A boycott targeting Loblaw is gaining momentum online, with what could be thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere in May.
It’s the latest sign of Canadians’ mounting frustration with the major grocers, which have been under political and public scrutiny for rising food prices and profits.
“We don’t want to struggle anymore,” said Emily Johnson, a mental health and addictions worker in Milton, Ont., and one of the boycott’s organizers.
Johnson and others started organizing the boycott after a Reddit group she created gained thousands of followers looking for a place to complain about Loblaw and other grocers.
The page, r/loblawsisoutofcontrol, now has about 56,000 members. While there’s no way of knowing how many will participate in the boycott, the page is full of posts from people who say they plan to, or have already started. There’s also a list of demands to Loblaw from the boycott organizers that includes signing a grocery code of conduct and committing to affordable pricing.
The primary aim is to have a financial impact on Loblaw, Johnson said, the biggest of the Canadian grocers. But she also hopes the boycott educates people and gets the attention of government.
Mississauga resident and community advocate Rahul Mehta was already trying to cut back on shopping at Loblaw-owned stores, and plans to fully boycott the company come May.
He hopes the boycott drives shoppers not to other large grocers, but to local, independent stores.
“I think we could potentially see a resurgence in … interest in learning and demanding real choices, not just Metro versus Loblaws,” he said.
Consumers increasingly feel powerless about the lack of choice they have, especially in smaller communities, said Monica LaBarge, an assistant professor at Queen’s University studying food access and consumer well-being.
“It’s unlikely that Loblaws is going to change … its fundamental business model as a consequence of a boycott,” said LaBarge.
But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t taking notice, she added, saying the grocer recently walked back a controversial change to its discounts on products nearing their best-before date after public outcry.
Loblaw president and CEO Per Bank says the company is paying attention to customers and sees them trying to mitigate inflation by seeking out sales, buying more private-label products and shopping at discount stores.
The grocer is responding to these shifting behaviours through new promotions and expanding its discount footprint, he said in an interview.
Loblaw has to keep looking for ways to provide value to keep people coming back, he said: “We don’t have a contract with our customers. They can choose to shop elsewhere tomorrow, if they don’t like the offer that we’re giving.”
Bank says he takes customer complaints personally, and if customers aren’t happy, “that’s something I want to fix.” He added that if one customer really dislikes Loblaw, “that’s one too many.”
The boycott’s effect on the company might not be immediate, but could build up over time if people’s habits change, said LaBarge.
“That’s where the financial impact is,” she said. “It’s that consistent loss of consumers over time, because they’re very hard to get back once they’re gone.”
LaBarge said she thinks the grocers don’t fully understand “how deeply unhappy their customers are,” and the risk that poses to their reputations.
Some boycott participants were once loyal Loblaw customers, like Willi Fleerakkers, who plans to forgo not only Loblaw, but also Metro and Empire stores in May.
“I’ve already switched (to) getting my vegetables and fruit from my local family store,” Fleerakkers said.
She isn’t sure the boycott will significantly hit Loblaw’s bottom line, but thinks it could affect their reputation.
For Ann de Sequeira, the boycott has already begun.
The impetus was Loblaw’s move to reduce its discount level on food nearing its expiry date, she said.
De Sequeira, a Torontonian who posts about food on TikTok, said she’s doing a “soft” boycott of the other two big Canadian grocers but has pretty much entirely cut Loblaw out of her life, cancelling her PC Financial Mastercard and moving her prescriptions from Shoppers Drug Mart.
Loblaw walking back its discount change showed de Sequeira that if consumers “make a stink about something that’s loud enough, they have to take action,” she said.
Bank acknowledged that Loblaw’s reputation has taken a hit since pre-pandemic times, and said it’s something the company is looking to rebuild.
He argued it’s easier for customers to “point fingers” at grocers like Loblaw than at other players in the supply chain or global factors leading to higher prices.
“We are (a) much, much easier target, and we need to live with that and that’s fine.”
Some people are unsure about the boycott — some aren’t sure it will work, while for others, boycotting Loblaw-owned stores is easier said than done.
Both are the case for Halifax resident Tempa Hull. The two closest grocery stores to Hull are a Loblaws and a Sobeys, and she doesn’t have a car. But she knows others have even less choice.
“Most people don’t have the choice, time or money to do this,” she said.
She and her husband are going to try to participate, at least partially. Though they can’t buy everything they need elsewhere, they plan to reduce their shopping at Loblaws.
“What I think this planned boycott is ultimately going to demonstrate is that they have us by the throat. That we’re unable to boycott them because they simply own too many things that we need in order to live and function in society,” said Hull.
“And that right there, if anything, should be the big red flag to government that they need to get serious about fixing the problem.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2024.
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.
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.
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.
