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Five grocery executives were expected at a downtown Ottawa office tower within the hour, and no one in the lobby seemed to know which door they’d come through. There was a door on Queen Street to the south, another on Sparks Street to the north, and the gathering crowd of reporters and television cameras were trying to stake out the right one.
A black SUV pulled up on Queen Street and TV crews rushed toward it, then it left.
The executives — who lead the five companies that control 80 per cent of Canada’s grocery market: Loblaw Cos. Ltd., Sobeys’ parent Empire Co. Ltd., Metro Inc., Wal-Mart Canada Corp. and Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. — had been called to the nation’s capital on a few days’ notice for a Sept. 18 meeting with industry minister François-Philippe Champagne and finance minister Chrystia Freeland.
The invitations went out last week, just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a speech threatening new “tax measures” if the grocers couldn’t work with Champagne to stabilize rising food prices by Thanksgiving.
Ahead of the meeting, Champagne said the executives had had no choice but to show up.
“It’s not an invitation,” he said in a speech to the Liberal caucus last week. “We told them to be in Ottawa.”
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed the exercise as political theatre, but Champagne said the meeting was part of a broader government effort to tackle food inflation, overhaul federal antitrust policy and usher in a new era of competitiveness in Canada’s concentrated grocery market.
“They’re going to come here, for sure,” Champagne’s spokesperson Audrey Champoux told reporters.
They came as promised, each walking by the media pen one by one. No one said much of anything. Galen Weston, outgoing president of Loblaw, and by far the most high-profile grocery executive in the country, arrived wearing a knapsack, with his general counsel beside him. He passed without answering any of the questions shouted at him.
We’ll keep on pushing them, trust me. This is just the beginning
François-Philippe Champagne
After about two hours, Champagne came out of the meeting and called it “historic” — the first time in memory that the heads of the five chains were in the same room. The day’s main accomplishment, he said, was that the grocers had agreed to work with the government to stabilize food inflation.
While the grocers agreed to work with the government, it’s not yet clear what exactly that work will look like. Champoux said the next step is for the companies to come up with their own plans on tackling inflation and present them by Thanksgiving.
“The idea is they put forward measures that can be actionable,” she said, adding that the work will also involve food manufacturers and growers.
The Retail Council of Canada, the main lobby group representing big grocers, has been calling for the government to expand its scope beyond just grocers since the meeting was initially announced last week. The grocers have argued that inflation stems from a complex mix of geopolitical factors beyond their control, including the war in Ukraine, elevated fuel prices and global supply chain problems.
“Our members are always ready to participate in good faith dialogue about the food industry, inflation and affordability,” RCC spokesperson Michelle Wasylyshen said in an email.
“Very productive meeting,” Empire chief executive Michael Medline, whose company includes Sobeys, Safeway, Foodland, IGA and FreshCo, said. “We’ve got to stabilize prices.”
After Medline left, reporters and political staffers waited in the lobby for the rest of the executives, but they didn’t come. Eventually, Champagne’s team upstairs called down to say all the grocers had left, so if they hadn’t walked past the media, they must have found another way out.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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