One of the organizers of a month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores says she met with the grocer’s president and CEO Per Bank on Thursday afternoon.
Emily Johnson, who started the Reddit page that led to the boycott, said she shared shoppers’ concerns and questions with Bank, a European retail executive who took on the top role about months ago.
“Obviously, the boycott is still on,” said Johnson. But she said she’s “confident in the fact that we got an audience, we have their attention, and they’re listening to what we have to say and what we want to do.”
Loblaw said earlier in the week that it had reached out to boycott organizers to set up a meeting.
Bank believes the conversation was productive, said Loblaw spokeswoman Catherine Thomas: “We’re listening, and thought it was important to hear her concerns in person.”
The CEO discussed some of the things the grocer is doing to try to help customers struggling with the cost of living, Johnson said.
One of these is removing “multi-buy” promotions — where customers get a better price per unit if they buy more than one item — from No Frills stores.
Shoppers on tighter budgets can’t take advantage of such deals if they aren’t able to afford four items instead of one, for example, even when the price per unit is lower.
“Customer feedback in those stores was that it wasn’t a benefit to them (particularly as basket sizes are smaller there) and that they value this change,” said Thomas in an email. “In other stores, where customers tend to buy more, multi-buys are often a popular sale.”
Bank and Loblaw chairman Galen Weston spoke at the company’s annual general meeting Thursday where they pushed back on what they called “misguided criticism” of the company.
“Let me assure you that in every corner of the business, our colleagues are working hard to reduce costs and do things more efficiently. These efforts enabled us to reinvest savings to offset the impact of price inflation in our stores,” Bank told shareholders at the meeting.
Johnson started a Reddit page about high grocery prices in November and it quickly attracted attention from frustrated shoppers. It now boasts tens of thousands of members.
As the number of people in Johnson’s Reddit group grew, so did calls for a boycott. The official start date for the boycott was May 1, the same day that Loblaw reported its first-quarter profits grew by almost 10 per cent from the same period last year.
Customers have been growing increasingly frustrated with rising food prices and the profits earned by grocery companies, and Loblaw has been at the epicentre of many of these frustrations.
“As a well-known company and Canada’s largest grocer, it is natural that Loblaw would be singled out as a focal point for media and government and of course consumer frustrations,” Weston said at Thursday’s meeting.
Johnson said the request for a meeting from Loblaw took her by surprise, and at first she and the other organizers weren’t sure whether she should take it.
“For me, it was … ‘let’s hear them out,'” she said. “Because if we’re not here to to fix the problem, or if we’re not here to try and fix the problem, you know, then why are we boycotting at all?”
“My goals were to sit down and to have the conversation with him, to share these perspectives, to hear their perspective and to present that information back to the community.”
On May 3, the boycotters also launched a petition sponsored by NDP MP Matthew Green calling upon Parliamentarians to address “monopolistic practices in the food retail sector,” investigate practices like shrinkflation and allegations of price-fixing or collusion, implement measures to promote fair competition in the food retail industry, explore ways to prevent “excessive price gouging on essential food items,” and make Loblaw and Walmart sign the grocery code of conduct.
A House of Commons committee has been studying food prices as well as the grocery code of conduct, and has urged the two grocers to sign on. And last June, the Competition Bureau released a report on the grocery sector, calling it concentrated and making recommendations to improve competition in the industry.
Johnson previously told The Canadian Press that while the primary aim of the boycott is to have a financial impact on the company, she also hopes the boycott educates people and gets the attention of government.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
