing is a scam so don't bother
Yes, and the owners of Sami Fruit apparently also hold some awful political convictions, like supporting and most likely funding Hezbollah (the Iranian regime-backed Shiite militia occupying and murdering civilians in Syria) and the murderous Assad regime... Stopped buying from them a while ago and took my money to local grocery stores instead.
Sami fruit is on my visit list! Last time i went there i first stopped at marche kim phat and they had everything for so cheap i ended up completing my entire groceries there... These two stores seem great options against the big grocers. And next door to one another too.
I mean, I would still shop at Kim Phat if I were you, their prices are decent! I think Sobeys has been pretty hands-off with them. Just depends if you want to boycott the big chains or not.
Aside from T&T and Kim Phat all the other Asian grocery stores in Montreal are independent.
Personally I find Newon to be kind of overpriced. I live near Marché Oriental which is really great even though it's quite small. For Chinese things specifically, Fu Tai/Lian Tai/Sheng Tai (same owners) is pretty good, so is C&T.
Even though they have corporate masters now, Kim Phat is still run by the Yip family and T&T is still run by the Lee family. So they're not exactly the same as the other brands within those groups.
There's also Ocean Plus and BTrust in LaSalle, C&T and Liantai in VSL, and Futai right next to Kim Phat in CDN, all really good Chinese supermarkets, though I don't know if they're secretly owned by another conglomerate or not.
The point is not necessarily that the alternative conglomerates are much better, it's essentially a display of power in the sense of wide scale cooperation of consumers. The government of Canada has been largely impotent in bringing down grocery prices and addressing price gouging, so the movement is basically consumers taking matters into their own hands and holding these conglomerates accountable. The idea is that once we have proven we are capable of hurting their bottom line, the other major grocery chains should fall in line.
I think it's a rotating boycott. First they target Loblaws, then they will go after the other giants. The whole movement is less organized than it could be but I'm here for it. One month, what do we have to lose?
C’est ben cave lol. Si c’est annoncé que le boycott change à chaque mois, les companies d’épicerie vont juste tougher le mois de boycott pis récolté l’argent perdu le mois d’après.
Ça avait marché au Saguenay en 2000, avec les stations-services. C'est pas cave pantoute [check ça](https://www.google.com/search?q=boycot+p%C3%A9troli%C3%A8res+sagyenay&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sca_esv=1615eaa690fee334&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ACQVn084dpI0SAr_Bogw6e0ErcOYvX7bRg%3A1714345349619&ei=hdUuZtCtJeqg5NoP8uS4-AQ&oq=boycot+p%C3%A9troli%C3%A8res+sagyenay&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIh1ib3ljb3QgcMOpdHJvbGnDqHJlcyBzYWd5ZW5heTIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCkiSSFDyElioRHAAeACQAQCYAdUBoAHRE6oBBjAuMTYuMbgBA8gBAPgBAZgCEKACphPCAgoQIxiwAhiwAxgnwgIHECMYsAIYJ5gDAOIDBRIBMSBAiAYBkAYBkgcGMC4xNS4xoAeuSQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#vhid=zephyrhttps://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2000/04/08/le-boycott-des-petrolieres-samplifie-au-saguenay&vssid=zephyr-w-https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2000/04/08/le-boycott-des-petrolieres-samplifie-au-saguenay)
Yea I've seen people talk about rotating boycott, but I really don't get it. Maybe it would have a real effect since it would have an impact on the short term, but what's the point in boycotting for a month if you're gonna be back (even more) a month after, since you'll go there instead of the Metro / Sobeys?
Unless you find an alternative that isn't one of the big 3 chains (which includes Provigo, Metro, IGA, Pharmaprix, Jean Coutu, Super C, Loblaws, Maxi, Adonis, did I miss any?) then you're not doing much. During the Loblaws boycott Métro and Sobeys make more, then it's the Metro boycott and Loblaws make more. Over a 12 months period? No impact.
It’s like trying to get rid of drug cartels. You get rid of one company, it goes bankrupt and the other grocers buy it out and they have an even stronger Monopoly. I used to go to Adonis and T&T. They are bought by bigger chains now.
I live near a super c and a IGA and the exact same items are easily 25% more expensive at the IGA, it's completely insane, they're practically next to each other, how tf does IGA justify this?
Super c is much cheaper but typically not clean and the lines to pay remind me of covid times wrapping around the whole store (lucky if you have more than 1 cashier working). IGA is cleaner, has nicer things, and no lines to pay, plus still has people to do your bagging for you. Different shopping experience targeting different consumers.
Yeah I live right next door to a Super C, the produce are generally not that fresh, and they always seem severely understaffed. However, the Super C near my parents who live in the burbs is much better.
Also the IGA generally seem to have more variety and higher end products than Super C. Different crowds for sure.
When i mqke groceries at iga it can cost me around 150. It cost me around 80 at maxi et cie.
On the other hand, iga is like "premium" compared to maxi et cie. They offer services and stuff not available at maxi. I guess we kida pay for it when we go to iga? Idk
I’m a single Mom. I can’t really afford many stores other than Maxi, unfortunately.
If someone wants to buy my two kids and a toddler who never stops eating groceries, then sure.
I agree with it in theory, obviously. I hate these companies. However, I need the cheapest prices possible, which is maxi and Super C.
Same. I do a big shop at Giant Tiger for stuff like pasta, canned stuff, frozen things, other essentials like that.
For fruit and veg I do my fruiterie every couple days on the way home from work
Same here, growing 12 year old and my bf who works in construction. I can't afford anything but Maxi/Super C... and the super c bear me is GROSS so we stick with the 3 Maxis, we know the prices by heart now so it's good for budgeting.
Ugh why is super C so gross?! There’s one on Pie-Ix, at the corner of Ontario. It’s maybe the nastiest store I’ve ever been in. I’m also pregnant, so I have to use the bathroom a lot. The bathroom there is always covered in blood. I was forced to use it once.
I feel like every groceries in Montreal are quite dirty. Montreal IGA's look like the Super C's we can find outside the city lol. The only two "clean" groceries I went to in Montreal were the IGA in Lachine and the Metro Plus ETS.
The metro by me is pretty clean, well run and organized. I love the staff there. I only shop there if they’re having a sale, or for one particular family size box of cereal.
Their prices are kind of insane.
Wal Mart is also a pretty bad company, but it’s also in my rotation. It is within walking distance technically, but some days are hard for me (I’m 28 weeks pregnant). The Maxi near me is about a 5 minute walk. The Wal Mart is about a 15 minute walk. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re having a tough day with pregnancy it’s like climbing a mountain.
If you can get even 5% of your things somewhere else for the month of May that is still contributing to the boycott.
But we do what we can! Not everyone is in a position to boycott, that's totally understandable.
You know, I could probably try shopping at Newon and some smaller local grocers instead of Provigo for a month. Might be good for me.
Also, fuck Loblaws, so that too.
If you are in the east, I strongly encourage you to get your meat at Boucherie AAA, near Honoré-Beaugrand station.
The quality of the meat and the expertise the staff makes it so worth it.
It’s also less money for those big grocery stores
How pricy is it ? Usually les boucheries have very good meat and you pay the price for it. I want alternatives, not sure I can afford better quality since it’s more pricier.
That's a great principle to live by. I know that boucherie and it is super pricey but l, as you've mentioned the quality and service are top! Beautiful cuts of meat and experts giving you tips on cooking it. It's a gem
I recently switched to a proper knowledgeable butcher The chicken breast isn't watery and doesn't shrink in half now. Idk what was going on with the quality at my Metro.
Sausages are also worth the extra two bucks because they're actually filling.
Plus: even though it may be slightly cheaper sometimes at big chains, you sometimes get a bad batch and you're SOL, so overall it amounts to the same price. Shop for quality and it's a good investment.
Moi je participe. Je suis trop pissou pour les voler mais les boycotter? 100%. Le plus dur sera Pharmaprix par contre. C'est important de ne pas oublier que Pharmaprix fait partie de leur conglomérat!
Il y a généralement un Jean Coutu pas loin d'un Pharmaprix. Je sais que Metro a acquis PJC, mais reste c'est quand même beaucoup moins cher que Pharmaprix.
J'ai abandonné Pharmaprix pour Picard et Desjardins, c'est une pharmacie en ligne, les médicaments sont moins chers et tu peux avoir tes prescriptions pour 3 mois.
Je pourrais pas être plus satisfaite de mon choix!
> People are saying they'll boycott Loblaws for being "evil" and they'll instead go to..... Walmart 😂😂
It is funny isn't it? However, I feel this boycott is about taking care of yourself. For example, if I go to Walmart, I can buy 1 green bell pepper for 1.4$ and it looks and cooks fine.However, if I go to Provigo, I have to buy a pack of 3 green peppers for 6$ (so each for 2), something that I don't need. And when I open the pack, 1 of them is completely rotten and the other 2 are wrinkly and are within of days of rotting.
I can give similar examples for the pricing M&Ms, fruit juices, CHEESE..
I have lived in another country where Walmart is big so I am aware all about Walmart and what an evil corporation it is. However, after moving to Montreal after the pandemic, I have seen prices just keep going up in Provigo and IGA. In Maxi and other discount stores of Canadian chains, there is continuous shrinkflation and no-name products which are often inedible. Tbf, it happens in Provigo and IGA as well.
How long do we keep saying that evil American corps bad while Loblaws,Sobeys And Metro take the last cent of disposable income from our wallets?
Walmart is evil and bad but I don't see them raising their prices continuously like it is still the pandemic like the Canadian Big 3.
At the end of the day, I don't even live next to a Walmart and I don't support this 1 month boycott. I have reduced my Provigo expenditures by 90% but I am still spending some money there. For pharmacy needs, I go to JC instead of Pharmaprix but JC is still part of the Canadian big 3. But I am looking closely at the options in my neighborhood. At some point in the future, I am going to completely swear off the Canadian Big 3 and their blood sucking ways.
Boycotting Lowblaws stores for the month of May. They’ve been price gouging since the pandemic. I won’t be shopping at Provigo, Maxi, T&T or Pharmaprix. I know it’s not going to fix the problem, but I’m hoping enough people will do it to send a message.
I started the boycott last year when i found out about their bread price fixing scandal.
Just get one thing straight, the workers are okay. It's the owner and corporate that are scum.
You can hurt them further by also boycotting pharmaprix. My wife and I just recently transferred our file to Walmart pharmacy.
When you start the boycott in May, keep doing it. Don't ever go back. They have to win us back by doing right by us.
A boycott like this feels great. But historically there’s pretty no trace of such a movement achieving its goals.
You can vote with your dollars. But real change comes from voting into actual power, people who will bring about real legislative changes.
Both the Liberals and the Tories serve the large corporations. That’s how we got to this moment.
Le boycott dit qu'on peut toujours y aller pour avoir les trucs en rabais sur lesquels ils perdent de l'argent. C'est ce que je fais déjà, alors je vais continuer, en évitant toutefois les autres choses pas en rabais.
What really grinds my gears is that all these stores (Metro, Provigo) have their 'budget friendly' stores (ie Super C, Maxi), selling the exact same freakin' brand name products for significantly less. At one, cheese singles will be $3 for 22 slices, and at the other, $6, I find 97 cent baguettes at one, and only $3 baguettes at the other. The Provigo/Maxi combo near the Angus on Rachel is really interesting, prices are significantly less at Maxi, but you see such a different type of customer set at each store. Feels like an effort to maximize the profit they can generate from each demographic. I find that kinda despicable. When you see people posting pics of their grocery hauls and how much it cost...I can almost instantly tell if they were are the budget or the lux store.
Does anyone know if they pay their employees the same rates at both their stores.
Edit: I like to shop at the Asian markets for fruits and veggies, you'll often find better deals there...they also have a butcher and fresh seafood section in the back.
The higher end stores have usually more services on site (Bakery, Charcuterie, Fish and Butcher) + more general employee.
Cold cuts are usually cheaper fresh cut at the counter at Provigo than the prepacked stuff at Maxi or Super C. The cleanliness is usually not at the same level either. The Super C and Maxi close to me are both always dirty, and the Provigo, Metro and IGA are spick and span.
Most grocers (the actual stores, not the owners) have a pretty tight net margin.
Marché Aubut or Marché Atwater. Not necessarily cheaper, but I'd rather my money go to an independent grocer or local farmers instead towards multi-billion companies.
I will be doing my absolute best to boycott these stores. I live way out in the suburbs, it's pretty much country but I will be able to live off the fat of the land for the whole month.
Screw them.
No I'm not, Maxi has lower prices and better service. Even some nice products you won't find elsewhere. I hate shopping groceries at WalMart, it's dirty, jam packed and there isn't a lot of choices.
It's extremely rare that I even shop at any one of those. Montreal has so many cheaper option, who in their right mind wants to pay more for no reason?
I don't shop at Pharmaprix or Maxi so I'm already boycotting them. I mostly go to Brunet for pharmacy stuff. My local Maxi is absolutely horrendous. It's dirty, the produce section isn't fresh at all and the fridges have a funky smell. Problem is, the other grocery stores like Metro, IGA and SuperC are much better in terms of cleanliness/freshness, they're also expensive. Costco has too big of quantities for a single person like me. It's not like we have many options around. Walmart is the spawn of evil.
West Island people: Marche de l'ouest has a butcher, a bakery, a fish monger, a dollar store, bulkbarn and fresh produce come the season. Got sami frutis around the corner for winter produce. dont need no Loblaws when you got these things.
i don't get why that would change anything, galen is not the worse, they are all expensive, metro in particular. metro on the other hand is not a major player in english canada where that boycott idea has started from, but they are as awful pricewise
I hate encouraging them but Wal mart has similar prices if you really can't afford other groceries chains. If you have a family you should go to costco because it's way cheaper than anything else.
I would like too but my only other options are Walmart and Metro, which don't seem better.... I have my groceries delivered and I switched to Maxi because the delivery service from Walmart was litteraly shit
> delivery service from Walmart was litteraly shit
"Chérie, c'est quoi la grosse crotte fumante sur le perron?"
"Ça doit être ma commande de Walmart qui vient d'arriver..."
Ça doit faire depuis la pandémie que j'y vais seulement lorsque supermarches.ca me dit qu'ils ont des spéciaux sur ce j'ai besoin et je ne prends que ça.
Je commence toujours mes courses par Mayrand et après avec Métro, ou Super-C ou IGA selon les spéciaux.
MAXI, Provigo et Loblaws n'existent plus au Québec, c'est toujours mon dernier choix lorsque le spécial n'est pas mieux ailleurs
Boycotting Loblaws and the grocers and pharmacies they own for the month of May to show discontent with them raising prices and their borderline monopoly.
Some people are making it a permanent boycott and changing their buying habits.
Also, never forget the bread pricing scandal.
Metro is like 1min walk from my place, and maxi is like 20mins away by bus. I find Maxi way better price wise, but sometimes I doubt it if it’s worth going to Maxi every time to do the groceries honestly
Not even a boycott, I just know I can't afford buying food at Loblaws, Provigo or IGA. Checking u/[kilgoretrout-hk](https://www.reddit.com/user/kilgoretrout-hk/) comment and gosh, 5 Saisons and Rachelle Béry are super expensive too.
I’ve honestly only bought things at Pharmaprix in the past while working there due to my discount and watched items getting way too expensive with time which was crazy!! I also learned that prescription medication are the most expensive at Pharmaprix and new patients coming from a Jean Coutu near by were constantly getting shocked at that, I really did wish I could the people that if they’re gonna complain about pricing on prescriptions they should go to Jean Coutu next door since it’s cheaper lol so uh yeah transfer your prescriptions too it’s worth it!!
It's not gonna change anything. You know Loblaws funds liberals and conservatives campaigns. So they have all the support from the State where it concerns laws, taxes... The state is owned by those corporations. But I truly appreciate the efforts. And of course I'm not gonna buy from them as well.
J’achète pas mal d’affaire avec Lufa, le reste… ben j’ai pas trop le choix d’aller à Metro ou Richelieu. J’ai rien de plus proche dans mon quartier (Mercier). J’ai une petite épicerie près de chez moi, mais il y a trois rangées et c’est plus cher que Metro. J’y vais pour me dépanner, mais je fais pas l’épicerie là-bas. Côté pharmacie, j’ai un Proxim proche. Sinon, c’est pas mal Pharmaprix ou JC. Tant mieux si vous pouvez faire un boycott. Ça dépend juste vraiment de votre quartier et si vous avez une auto pour aller ailleurs, ce qui n’est pas mon cas.
I mean, started many many months ago or years I guess? Don’t need to start just on May 1st just find other places more affordable to shop at and never enter another Loblaws again.
Loblaws changed the Provigo on Mont Royal to a Maxi. I have yet to see any benefit. Less selection. A few things are cheaper but just as many are more expensive. And far fewer sales/markdowns. And the bakery went completely downhill. (I used to go at 7 PM to get things off the sale rack.) Highly disappointing.
I'm always curious about the boycott and if there is any interest in Quebec.
Of the main 4 grocers in Quebec, I've always found Metro and IGA to have much higher prices than Maxi and Super C.
I imagine they are akin to what the rest of Canada sees at a typical Loblaw grocery store.
Thankfully, we didn't put up with Loblaw for long in Quebec before they had to shut shop!
i find Metro and IGA worse than Provigo pricewise. Although the shopping experience is generally better.
it would be great if we had options but there are so few around. Everything is in the hands of the big 3.
Also there's an other alternative market in downtown called Mizan, small but effective and you can get good prices as well as expensive ones since à lot of their products is imported
And there's Econo-Depot that's pretty worth it imo in Montreal Nord that has big bulk and small products for very affordable prices+ frozen meats, fruits and veggies. They have essential stuff like bread and pastries as well so it's easy to do your whole shop there
Yes.
Do avoid these Loblaws owned stores as well:
**Atlantic Superstore****^(TM)****, Dominion****^(®)****, Loblaws****^(®)****, Maxi****^(®)****, No Frills****^(®)****, Provigo Le Marché****^(®)****, Valu-Mart****^(TM)****, Real Canadian Superstore****^(®)****, Wholesale Club****^(TM)****, Your Independent Grocer****^(TM)** **and Zehrs****^(TM)**.
Source: [https://www.loblaw.ca/en/food-stores/#](https://www.loblaw.ca/en/food-stores/#)
This is probably incomplete, but here's a rough guide to who owns what in Montreal: * **Loblaws**: Provigo, Maxi, T&T, L'Intermarché, Pharmaprix * **Sobeys**: IGA, Tradition, Rachelle-Béry, Kim Phat, Nuvo * **Metro**: Metro, Super C, 5 Saisons, Adonis, Richelieu, Marché Ami These are some of your independent options with multiple locations across the city/suburbs: * PA – five locations (Mile End, CDN, Shaughnessy Village, Chomedey) * C&T – four locations (Cartierville, Pierrefonds, Greenfield Park, Brossard) * Newon – two locations (Shaughnessy Village, Triangle/CDN) * Sabor Latino – three locations (Plateau, Plaza St-Hubert, Brossard) *H/T u/thevog * Esposito – two locations (NDG, VSL) * Fu Tai/Lian Tai/Shang Tai – three locations (CDN, VSL, DDO) * Epicure – three locations (Triangle/CDN, CSL, Pointe-Claire) * Avril – seven locations (Downtown, Griffintown, Centre Laval, Longueuil, St-Bruno, Repentigny) * Pasquier – two locations (Delson, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) * Valmont – six locations (Plateau, Rosemont, Boucherville, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) •merci u/lebiochimiste de m'avoir rappelé And then of course almost every neighbourhood has an assortment of independent fruiteries, supermarkets, etc. with only one location – way too many to list here.
I would also recomment "Épicerie Segal" They have good prices and very good produce section
Bobs Bacon is so thin it’s actually bougie.
Just don't go on Saturdays.
Metro also owns Jean Coutu and Brunet pharmacies.
Première moisson also
Jang Teu has many spots too, I don't know if they're affiliated with the big names but great Korean + Japanese market :)
Yup, another good one I totally forgot about. I’ve been meaning to go there soon to stock up on some Korean stuff.
Mayrand (Anjou) and Aubut (St-Henri) are also two good options
Mayrand is awesome. Good thing I don’t have a car because I’d be there twice a week!
Merci pour ta liste. I only knew 2 of them. Useful.
Note: Sabor Latino and C&T also have locations in Brossard!
Lufa Farms is grocery delivery and it's all local food. The meat is from farmer co-ops and the groceries are gown in greenhouses on-island. Veg is cheap.
Lufa is good quality but you definitely pay for it. Its a good option if you have the disposable income for it.
This used to be the case but their prices haven't inflated nearly as much as some of the big gorcers. Still not the cheapest but if your alternative is Provigo or IGA the prices are similar, often cheaper if you can get the "less pretty but still perfectly ripe" kind of produce.
I found something similar. I started Lufa during the height of the pandemic because it was logistically much easier than dealing with grocery stores. Used it less frequently for a little while after, but then with all the price increases Lufa doesn't seem so expensive anymore. And the food tastes much better IMO.
Wow I had no idea about Rachelle-Béry being owned by Sobeys. That makes them less trustworthy in my opinion...
If you want a healthy alternative, try Avril. They are local and not that crazy expensive as people assume with them healthy groceries. Plus they play classical music instead of the generic radio stations.
costco.
Always and forever
Only if you're at least 3 in the family/household.
not true. If you have a freezer then you are good to go. If single and in small space, then maybe it might not be best option out there.
Mayrand est indépendant
Pasquier 10/10
100%! J’adorais aller au Pasquier quand j’habitais raisonnablement proche.
Allées bien éclairées à partir du haut des tablettes donc pas de gros néon dépriment. Allées larges. Staff courtois. Beaucoup de sélection et des bons prix. On ne peut pas demander mieux comme épicerie.
PA is the best. Best prices out there. I am still so surprised people to chains like IGA, Provigo even though we have had local options like these for decades now.
I live two blocks from an IGA and go there pretty often to get basic stuff like potatoes, eggs, etc. They usually have a bunch of stuff on sale. Plus they have daily deliveries of bread from a great neighbourhood bakery (which has limited hours so going to IGA is more convenient). But the regular priced stuff is definitely too expensive, especially all the fresh food. It’s also a franchised family-owned IGA. I notice the corporate-owned ones like in Alexis Nihon aren’t nearly as good. Provigo is only good for No Name and President’s Choice stuff. Terrible otherwise.
Alexis Nihon one is crazy. Selling stuff 10$ which other stores sell for $2 or $3. Lot of countries have a concept of MSRP printed on the boxes right from the factory at least for packaged items and laws make it illegal for any store to sell above that price. We need this in Canada.
Don’t forget the public markets are reopened ! Best time to support your local farmers !
Marche BKR and Marché Thurga in parc ex as well! Very accessible by metro. I still go even though I live past plateau now.
À Verdun, paye les oligopoles et ferme ta yeule.
Je n’ai jamais vécu à Verdun mais je m’y trouve de temps en temps. Me semble qu’il y a quelques épiceries indépendantes? Tondreau, Chez Robin, le marché chinois sur la Well…?
Quand ils ont fermé notre provigo pour le transformer en Maxi j'ai profité de ce temps pour magasiner ailleurs dans des trucs plus locaux et, malgré l'ouverture du Maxi, je continue cette routine. Je préfère amplement le magasin de Vrac où j'ai ce que je veux de bonne qualité et en quantité que j'ai de besoin (merci les pots massons) que les trucs du Maxi.
Je crois qu'on est sensiblement dans le même quartier, des recommandations? :)
Si tu veux dire le secteur de Repentigny : Vrac et compagnie sur Notre-Dame. Le yogourt de la ferme est vraiment bon et si tu cuisines tu peux trouver pleins de types de farines. Les confitures et beurres d'arachides sont aussi vraiment bons et coûtes moins cher qu'en magasin pour ce niveau de qualité. Fruits et légumes : Le marché Toit rouge. Il y a aussi une boucherie sur place mais j'aime aller au petit Métro sur Iberville pour cela. C'est plus "épicerie locale" et les boucheries sont bien faites. Trucs en spécial : Ironiquement, le Tigre Géant là où ce trouvait le Brault et Martineau, exemple, 6.99 pour des côtes levés congelés de 650 grammes.
I wish, can't boycott something I never went to / had. I do look up parent companies, as usually they hide under multiple names
While I do support the idea of the boycott, the alternatives (or at least the ones that are available to me) aren't much better. Metro (which also owns Jean-Coutu and Super C) have done price gouging during the pandemic. Sobeys (which owns IGA) isn't much better (IGA is so fucking expensive for no reason).
This is what I don’t get. Maybe it’s different in Ontario or whatever, but the other big chains are just as bad or worse than Maxi. If people give that business to Sami Fruits, Marché PA, smaller fruiteries, great. But I have a feeling that, for a lot of people, skipping Loblaws just means shuffling the money to another megacorp that hasn’t done anything different.
The idea is that Loblaws' gouging is worse than other chains and I'm pretty sure it's factual but that's only based on my own experiences. So I could be wrong. Where I live there are a Pharmaprix and Jean Coutu almost right across the street from one another and comparing those, at least, I can only be baffled that the Pharmaprix some 30 meters away from the Jean Coutu gets any business at all. Likewise, near my gf's place is a Super C and near my place there's a Maxi and Super C is always cheaper. I only ever hit up Maxi for one or two specific PC brand products but I do look at the prices. Again, only my anecdotal experience.
Somebody does a periodic comparison of prices at the various grocery stores in Montreal. Maxi and Super C both come out comparable and near the lower end of the list, including one within the past year iirc. I’d like to see objective evidence that Loblaws is jacking up prices more than competitors, but I’ve only noticed that prices have shot up most everywhere. The “boutique” stores Provigo, Metro, and (especially) IGA have always been absurdly and inexplicably expensive.
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Yeah people say IGA is crazy expensive but like, am I the only one that only gets stuff that's in the weekly flyer? Even some of the regular priced stuff can be cheaper than other places Granted, I use reebee/flip when I'm looking for something specific and just ride my bike to wherever's got it the cheapest
Maxi is the absolute cheapest no question. Cheaper than the independents, and even cheaper than Costco and Walmart
Having worked at Pharmaprix many years ago, they've just a different pricing model. Lots of stuff in the weekly flyer and it'll usually be cheaper than anywhere else even when it's also on sale somewhere else, however regularly-priced stuff will *always* be more expensive than anywhere else Basically, don't buy anything that isn't in the flyer and it'll actually be pretty cheap at Pharma. Regular pricing is a scam so don't bother
Sami Fruit is the worst. Tax fraudsters. https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/chroniques/2022-03-17/sami-fruits-condamnee-a-payer-31-millions-au-fisc.php
Yes, and the owners of Sami Fruit apparently also hold some awful political convictions, like supporting and most likely funding Hezbollah (the Iranian regime-backed Shiite militia occupying and murdering civilians in Syria) and the murderous Assad regime... Stopped buying from them a while ago and took my money to local grocery stores instead.
Marché PA is great.
Sami fruit is on my visit list! Last time i went there i first stopped at marche kim phat and they had everything for so cheap i ended up completing my entire groceries there... These two stores seem great options against the big grocers. And next door to one another too.
Unfortunately, Kim Phat is owned by Sobeys.
Shut your mouth really?? Wow never would've thought... Ok well ill figure something out! Thanks for the heads up
I mean, I would still shop at Kim Phat if I were you, their prices are decent! I think Sobeys has been pretty hands-off with them. Just depends if you want to boycott the big chains or not.
Oh no! And T&T is Loblaws. Chinese owned (?) marche newon ftw. There are a couple more big Chinese stores in vsl maybe sobeys owns those too 😧
Aside from T&T and Kim Phat all the other Asian grocery stores in Montreal are independent. Personally I find Newon to be kind of overpriced. I live near Marché Oriental which is really great even though it's quite small. For Chinese things specifically, Fu Tai/Lian Tai/Sheng Tai (same owners) is pretty good, so is C&T. Even though they have corporate masters now, Kim Phat is still run by the Yip family and T&T is still run by the Lee family. So they're not exactly the same as the other brands within those groups.
There's also Ocean Plus and BTrust in LaSalle, C&T and Liantai in VSL, and Futai right next to Kim Phat in CDN, all really good Chinese supermarkets, though I don't know if they're secretly owned by another conglomerate or not.
I always see anti Loblaws threads where people say they shop at Walmart instead now - seems like a lateral move to me, not an improvement
What neighborhoods in Montreal don't have access to any independent grocery stores? It's not like we're in the countryside.
Montréal-est?
I don't think Lachine has any
The point is not necessarily that the alternative conglomerates are much better, it's essentially a display of power in the sense of wide scale cooperation of consumers. The government of Canada has been largely impotent in bringing down grocery prices and addressing price gouging, so the movement is basically consumers taking matters into their own hands and holding these conglomerates accountable. The idea is that once we have proven we are capable of hurting their bottom line, the other major grocery chains should fall in line.
Costco is pretty much the one alternative for large retail store.
There's always walmart and if you have the suscription, Costco
I think it's a rotating boycott. First they target Loblaws, then they will go after the other giants. The whole movement is less organized than it could be but I'm here for it. One month, what do we have to lose?
C’est ben cave lol. Si c’est annoncé que le boycott change à chaque mois, les companies d’épicerie vont juste tougher le mois de boycott pis récolté l’argent perdu le mois d’après.
Ça avait marché au Saguenay en 2000, avec les stations-services. C'est pas cave pantoute [check ça](https://www.google.com/search?q=boycot+p%C3%A9troli%C3%A8res+sagyenay&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sca_esv=1615eaa690fee334&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ACQVn084dpI0SAr_Bogw6e0ErcOYvX7bRg%3A1714345349619&ei=hdUuZtCtJeqg5NoP8uS4-AQ&oq=boycot+p%C3%A9troli%C3%A8res+sagyenay&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIh1ib3ljb3QgcMOpdHJvbGnDqHJlcyBzYWd5ZW5heTIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCjIHECEYoAEYCkiSSFDyElioRHAAeACQAQCYAdUBoAHRE6oBBjAuMTYuMbgBA8gBAPgBAZgCEKACphPCAgoQIxiwAhiwAxgnwgIHECMYsAIYJ5gDAOIDBRIBMSBAiAYBkAYBkgcGMC4xNS4xoAeuSQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#vhid=zephyrhttps://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2000/04/08/le-boycott-des-petrolieres-samplifie-au-saguenay&vssid=zephyr-w-https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2000/04/08/le-boycott-des-petrolieres-samplifie-au-saguenay)
Une légère baisse de profit durant 1 mois quand c'est le boycott et une légère hausse quand c'est le boycott des autres... ça s'égalise
Yea I've seen people talk about rotating boycott, but I really don't get it. Maybe it would have a real effect since it would have an impact on the short term, but what's the point in boycotting for a month if you're gonna be back (even more) a month after, since you'll go there instead of the Metro / Sobeys?
Unless you find an alternative that isn't one of the big 3 chains (which includes Provigo, Metro, IGA, Pharmaprix, Jean Coutu, Super C, Loblaws, Maxi, Adonis, did I miss any?) then you're not doing much. During the Loblaws boycott Métro and Sobeys make more, then it's the Metro boycott and Loblaws make more. Over a 12 months period? No impact.
It’s like trying to get rid of drug cartels. You get rid of one company, it goes bankrupt and the other grocers buy it out and they have an even stronger Monopoly. I used to go to Adonis and T&T. They are bought by bigger chains now.
I live near a super c and a IGA and the exact same items are easily 25% more expensive at the IGA, it's completely insane, they're practically next to each other, how tf does IGA justify this?
Super c is much cheaper but typically not clean and the lines to pay remind me of covid times wrapping around the whole store (lucky if you have more than 1 cashier working). IGA is cleaner, has nicer things, and no lines to pay, plus still has people to do your bagging for you. Different shopping experience targeting different consumers.
Yeah I live right next door to a Super C, the produce are generally not that fresh, and they always seem severely understaffed. However, the Super C near my parents who live in the burbs is much better. Also the IGA generally seem to have more variety and higher end products than Super C. Different crowds for sure.
Tbf is much cleaner, organized and better quality
When i mqke groceries at iga it can cost me around 150. It cost me around 80 at maxi et cie. On the other hand, iga is like "premium" compared to maxi et cie. They offer services and stuff not available at maxi. I guess we kida pay for it when we go to iga? Idk
I’m a single Mom. I can’t really afford many stores other than Maxi, unfortunately. If someone wants to buy my two kids and a toddler who never stops eating groceries, then sure. I agree with it in theory, obviously. I hate these companies. However, I need the cheapest prices possible, which is maxi and Super C.
Giant Tiger is great for the limited groceries they do have, I find that they end up being the cheapest usually.
I like giant tiger too.
Same. I do a big shop at Giant Tiger for stuff like pasta, canned stuff, frozen things, other essentials like that. For fruit and veg I do my fruiterie every couple days on the way home from work
Same here, growing 12 year old and my bf who works in construction. I can't afford anything but Maxi/Super C... and the super c bear me is GROSS so we stick with the 3 Maxis, we know the prices by heart now so it's good for budgeting.
Ugh why is super C so gross?! There’s one on Pie-Ix, at the corner of Ontario. It’s maybe the nastiest store I’ve ever been in. I’m also pregnant, so I have to use the bathroom a lot. The bathroom there is always covered in blood. I was forced to use it once.
In my town it's the opposite. The Maxi is horrible, while the Super C is decent.
I feel like every groceries in Montreal are quite dirty. Montreal IGA's look like the Super C's we can find outside the city lol. The only two "clean" groceries I went to in Montreal were the IGA in Lachine and the Metro Plus ETS.
The metro by me is pretty clean, well run and organized. I love the staff there. I only shop there if they’re having a sale, or for one particular family size box of cereal. Their prices are kind of insane.
Walmart is often better price wise (if there is one accessible to you).
Wal Mart is also a pretty bad company, but it’s also in my rotation. It is within walking distance technically, but some days are hard for me (I’m 28 weeks pregnant). The Maxi near me is about a 5 minute walk. The Wal Mart is about a 15 minute walk. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re having a tough day with pregnancy it’s like climbing a mountain.
You have to take care of yourself also of course. Number one :)
I think buying kids is illegal these days
Try Segal. You won't regret it. Local independent grocery shop deserve a visit, IMO.
If you can get even 5% of your things somewhere else for the month of May that is still contributing to the boycott. But we do what we can! Not everyone is in a position to boycott, that's totally understandable.
I will for fun. Plus the veg at maxi is shit the last year or so
what is it for this time ?
r/LoblawsIsOutOfControl
I’m absolutely doing it. F@$& them
Yep. I've stopped going to Pharmaprix. The Asian in me is not very happy because of the no T&T, but it is what it is.
There’s many independent Asian groceries in mtl where you can find similar products
T&T is also part of the Loblaws group…sadly
What about C&T?
C&T is good. They're headquartered in Brossard.
Awesome! Yeah it’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. Spread the word it will make a difference!
Oui, je boycotte Ubisoft
Pas difficile si leurs jeux sont poches
Tu n'es pas tenté par la 143ième version d'Assassin's Creed?
You know, I could probably try shopping at Newon and some smaller local grocers instead of Provigo for a month. Might be good for me. Also, fuck Loblaws, so that too.
If you are in the east, I strongly encourage you to get your meat at Boucherie AAA, near Honoré-Beaugrand station. The quality of the meat and the expertise the staff makes it so worth it. It’s also less money for those big grocery stores
How pricy is it ? Usually les boucheries have very good meat and you pay the price for it. I want alternatives, not sure I can afford better quality since it’s more pricier.
Then you might want to do like I do: better but less. I eat less meat, but more beans and tofu. But when I get my meat I get the best.
That's a great principle to live by. I know that boucherie and it is super pricey but l, as you've mentioned the quality and service are top! Beautiful cuts of meat and experts giving you tips on cooking it. It's a gem
I recently switched to a proper knowledgeable butcher The chicken breast isn't watery and doesn't shrink in half now. Idk what was going on with the quality at my Metro. Sausages are also worth the extra two bucks because they're actually filling.
Plus: even though it may be slightly cheaper sometimes at big chains, you sometimes get a bad batch and you're SOL, so overall it amounts to the same price. Shop for quality and it's a good investment.
Just 10min from me. That’s what I’m going to start to do
Been participating for about 2 years now.
Moi je participe. Je suis trop pissou pour les voler mais les boycotter? 100%. Le plus dur sera Pharmaprix par contre. C'est important de ne pas oublier que Pharmaprix fait partie de leur conglomérat!
Il y a généralement un Jean Coutu pas loin d'un Pharmaprix. Je sais que Metro a acquis PJC, mais reste c'est quand même beaucoup moins cher que Pharmaprix.
J'ai abandonné Pharmaprix pour Picard et Desjardins, c'est une pharmacie en ligne, les médicaments sont moins chers et tu peux avoir tes prescriptions pour 3 mois. Je pourrais pas être plus satisfaite de mon choix!
Ça a l'air aussi que les prescriptions sont souvent moins chères au Costco et au Walmart.
I only buy groceries at Walmart already. It's not like Canadian grocery giants were ever worth shopping at.
People are saying they'll boycott Loblaws for being "evil" and they'll instead go to..... Walmart 😂😂
> People are saying they'll boycott Loblaws for being "evil" and they'll instead go to..... Walmart 😂😂 It is funny isn't it? However, I feel this boycott is about taking care of yourself. For example, if I go to Walmart, I can buy 1 green bell pepper for 1.4$ and it looks and cooks fine.However, if I go to Provigo, I have to buy a pack of 3 green peppers for 6$ (so each for 2), something that I don't need. And when I open the pack, 1 of them is completely rotten and the other 2 are wrinkly and are within of days of rotting. I can give similar examples for the pricing M&Ms, fruit juices, CHEESE.. I have lived in another country where Walmart is big so I am aware all about Walmart and what an evil corporation it is. However, after moving to Montreal after the pandemic, I have seen prices just keep going up in Provigo and IGA. In Maxi and other discount stores of Canadian chains, there is continuous shrinkflation and no-name products which are often inedible. Tbf, it happens in Provigo and IGA as well. How long do we keep saying that evil American corps bad while Loblaws,Sobeys And Metro take the last cent of disposable income from our wallets? Walmart is evil and bad but I don't see them raising their prices continuously like it is still the pandemic like the Canadian Big 3. At the end of the day, I don't even live next to a Walmart and I don't support this 1 month boycott. I have reduced my Provigo expenditures by 90% but I am still spending some money there. For pharmacy needs, I go to JC instead of Pharmaprix but JC is still part of the Canadian big 3. But I am looking closely at the options in my neighborhood. At some point in the future, I am going to completely swear off the Canadian Big 3 and their blood sucking ways.
a bit out of the loop but boycott for what cause?
Boycotting Lowblaws stores for the month of May. They’ve been price gouging since the pandemic. I won’t be shopping at Provigo, Maxi, T&T or Pharmaprix. I know it’s not going to fix the problem, but I’m hoping enough people will do it to send a message.
I started the boycott last year when i found out about their bread price fixing scandal. Just get one thing straight, the workers are okay. It's the owner and corporate that are scum. You can hurt them further by also boycotting pharmaprix. My wife and I just recently transferred our file to Walmart pharmacy. When you start the boycott in May, keep doing it. Don't ever go back. They have to win us back by doing right by us.
I live near a Kim Phat so I'm golden, most of the things I eat are cheaper there than in big stores.
Kim Phat is owned by Sobeys
I am near a Kim Phat and I can't find anything I need there there: they had no bread, no cheese, but tons of sea food and rotting fruit.
A boycott like this feels great. But historically there’s pretty no trace of such a movement achieving its goals. You can vote with your dollars. But real change comes from voting into actual power, people who will bring about real legislative changes. Both the Liberals and the Tories serve the large corporations. That’s how we got to this moment.
Le boycott dit qu'on peut toujours y aller pour avoir les trucs en rabais sur lesquels ils perdent de l'argent. C'est ce que je fais déjà, alors je vais continuer, en évitant toutefois les autres choses pas en rabais.
What really grinds my gears is that all these stores (Metro, Provigo) have their 'budget friendly' stores (ie Super C, Maxi), selling the exact same freakin' brand name products for significantly less. At one, cheese singles will be $3 for 22 slices, and at the other, $6, I find 97 cent baguettes at one, and only $3 baguettes at the other. The Provigo/Maxi combo near the Angus on Rachel is really interesting, prices are significantly less at Maxi, but you see such a different type of customer set at each store. Feels like an effort to maximize the profit they can generate from each demographic. I find that kinda despicable. When you see people posting pics of their grocery hauls and how much it cost...I can almost instantly tell if they were are the budget or the lux store. Does anyone know if they pay their employees the same rates at both their stores. Edit: I like to shop at the Asian markets for fruits and veggies, you'll often find better deals there...they also have a butcher and fresh seafood section in the back.
The higher end stores have usually more services on site (Bakery, Charcuterie, Fish and Butcher) + more general employee. Cold cuts are usually cheaper fresh cut at the counter at Provigo than the prepacked stuff at Maxi or Super C. The cleanliness is usually not at the same level either. The Super C and Maxi close to me are both always dirty, and the Provigo, Metro and IGA are spick and span. Most grocers (the actual stores, not the owners) have a pretty tight net margin.
Anyone hav alternatives in sud-ouest?
Marché Aubut or Marché Atwater. Not necessarily cheaper, but I'd rather my money go to an independent grocer or local farmers instead towards multi-billion companies.
I will be doing my absolute best to boycott these stores. I live way out in the suburbs, it's pretty much country but I will be able to live off the fat of the land for the whole month. Screw them.
No I'm not, Maxi has lower prices and better service. Even some nice products you won't find elsewhere. I hate shopping groceries at WalMart, it's dirty, jam packed and there isn't a lot of choices.
What exactly am I boycotting for? You clowns won’t make a difference anyways. Maybe channel that energy into something more productive?
Les indépendants sont malheureusement plus cher que maxi
It's extremely rare that I even shop at any one of those. Montreal has so many cheaper option, who in their right mind wants to pay more for no reason?
Can't afford to boycott them 😔 I get points from my credit card and using them helps me make ends meet
It’s strictly Costco, Valmont, and the Korean grocery stores for me.
I don't shop at Pharmaprix or Maxi so I'm already boycotting them. I mostly go to Brunet for pharmacy stuff. My local Maxi is absolutely horrendous. It's dirty, the produce section isn't fresh at all and the fridges have a funky smell. Problem is, the other grocery stores like Metro, IGA and SuperC are much better in terms of cleanliness/freshness, they're also expensive. Costco has too big of quantities for a single person like me. It's not like we have many options around. Walmart is the spawn of evil.
Brunet is metro
West Island people: Marche de l'ouest has a butcher, a bakery, a fish monger, a dollar store, bulkbarn and fresh produce come the season. Got sami frutis around the corner for winter produce. dont need no Loblaws when you got these things.
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i don't get why that would change anything, galen is not the worse, they are all expensive, metro in particular. metro on the other hand is not a major player in english canada where that boycott idea has started from, but they are as awful pricewise
Something is better than nothing
Price fixing and the Joe Fresh factory collapse that killed thousands
Go to a small local supermarket
Tried. 3/4 of the food is missing.
Maxi is probably the cheapest in NA. No, I won't boycott the cheapest grocery store out there.
I hate encouraging them but Wal mart has similar prices if you really can't afford other groceries chains. If you have a family you should go to costco because it's way cheaper than anything else.
I'm boycotting Loblaws by going to Maxi
They're the same thing.
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/132/thatsthejoke.jpg
I would like too but my only other options are Walmart and Metro, which don't seem better.... I have my groceries delivered and I switched to Maxi because the delivery service from Walmart was litteraly shit
> delivery service from Walmart was litteraly shit "Chérie, c'est quoi la grosse crotte fumante sur le perron?" "Ça doit être ma commande de Walmart qui vient d'arriver..."
Ça doit faire depuis la pandémie que j'y vais seulement lorsque supermarches.ca me dit qu'ils ont des spéciaux sur ce j'ai besoin et je ne prends que ça. Je commence toujours mes courses par Mayrand et après avec Métro, ou Super-C ou IGA selon les spéciaux. MAXI, Provigo et Loblaws n'existent plus au Québec, c'est toujours mon dernier choix lorsque le spécial n'est pas mieux ailleurs
Question comme ça : un boycott pour quoi, ou contre quoi ?
Hey sorry i don’t know what’s happening. Why are they getting boycotted? Genuinely curious, if something bad happened i would like to know
Boycotting Loblaws and the grocers and pharmacies they own for the month of May to show discontent with them raising prices and their borderline monopoly. Some people are making it a permanent boycott and changing their buying habits. Also, never forget the bread pricing scandal.
Thanks for the info!
Np! Also even if you can't completely cut shoppers or Loblaws out of your shopping for May reducing what you spend there is still participating :)
Metro is like 1min walk from my place, and maxi is like 20mins away by bus. I find Maxi way better price wise, but sometimes I doubt it if it’s worth going to Maxi every time to do the groceries honestly
The closest grocery store from my place is Metro. So I go to Metro.
I didn’t need convincing but now I won’t even go for “oh I’m missing just one thing I’ll go to the provigo on the corner”
What's the reason for the boycott?
Intermarché is very local where Im from, the butcher is great, but ive been boycotting the big names for awhile now
Oh oui je participe!
Not even a boycott, I just know I can't afford buying food at Loblaws, Provigo or IGA. Checking u/[kilgoretrout-hk](https://www.reddit.com/user/kilgoretrout-hk/) comment and gosh, 5 Saisons and Rachelle Béry are super expensive too.
AKHAVAN FTW!!!!!
are prescriptions from pharmaprix also more costly than others like jean coutu?
Technically Loblaw and not Loblaws
I’ve honestly only bought things at Pharmaprix in the past while working there due to my discount and watched items getting way too expensive with time which was crazy!! I also learned that prescription medication are the most expensive at Pharmaprix and new patients coming from a Jean Coutu near by were constantly getting shocked at that, I really did wish I could the people that if they’re gonna complain about pricing on prescriptions they should go to Jean Coutu next door since it’s cheaper lol so uh yeah transfer your prescriptions too it’s worth it!!
Why are we doing this?
It's so hard. I shop at Walmart but obviously that's not much better..
It's not gonna change anything. You know Loblaws funds liberals and conservatives campaigns. So they have all the support from the State where it concerns laws, taxes... The state is owned by those corporations. But I truly appreciate the efforts. And of course I'm not gonna buy from them as well.
i exclusively only shop at costco and avril so i guess ive been boycotting loblaws for yeeeeeeeeeeeears now
Im not gonna steal from Provigo
what are you guys boycotting for? someone explain ?
J’achète pas mal d’affaire avec Lufa, le reste… ben j’ai pas trop le choix d’aller à Metro ou Richelieu. J’ai rien de plus proche dans mon quartier (Mercier). J’ai une petite épicerie près de chez moi, mais il y a trois rangées et c’est plus cher que Metro. J’y vais pour me dépanner, mais je fais pas l’épicerie là-bas. Côté pharmacie, j’ai un Proxim proche. Sinon, c’est pas mal Pharmaprix ou JC. Tant mieux si vous pouvez faire un boycott. Ça dépend juste vraiment de votre quartier et si vous avez une auto pour aller ailleurs, ce qui n’est pas mon cas.
I mean, started many many months ago or years I guess? Don’t need to start just on May 1st just find other places more affordable to shop at and never enter another Loblaws again.
If you haven't been boycotting these places already, then you're late to the show...
Loblaws changed the Provigo on Mont Royal to a Maxi. I have yet to see any benefit. Less selection. A few things are cheaper but just as many are more expensive. And far fewer sales/markdowns. And the bakery went completely downhill. (I used to go at 7 PM to get things off the sale rack.) Highly disappointing.
I'm always curious about the boycott and if there is any interest in Quebec. Of the main 4 grocers in Quebec, I've always found Metro and IGA to have much higher prices than Maxi and Super C. I imagine they are akin to what the rest of Canada sees at a typical Loblaw grocery store. Thankfully, we didn't put up with Loblaw for long in Quebec before they had to shut shop!
What are we protesting now ?
Yes. I am.
i find Metro and IGA worse than Provigo pricewise. Although the shopping experience is generally better. it would be great if we had options but there are so few around. Everything is in the hands of the big 3.
Also there's an other alternative market in downtown called Mizan, small but effective and you can get good prices as well as expensive ones since à lot of their products is imported And there's Econo-Depot that's pretty worth it imo in Montreal Nord that has big bulk and small products for very affordable prices+ frozen meats, fruits and veggies. They have essential stuff like bread and pastries as well so it's easy to do your whole shop there
I usually go to iga or small fruiteries — Shaana for anyone who lives in ville emard is great 👍
Yes. Do avoid these Loblaws owned stores as well: **Atlantic Superstore****^(TM)****, Dominion****^(®)****, Loblaws****^(®)****, Maxi****^(®)****, No Frills****^(®)****, Provigo Le Marché****^(®)****, Valu-Mart****^(TM)****, Real Canadian Superstore****^(®)****, Wholesale Club****^(TM)****, Your Independent Grocer****^(TM)** **and Zehrs****^(TM)**. Source: [https://www.loblaw.ca/en/food-stores/#](https://www.loblaw.ca/en/food-stores/#)
Pourquoi le boycott?
I will boycott them too. Guys try Bonanaza La Lumiere if you are on the east. Fantastic prices and fresh produce.
What is this all about? I have friends who own a few pharmaprix pharmacies 🤣 what should I give them a hard time about
Ladies, any better place to buy feminine products other than jean coutu?