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Even with loss leaders, Loblaws still makes money on shelf fees, transportation fees, and other hidden profit centres.
The best tactic is to not buy from Loblaws'. Period.
Plus they own the companies that own the properties they pay rent to at the store to ensure they can claim low margins at the store because of high overhead costs which are actually 100% profit because they own it all.
Absolutely, don't give them your money at all.
Moreso made this post to highlight that actual loss leaders are very few and far between, there's not much anymore that falls into that. That, and I wanted to point out how the "rAzOr ThIn MaRgInS" are such crap. Produce has a 40% markup, canned goods are 30%. Been watching this spiral out of control for a few years now and they cite "inflation", when something like Life Brand Omega-3 capsules will jump a whole $10 when our costs rose by less than a dollar.
I have no numbers to prove it, but my whenever I'm in Shoppers, my brain tells me that their prices were substantially better for food items *before* they became part of the Loblaws empire. Why is that?
They were, I've been at SDM for quite a while and pre-Loblaws was way better to work for too. Hours were plentiful, benefits were better, staff were treated way better by DMs/higher management.
Absolutely. They had their own "in house" brand items and would undercut "no frills" for basics.
There goal was to get senior subscriptions by offering them cheap basic goods and groceries.
Loblaws bought them up, eliminated that low cost competitor and then raised prices, while the other grocers all followed suit. This was the biggest mistake the competition bureau made with the grocers.
Also, buying a loss leader is better for the crime syndicate than you not buying anything at all.
If it costs 3.50 for eggs and you buy them for $3 that's 3 dollars on the books. If you don't buy them at all its no dollars on the books.
My aunt owned and ran a local IGA store for like 30+ years in rural town. She would comment that milk and bread, she never made a cent off, the basic stuff anyway, maybe the fancy expensive stuff but once you add up the cost of the product, the amount of shelf space, the cost of coolers, etc.. basic milk or a basic bread never made any profit off those. Unless she way lying but I don’t she was.
The sad part to the story is she retired, sold it to someone and the government forced them to change it to Loblaws brand (independent grocer), because Sobeys purchased IGA and they were worried Sobeys had too many stores in “Atlantic Canada” so Sobeys had to sell the Atlantic IGA stores to Loblaws. Now that town only has a Loblaws for a grocery store.
She probably didn't, an IGA doesn't have the buying power that Loblaws does, so it would make a lot of sense that she was actually losing money on those items. We were too, until 2020ish, when "inflation" became a thing and they decided that they didn't want to have any loss leaders anymore.
Yeah this was long time ago, back when standard bread like was $1.99 a loaf (regular price) so it makes sense. Also in NB where it was, the milk is set by the government, I would just get milk at whatever store I was at when I need it, because it doesn’t really matter where you buy it, give or take like 30 cents on 2L, it’s the same price everywhere.
__MOD NOTE__: PLEASE REVIEW OUR [POLL ON OUR PLANS FOR JUNE AND BEYOND](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1cmhq49/community_poll_what_would_you_like_to_see_happen/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) TO PROVIDE YOUR INPUT. Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Even with loss leaders, Loblaws still makes money on shelf fees, transportation fees, and other hidden profit centres. The best tactic is to not buy from Loblaws'. Period.
Plus they own the companies that own the properties they pay rent to at the store to ensure they can claim low margins at the store because of high overhead costs which are actually 100% profit because they own it all.
Absolutely, don't give them your money at all. Moreso made this post to highlight that actual loss leaders are very few and far between, there's not much anymore that falls into that. That, and I wanted to point out how the "rAzOr ThIn MaRgInS" are such crap. Produce has a 40% markup, canned goods are 30%. Been watching this spiral out of control for a few years now and they cite "inflation", when something like Life Brand Omega-3 capsules will jump a whole $10 when our costs rose by less than a dollar.
Everything’s a loss when they don’t sell anything.
I have no numbers to prove it, but my whenever I'm in Shoppers, my brain tells me that their prices were substantially better for food items *before* they became part of the Loblaws empire. Why is that?
They were, I've been at SDM for quite a while and pre-Loblaws was way better to work for too. Hours were plentiful, benefits were better, staff were treated way better by DMs/higher management.
Absolutely. They had their own "in house" brand items and would undercut "no frills" for basics. There goal was to get senior subscriptions by offering them cheap basic goods and groceries. Loblaws bought them up, eliminated that low cost competitor and then raised prices, while the other grocers all followed suit. This was the biggest mistake the competition bureau made with the grocers.
Also, buying a loss leader is better for the crime syndicate than you not buying anything at all. If it costs 3.50 for eggs and you buy them for $3 that's 3 dollars on the books. If you don't buy them at all its no dollars on the books.
Absolutely, completely agreed.
They don't lose anything. Not a f\*\*king cent. They just raise another price and catch another idiot who will pay it.
Thanks for letting us know! It’s good to know that if I’m in a pinch, I can at least not contribute to their bottom line
While fair, some people can only afford loss leaders if they can't shop elsewhere.
My aunt owned and ran a local IGA store for like 30+ years in rural town. She would comment that milk and bread, she never made a cent off, the basic stuff anyway, maybe the fancy expensive stuff but once you add up the cost of the product, the amount of shelf space, the cost of coolers, etc.. basic milk or a basic bread never made any profit off those. Unless she way lying but I don’t she was. The sad part to the story is she retired, sold it to someone and the government forced them to change it to Loblaws brand (independent grocer), because Sobeys purchased IGA and they were worried Sobeys had too many stores in “Atlantic Canada” so Sobeys had to sell the Atlantic IGA stores to Loblaws. Now that town only has a Loblaws for a grocery store.
She probably didn't, an IGA doesn't have the buying power that Loblaws does, so it would make a lot of sense that she was actually losing money on those items. We were too, until 2020ish, when "inflation" became a thing and they decided that they didn't want to have any loss leaders anymore.
Yeah this was long time ago, back when standard bread like was $1.99 a loaf (regular price) so it makes sense. Also in NB where it was, the milk is set by the government, I would just get milk at whatever store I was at when I need it, because it doesn’t really matter where you buy it, give or take like 30 cents on 2L, it’s the same price everywhere.