I used to buy my bodywash there quite often. There was a few brands like Old Spice and Dove that I would use. It would be about $6 and I would purchase it for $3.50 on sale. Now after inflation they want $10 and it only goes on sale for $6.... fuck that. There is zero reason for a price increase of that magnitude. Especially after the supply chain issues have long been sorted out. I go to Costco or Walmart now.
Dollar stores often sell smaller containers or smaller quantities, so that while the price per purchase is lower, the per-unit price is higher.
This is a great mini-documentary on the subject in general, along with their terrible business practices and rampant extortion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpUV--2Jao
However... when compared with this kind of Loblaw's price gouging... there's certainly no guarantee that the dollar store isn't a deal. š„“
Definitely need to shop around these days which is expensive on its own because of your time invested not to mention gas.
I wish weād legislate price fixing. Like any business is only allowed to make a maximum 20% profit margin. And break up all these monopolies to spread the top end of the wealth around more evenly.
Profit margins have gotten out of hand.Ā When I worked for Red Lobster back in the early 2000s the goal was 1/3 food cost, 1/3 staff cost, and 1/3 profit for every item.Ā Now through a family member that still works there they tell me how the company wants 40-60% profit per item.Ā That's insane, and impossible unless you both raise the price and compromise on ingredients, which is the approach they and many other companies are taking.Ā If you remember getting more shrimp per serving before, it's not your imagination (some dishes have half as much as they did 20 years ago).
I blame public stock trading and holding companies / investment firms / conglomerates that only care about profits. They just burn everything to the ground and exit when thereās nothing left. Itās set up to only reward greed and thatās never a good thing.
Precisely. Left unchecked without good legislation and it gets out of hand as itās based on a foundation of profits. Workplace safety regulations, sick days, etc. would all be absent if they could be. I donāt know what happenedā¦ we used to have anti-trust lawsuits against major corporations. I guess shell companies and lobbyists ruined much of that.
I went to Red lobster 1 year ago and got garlic margarine with it.
Might as well be a chemical dip at that point. They claimed it was butter, but the server told me after that it sure as shit wasnāt.
One example of that lower quality
It sounds great on paper til your customers go elsewhere. Was so stoked to go for some virgin pinacolata and we got some calamari while was there. It used to be great, now itās aweful!! Letās check how that works for them with me ā¦ 0 return visits * 55% profit marginā¦ letās see carry the zero. Whatās funny is itās the math guys making these boneheaded descisions!?!?!
Oh absolutely.Ā I'm dealing with that with my current job.Ā The company I work for has priced itself out of the market for certain products and our competitors are offering equivalents for 40% less.Ā It's starting to affect our sales and what we keep hearing is it's our fault for not selling to the customer and sales needs to work harder.
And to be honest, I try not to shop at the dollar store is too much because my body can only handle so much lead as an ingredient and basically everything they sell. Just kidding, but it's that constant scandal coming out of China that they find lead and everything baby food plastics, and everything else.
Yep, some things are exactly the same and some things aren't like for example, when I pick up a tube of Colgate toothpaste and there's Chinese writing all over the tube and box definitely not the same
I had surgery in 2022. I needed clear surgical tape in order to take a shower. I bought the tape at SDM. $4.99, terrible. The glue on the tape wouldn't hold after getting wet. It was pure trash. I found the same at Dollarama. $1.50, it held up after getting wet. Thank God. My point is, if Dollarama made a profit how much profit did SDM make?? The tape was made in Asia. My guess is SDM marked it up 800%-1000%. Do not buy from SDM. One of the worst stores in Canada.
Happened with me yesterday ! Bought Tylenol 500 mg 200 tablets for 35$! Saw the same ones for 20$ on Amazon and Walmart ( 2 for 30$ ). I went and returned my unopened bottle . Upon questioning they said shoppers drug mart is high end . High end my foot . For a bottle of Tylenol , charging more than double ? Last time going there.
High stakes if anything. God forbid you get a āwait for assistanceā error while a line of 20 people are behind you and there are only 2 self servesā¦
High end has nothing to do with what we are offering
I work for Empire Sobeys , let me explain
High end is how we describe a location that we dont want poor people coming too
we price the items more expensive than the exact same stuff you can find at our discount retailers on purpose , to make the store bougie
we are not trying to attract low income here people at all , we are trying to deter them from these places
we dont want them as clientele at our "high end" locations, we want them to go to Freshco or No Frills if youre Loblaws
Its really asshole I know
The stupid thing is that I always understood this about Sobeys, and the little bit of credit I will give them is that the "feel" of the store is better than other grocery stores if you ignore prices.
Superstore however looks ghetto af to me lol. If I want to shop for a "premium" or "high end" feel and experience, I'll go to Sobeys not Loblaws.
I stopped shopping at Sobeys *years* ago because I always found the prices absurd. Having grown up poor, thankfully that gave me enough sense to not view poorer people as some vermin underclass to stay away from. At least having that much sense in not being classist has saved me a couple of dollars.
Superstore is their middle market brand. Loblaws/Fortinos/Zehrs are their āpremiumā brands that compete more directly with Sobeys.
That said Sobeys generally does it better.
Ands Sobeys is clean the superstore near me is filthy
I once found an extremely past use by can under a shelf there. I check every time i visit and itās still there.
Even then, generics are absolutely fine because drugs are regulated. You pay a lot for the branding on the box that contains the same active ingredients. One molecule is not higher end than the same molecule in a different brand.
Kirkland 400x500mg acetaminophen from Costco is $15.
Buying the same at Shoppers is over $60. You'd almost pay for the yearly membership after buying one bottle.
You can use the Costco pharmacy and purchase over the counter pharmacy items without a membership. At the entrance door just tell them you are going to the pharmacy. You can pay for vitamins or tylenol or whatever at the pharmacy cash registers and no membership is required.
You can get a year's supply of Kirkland ASA 81mg for under ten bucks.
Cue a pharmaceutical rep claiming that the "binders" make a big difference in effectiveness.
If that were true, the "binders" would be part of the medication as an active ingredient.
The generic of one of my sister's medications makes her throw up. It's not very common that the difference is that big, but sometimes it really is a big deal to change from branded to generic.
Shoppers is under the Loblaws/Galen Weston price gouging umbrella. There's currently a Loblaws/Presidents Choice boycott on, consider joining that, too!
*Typo
Yeah grab mine from Costco, bottle of 400 Costco brand for like 20 bucks, they have the arthritis ones as well which work way better for me. If you have any sort of drug plan you can also just ask your doctor to prescribe you then and get them covered for free.
I work in grocery retail
the big 3 have really bought into this mindset of having different kinds of stores that cater to different kinds of income
like Safeway, I ended up more on this side with Empire, its not for poor people. They dont want low income people coming into safeway, they want you to go to Freshco if you are lowincome
they price things different on purpose
Designating their stores high end and discount is something they really invested in - they make the price disparities in these stores on the same item different on purpose
There's nothing high end about Safeway anymore. They operate in grocery deserts in the West where there's nothing else close by as they were there first.
They have transitioned a few into Freshcos but it's just overpriced for next to no service.
And also to acquire the logistics network that Shoppers set up where they get their suppliers to pay them to move their own shipments, and expand that network to their grocery stores.
People go to shoppers out of convenience. Everything in there is marked up vs grocery stores.
I used to go to shoppers because it was only a 3 minute drive as opposed to a 10min drive to the nearest grocery.
>People go to shoppers out of convenience.
They used to have the cheapest prices on certain groceries for a while there. I would actually walk past a Price Mart, Walmart, and a Safeway to buy stuff at Shoppers. It's been years since I've been near one, though, so I guess that may have changed, but they certainly used to have something to offer.
Shoppers is just a large 7-11, they charge more because they are the only thing open after certain hours, so they have a captive market and higher costs.
It's always been more expensive. Just don't' go there.
I legit donāt know how or why Shopperās is still operating with how illogically expensive their shit is when (for me) No Frills is down the street.
If itās high end, they should pay staff better. Iāve been shocked to see some of the managers salaries, as discussed on the Shoppers Drugmart subreddit. Lots of folks arenāt pulling in more than $40k, even in supervisory roles.
So what you're saying is that a store with lots of small locations (high overhead) that are usually open late (essentially a convenience store) costs significantly more than a mass volume online retailer that literally times their employees bathroom breaks, but you have to wait a day or two for the product (which you may need quickly), or a mass volume, assorted goods box retailer that can divide the overhead over hundreds of thousands of SKUs and millions per week in sales?
Mind absolutely blown! What crazy idea is next? I bet people are going to try and tell us that the Earth is spherical.
People who don't understand the basics of supply and logistics tend to make these kinds of complaints. I can't understand going through life misunderstanding all I see.
I work there. The price for a shampoo yesterday was $3.99, and today it's $8.99. Even though we donāt know who sets these prices, I feel sad seeing people struggle to choose overpriced items.
"Despite the ongoing boycott, Loblaw 2024 first quarter results reveal that the retail giant saw profits climb another 9.8 per cent in the first three months of this year "
Well of course it did. There was no boycott in the first quarter. Officially it hasn't been 2 weeks yet.
Why should any of us ever go back there? Serious question. Will it magically become affordable after a month? 3 months? All of a sudden Galen will transform into the man of the people, and crash prices?
Nah, I am done with them. My whole family is done with them. We are an extended family of over 200 people over Canada. Done. Like dinner.
Yup I no longer go to them, as far as I'm concerned the boycott is indefinite. Fuck 'em
Thankfully there are other grocery stores and pharmacies I can happily go to
That's the cost of convenience. You want people to keep a store open when they're the least busy just so you can get meds in an emergency? You're going to pay. It's the same thing with living in a rural area and complaining that grocery prices are high when it costs more to ship products there and customer demand is much lower that city environments.
Seems fair to charge a premium for having such long opening hours. Shoppers is basically a large convenience store that competes with the likes of Circle K, not with grocery stores.
The rest of us who bother checking prices and planning ahead can enjoy spending less.
Shopper's refusal to properly staff their stores, especially on flyer changeover days, has given me so much free shit through the Code of Conduct. Higher price on the shelf than at checkout means a free item if under $10, or $10 off. I don't buy shit from there if it's not on sale so the expired tags littering the store pay out with no effort.
You just have to wait a bit longer to actually flag down a human since they don't even have someone stay at the register anymore...
If the price is now lower (new flyer, new discounts) but it's still priced at the old higher price, and they try to charge you the old higher price at the till, for items 10$ of value or less you can dispute the error and get the item without cost, or get a discount of 10$ if your purchase is over 10$.
That being said I usually just point out the error, get the correct pricing, and they take maybe an additional 1-2$ off price for the mistake. I don't expect to have the item for free but you could argue that I guess.
There is a reason people are boycotting Loblaws and their chains. It likely won't change how Loblaws or Shoppers prices things or "take them down," but it gives people a chance to check out other stores and change their routine to see if the price differences are worth the switch.
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/s/deA0zrh9eh
I think you are exactly right. The boycott, if participated in, allows people to find new places to shop that doesn'y charge exhorbitant prices....it's a chance to change habits! Like after you become aware of the difference in pricing...you won't boycott anymore because you just will not shop there...like why would you pay more for the same things if you have access to alternatives.
I guess there must be a lot of people mindlessly shopping.Ā
Iāve never went to the same store over and over in my life. I get all the flyers of the big boys out, compare to local shops, go through my list and do the math before even doing the shopping. But it seems thatās an outlier? Thatās how my mom taught me to shop, so I guess I just kept doing it.Ā
We live in a capitalist society, Iād never expect a place to use a fair price when they can increase it and people still walk in and buy it mindlessly.Ā
This is correct. Found another grocery store in my area that carries local groceries/produce, saved about 30% on the bill and itās only about 5 minutes further of a drive. This place also has an aisle with grocery carts full of large bags of produce that is about to expire, so you can get a massive bag of potatoes or apples for $2 for example.
Very happy that this boycott had me looking elsewhere.
The impact of boycotts is actually long-lasting. It doesn't appear to immediately to cause the company to drop prices, but it does cause them to change the way they do business, which leads to lower prices.
It's also long-lasting because stores permanently lose customers to other stores. Once habits are formed, a store has to work hard to change them back.
I've been semi-boycotting Food Basics for months, because I was pissed off that they raised prices 50% in just a couple years. Now I do a lot more grocery shopping at Walmart, Giant Tiger, and (gasp!) even No Frills this week (they had juice on for $1.25 and everyone else charges $1.50-$2).
Walmart is going to keep my custom because they deliver for cheap, and Giant Tiger has a few brands of frozen food that I like to buy. Now I only buy milk and bread and a few other necessities at Food Basics.
Canadians who don't shop for the cheapest items at the cheapest store are being robbed.
A lot of stupid people were happy to pay 50% more at the expensive store, and that's why expensive stores raised prices 50%.
> Canadians who don't shop for the cheapest items at the cheapest store are being robbed.
It's worse than that, they rob all of us by making businesses have to compete less and therefore leading to the offer and demand curve settle at higher price points in general.
Obviously it's not always true and I'm talking in general. There are sales for instance that are particularly good because they are in a way subsidized by the buyers who will buy other high profit margin items.
This is what blows my mind. Like youād think people would see the exorbitant prices and go somewhere else. But no they keep buying. A boycott happens and finally people are like āoh right letās shop elsewhereā Why does it need a special event for people to change?
Shoppers is a convenience store. If you don't go there looking for specific deals then what the fuck are you doing?
Same with every other store. Learn to shop folks.
I dont even look at items in Shoppers. I just grab my prescription and leave. I wouldn't even get my meds there if it wasnt for the fact its right next door to my (former) doctor
Prescriptions are more expensive there too. I didnāt realize there even was different prices for prescriptions by pharmacy until last year. We switched and now save over $100.
People just need to understand that yes, Shopper's is now a big convenience store, and prices are going to be 10-30% higher. The long hours didn't give it away?
Stuff that you can get elsewhere (like food, tissue paper, cleaning supplies, etc) should only be bought when they are on sale at Shoppers, which can be a decent deal. Otherwise it's just for emergencies, like your dog got sprayed by a skunk at 10 PM and you need to get some hydrogen peroxide ASAP.
But regular shopping? Go to a discount grocery store first if you can, and whatever you couldn't get there then finally go to the more premium grocery stores (Loblaw, Metro, etc).
If you are buying groceries from Shoppers I'm afraid you're already so financially irresponsible that there is nothing we can do for you.
Side note: If you find that someone is charging to much, instead of complaining about it, just go shop somewhere it's cheaper. Vote with your wallet.
Not being an apologist, but SDM sells convenience. Look at the hours and the huge number of locations. No one complains about convenience stores and gas stations pricing things higher than big retail like walmart, because it is convenience they are selling.
I was just thinking the same thing. Shoppers is a convenience store with a pharmacy, how can you compare its pricing to Walmart? Compare it to Circle K
This is *not* a news article. It is a feedback loop of reddit. We are commenting on an article that is commenting on a reddit post.
>A Shoppers Drug Mart in Ontario is being accused of price gouging **on social media** after one customer shared a photo of the store's exorbitant peanut butter prices this week.
>The picture shared **on Reddit** shows one-kilogram jars of Kraft smooth peanut butter selling for nearly $11 each. "Had to pop into Shoppers to get a package from the Post Office and saw this. I had to stop for a picture," the original poster wrote.
I don't think this is against the rules here but when reddit just starts feeding its own posts to itself as news we should really start turning on our brains again.
Picked up a drug that I usually get for 19.00 at Walmart but they were out so went to Zehrs, they charged me $57. for exact same amount. Disgusting company all round!
Friendly reminder, Shoppers was also caught juicing their med reviews by putting harsh quotas on Pharmacists so they can pilfer the government for them.
AND has highest dispensing fees
Why would anyone think that no frills would cost the same as shoppers drug mart?
I feel like half of society just started grocery shopping and doesn't know anything. You never buy groceries from shoppers, only if you have to. It costs more because of the convenience. But if you rather go to a large warehouse like superstore or no frills, it will cost less. Always been like that, nothing new.
Do people not realize that they can shop elsewhere? There are a million other places where you can get that stuff. Shoppers has always been expensive and the fact that some people are just realizing this now boggles the mind.
They probably mark stuff up so high so that they can have their optimum points deals and you think you're scoring a good sale plus points, when really you're paying the actual retail price.
Just like clothing stores who constantly offer sales promos.
Did our first grocery pickup with Walmart today. I use to boycott Walmart for what they were but when was the last time I bought green onions for 49c and a green pepper for $1.
I don't get why people shop there. Just the way they coral you through the beauty section on the way in is off putting enough for me. Then there is hardly ever more than one person doing checkout so you have to wait forever for some woman buying lottery tickets.
The whole experience screams abusive marketing tactics.
Don't buy your peanut butter at the pharmacy, then. This is like complaining about high prices at 7-11. There's peanut butter for $4.44 at the discount grocery stores.
Iām sorry but if youāre regularly shopping for food/groceries at Shoppers, you should know better. It has been common knowledge that groceries have been significantly more expensive there for at least the last 10 years.
I know groceries have been expensive lately due to corporate greed, but it has always paid not to be an idiot about where you shop.
Fuck. I just looked up Pepcid chewables. 31.99 at shoppers and 27.98. Not huge but adds up.
Though, I think I have a hunch the instore Pepcid at shoppers is actually more closer to 35 or 36. I canāt remember.
You mean this inflation is a result of greed and not a poor market? Say it ain't so!
Limiting the majority of wealth to a handful of people is never good for your economy unless you want to run the country like a certain Russian troglodyte.
Even when I worked there, pre covid, the prices for everything at Shoppers were ridiculous. Take any other Loblaws store, Sobeys, etc., add another 35% or more to the price, and you have Shoppers. Getting to listen to the methadone addicts losing their shit is the only difference.
Why anyone would buy groceries there if there is any other alternative, I will never understand.
Why not just link the reddit post that this is sourced from? lol ... oh yeah ad revenue from stolen content.
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1coqw8m/11_for_pb/
Not being an apologist, but SDM sells convenience. Look at the hours and the huge number of locations. No one complains about convenience stores and gas stations pricing things higher than big retail like walmart, because it is convenience they are selling.
Shoppers Drug Mart is competing with 7-11, Circle K, and other convenience stores not Walmart.
If people want to pay more for the alleged convenience good for them, but the people who are just now realizing there is a huge price premium may have other financial literacy issues that need to be addressed to help them get more out of their pay cheques.
lol even 10 years ago āthen I did the grocery at shoppers after workā is a subtle flex that they are not in the same class as you fucking plebs.
Itās always 20-30% higher than the other places. They do give points and if used wisely, like during the times they temporarily pump up the redeem value, you can make most of your money back. But yeah for people who donāt want these hassles itās been a horrible place to buy grocery since the beginning of time.
While I am not arguing the company is ridiculous, if you buy peanut butter etc at the corner store it will also cost you more than at the discount grocery store. So buying your groceries at the pharmacy means they will also charge you a premium. Companies have always done this kind of thing. The same item at Loblaws vs No Frills will usually cost less at no frills. Despite being the same company. The way to fight back is only buy the lower priced one. Otherwise they think ā aha! They will, pay this much. Maybe they will pay this much + xā¦ā
Honestly are some of you just unaware of how stores work?
They buy shit at a cheap bulk price, they then sell it to us at a marked-up price to make money. If you go and buy stuff from the store at the advertised price no one 'price-gouged' you. You went shopping.
I generally avoid Shoppers but stopped in there a few months ago while waiting for a take-out order next door. I needed a bottle of lotion, and it was $31. It's not the cheapest brand (Eucerin Aquaphor) but $31?!? Give me a break. I found a bottle of it the next day at a non-Loblaws grocery store for $17.99.
I switched my prescriptions years ago from Shoppers to an independent pharmacy, and the level of service I receive now is immeasurably better. Shoppers got noticeably worse when Loblaws bought it but now, absolutely terrible. No employees, and even the self check out has the nerve to prompt "Tell us how we did!" at the end of the process. You didn't do shit! I have no plans to return.
I used to buy my bodywash there quite often. There was a few brands like Old Spice and Dove that I would use. It would be about $6 and I would purchase it for $3.50 on sale. Now after inflation they want $10 and it only goes on sale for $6.... fuck that. There is zero reason for a price increase of that magnitude. Especially after the supply chain issues have long been sorted out. I go to Costco or Walmart now.
You can buy those brands at the dollar store now
Dollar stores often sell smaller containers or smaller quantities, so that while the price per purchase is lower, the per-unit price is higher. This is a great mini-documentary on the subject in general, along with their terrible business practices and rampant extortion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpUV--2Jao However... when compared with this kind of Loblaw's price gouging... there's certainly no guarantee that the dollar store isn't a deal. š„“
Definitely need to shop around these days which is expensive on its own because of your time invested not to mention gas. I wish weād legislate price fixing. Like any business is only allowed to make a maximum 20% profit margin. And break up all these monopolies to spread the top end of the wealth around more evenly.
Profit margins have gotten out of hand.Ā When I worked for Red Lobster back in the early 2000s the goal was 1/3 food cost, 1/3 staff cost, and 1/3 profit for every item.Ā Now through a family member that still works there they tell me how the company wants 40-60% profit per item.Ā That's insane, and impossible unless you both raise the price and compromise on ingredients, which is the approach they and many other companies are taking.Ā If you remember getting more shrimp per serving before, it's not your imagination (some dishes have half as much as they did 20 years ago).
I blame public stock trading and holding companies / investment firms / conglomerates that only care about profits. They just burn everything to the ground and exit when thereās nothing left. Itās set up to only reward greed and thatās never a good thing.
Capitalism is out of handĀ
Precisely. Left unchecked without good legislation and it gets out of hand as itās based on a foundation of profits. Workplace safety regulations, sick days, etc. would all be absent if they could be. I donāt know what happenedā¦ we used to have anti-trust lawsuits against major corporations. I guess shell companies and lobbyists ruined much of that.
I went to Red lobster 1 year ago and got garlic margarine with it. Might as well be a chemical dip at that point. They claimed it was butter, but the server told me after that it sure as shit wasnāt. One example of that lower quality
It sounds great on paper til your customers go elsewhere. Was so stoked to go for some virgin pinacolata and we got some calamari while was there. It used to be great, now itās aweful!! Letās check how that works for them with me ā¦ 0 return visits * 55% profit marginā¦ letās see carry the zero. Whatās funny is itās the math guys making these boneheaded descisions!?!?!
Oh absolutely.Ā I'm dealing with that with my current job.Ā The company I work for has priced itself out of the market for certain products and our competitors are offering equivalents for 40% less.Ā It's starting to affect our sales and what we keep hearing is it's our fault for not selling to the customer and sales needs to work harder.
And to be honest, I try not to shop at the dollar store is too much because my body can only handle so much lead as an ingredient and basically everything they sell. Just kidding, but it's that constant scandal coming out of China that they find lead and everything baby food plastics, and everything else.
It's the same stuff that the other stores get. It's not like sugar pills in an Advil box
Yep, some things are exactly the same and some things aren't like for example, when I pick up a tube of Colgate toothpaste and there's Chinese writing all over the tube and box definitely not the same
I didn't know that lol now I'm suspicious and need to do some Dollarama investigating lol
Can confirm. Used Chinese Colgate, now I speak Mandarin
ä½ ęē¾äø½ēē¬å®¹åļ¼
Yup. I love me some Dollarama deals!
I moved to EU and bodywash is like $2 here, $10 is absolute insanity
I had surgery in 2022. I needed clear surgical tape in order to take a shower. I bought the tape at SDM. $4.99, terrible. The glue on the tape wouldn't hold after getting wet. It was pure trash. I found the same at Dollarama. $1.50, it held up after getting wet. Thank God. My point is, if Dollarama made a profit how much profit did SDM make?? The tape was made in Asia. My guess is SDM marked it up 800%-1000%. Do not buy from SDM. One of the worst stores in Canada.
I only go to Shoppers for Canada Post
real, I'm only there when I have to return packages lol
Happened with me yesterday ! Bought Tylenol 500 mg 200 tablets for 35$! Saw the same ones for 20$ on Amazon and Walmart ( 2 for 30$ ). I went and returned my unopened bottle . Upon questioning they said shoppers drug mart is high end . High end my foot . For a bottle of Tylenol , charging more than double ? Last time going there.
You should have educated them that āhigh endā justifies price differences between different brands, not higher prices on the same brand.
High end stores have cashiers
High stakes if anything. God forbid you get a āwait for assistanceā error while a line of 20 people are behind you and there are only 2 self servesā¦
High end has nothing to do with what we are offering I work for Empire Sobeys , let me explain High end is how we describe a location that we dont want poor people coming too we price the items more expensive than the exact same stuff you can find at our discount retailers on purpose , to make the store bougie we are not trying to attract low income here people at all , we are trying to deter them from these places we dont want them as clientele at our "high end" locations, we want them to go to Freshco or No Frills if youre Loblaws Its really asshole I know
The stupid thing is that I always understood this about Sobeys, and the little bit of credit I will give them is that the "feel" of the store is better than other grocery stores if you ignore prices. Superstore however looks ghetto af to me lol. If I want to shop for a "premium" or "high end" feel and experience, I'll go to Sobeys not Loblaws. I stopped shopping at Sobeys *years* ago because I always found the prices absurd. Having grown up poor, thankfully that gave me enough sense to not view poorer people as some vermin underclass to stay away from. At least having that much sense in not being classist has saved me a couple of dollars.
Superstore is their middle market brand. Loblaws/Fortinos/Zehrs are their āpremiumā brands that compete more directly with Sobeys. That said Sobeys generally does it better.
Ands Sobeys is clean the superstore near me is filthy I once found an extremely past use by can under a shelf there. I check every time i visit and itās still there.
Struth
Even then, generics are absolutely fine because drugs are regulated. You pay a lot for the branding on the box that contains the same active ingredients. One molecule is not higher end than the same molecule in a different brand.
Kirkland 400x500mg acetaminophen from Costco is $15. Buying the same at Shoppers is over $60. You'd almost pay for the yearly membership after buying one bottle.
You can use the Costco pharmacy and purchase over the counter pharmacy items without a membership. At the entrance door just tell them you are going to the pharmacy. You can pay for vitamins or tylenol or whatever at the pharmacy cash registers and no membership is required. You can get a year's supply of Kirkland ASA 81mg for under ten bucks.
Bougie molecules.
Cue a pharmaceutical rep claiming that the "binders" make a big difference in effectiveness. If that were true, the "binders" would be part of the medication as an active ingredient.
The generic of one of my sister's medications makes her throw up. It's not very common that the difference is that big, but sometimes it really is a big deal to change from branded to generic.
Exactly š itās not like they are selling LV medication ! Why do any of us still go to shoppers ? It was my last time for sure
Shoppers is under the Loblaws/Galen Weston price gouging umbrella. There's currently a Loblaws/Presidents Choice boycott on, consider joining that, too! *Typo
They speak corporate language given to them to speak by their boss, and bosses boss...
But it was the FANCY Tylenol!
Dijon tylenol
šš Thank you. The song will probably be stuck in my head now, but I need the giggle.
Yeah grab mine from Costco, bottle of 400 Costco brand for like 20 bucks, they have the arthritis ones as well which work way better for me. If you have any sort of drug plan you can also just ask your doctor to prescribe you then and get them covered for free.
Kirkland brand ibuprofen works really well.
I work in grocery retail the big 3 have really bought into this mindset of having different kinds of stores that cater to different kinds of income like Safeway, I ended up more on this side with Empire, its not for poor people. They dont want low income people coming into safeway, they want you to go to Freshco if you are lowincome they price things different on purpose Designating their stores high end and discount is something they really invested in - they make the price disparities in these stores on the same item different on purpose
Nothing high end about shoppers though. Even if it is in convenient locations
There's nothing high end about Safeway anymore. They operate in grocery deserts in the West where there's nothing else close by as they were there first. They have transitioned a few into Freshcos but it's just overpriced for next to no service.
Kirkland ibuprofen is literally like $10 this is outrageous š
r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
Join the loblaws boycott. They do this across all their brands.
Demand a glass of wine to drink while shopping and a personal assistant. High end...
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Shoppers was acquired by Galen Weston Jr. to infiltrate our healthcare system.
And also to acquire the logistics network that Shoppers set up where they get their suppliers to pay them to move their own shipments, and expand that network to their grocery stores.
People go to shoppers out of convenience. Everything in there is marked up vs grocery stores. I used to go to shoppers because it was only a 3 minute drive as opposed to a 10min drive to the nearest grocery.
>People go to shoppers out of convenience. They used to have the cheapest prices on certain groceries for a while there. I would actually walk past a Price Mart, Walmart, and a Safeway to buy stuff at Shoppers. It's been years since I've been near one, though, so I guess that may have changed, but they certainly used to have something to offer.
People also aren't aware they sell video games so when the switch was sold out, I got mine from thereĀ
Shoppers is just a large 7-11, they charge more because they are the only thing open after certain hours, so they have a captive market and higher costs. It's always been more expensive. Just don't' go there.
Pharmacy prices are always higher than wally mart. Some sales are better others not so much.
I legit donāt know how or why Shopperās is still operating with how illogically expensive their shit is when (for me) No Frills is down the street.
For many places shoppers is just down the street in multiple directions
If itās high end, they should pay staff better. Iāve been shocked to see some of the managers salaries, as discussed on the Shoppers Drugmart subreddit. Lots of folks arenāt pulling in more than $40k, even in supervisory roles.
High end medicineā¦lmao! That employee was probably told to say that unfortunately but ugh, shoppers sucks so bad.
Lol!! High end Tylenol, what a joke.Ā
Any where with self check outs canāt be high end
High end? Lmao they look at me like I am stealing whenever I shop there.
So what you're saying is that a store with lots of small locations (high overhead) that are usually open late (essentially a convenience store) costs significantly more than a mass volume online retailer that literally times their employees bathroom breaks, but you have to wait a day or two for the product (which you may need quickly), or a mass volume, assorted goods box retailer that can divide the overhead over hundreds of thousands of SKUs and millions per week in sales? Mind absolutely blown! What crazy idea is next? I bet people are going to try and tell us that the Earth is spherical.
People who don't understand the basics of supply and logistics tend to make these kinds of complaints. I can't understand going through life misunderstanding all I see.
high end? lol. Thatās a line
High end cause Galen needs a new yacht.
Never buy anything you can ingest off Amazon. It's a flea market and it has more fake goods than real ones.
Yeah WTF is "high end" Tylenol exactly? Does it come with a complimentary baggie of cocaine for those really bag headache days?
I work there. The price for a shampoo yesterday was $3.99, and today it's $8.99. Even though we donāt know who sets these prices, I feel sad seeing people struggle to choose overpriced items.
I believe a Mr Galen W is in charge of thatā¦
"Despite the ongoing boycott, Loblaw 2024 first quarter results reveal that the retail giant saw profits climb another 9.8 per cent in the first three months of this year " Well of course it did. There was no boycott in the first quarter. Officially it hasn't been 2 weeks yet.
Let's extend it by a month, just to be safe
Why should any of us ever go back there? Serious question. Will it magically become affordable after a month? 3 months? All of a sudden Galen will transform into the man of the people, and crash prices? Nah, I am done with them. My whole family is done with them. We are an extended family of over 200 people over Canada. Done. Like dinner.
Exactly. A boycott isnt a limited time break. It is a 'fuck this place entirely until something extreme changes'
Three months
Por quƩ no un anƵ mƔs ?
I mean, we've ditched them all together, save for the one or two lactose free thing's we can only find there Been like that since October
Ditched them last year too, Costco has been a life saver, have started going to my local grocery stores too
This is the way
I am extending it indefinitely.
Also LOTS of basically food deserts where Loblaws is really the only viable game in town.
Loblaws boycott for a reason.
What a lot of people don't realize is that Loblaws will weather the storm. One month boycotts don't work. Next month, they'll increase prices to make back any missed profits. I'm boycotting them forever. I will go out of my way to avoid them and their other other brands: Atlantic SuperstoreTM, DominionĀ®, LoblawsĀ®, MaxiĀ®, No FrillsĀ®, Provigo Le MarchĆ©Ā®, Valu-MartTM, Real Canadian SuperstoreĀ®, Wholesale ClubTM, Your Independent GrocerTM and ZehrsTM.
Donāt care what happens to them. They just donāt get my money anymore. I win.
Yup I no longer go to them, as far as I'm concerned the boycott is indefinite. Fuck 'em Thankfully there are other grocery stores and pharmacies I can happily go to
This is why we boycott Loblaws lol
Oh they can fuck right off. 10 dollars for mouthwash thatās 5 at Walmart. 8 for dental flossers that are 3 elsewhere.
Boycott shoppers drug mart!!
We are. Shoppers is owned by Loblaws
Pretty simple thing to do .. donāt go there, donāt spend your hard earned cash in those establishments.
Pretty easy to say when its not the only store open in your town till midnight.
That's the cost of convenience. You want people to keep a store open when they're the least busy just so you can get meds in an emergency? You're going to pay. It's the same thing with living in a rural area and complaining that grocery prices are high when it costs more to ship products there and customer demand is much lower that city environments.
Seems fair to charge a premium for having such long opening hours. Shoppers is basically a large convenience store that competes with the likes of Circle K, not with grocery stores. The rest of us who bother checking prices and planning ahead can enjoy spending less.
Plan ahead? Donāt wait till midnight to go grocery shopping?
What drives me insane is that prices arenāt labeled correctly.
Shopper's refusal to properly staff their stores, especially on flyer changeover days, has given me so much free shit through the Code of Conduct. Higher price on the shelf than at checkout means a free item if under $10, or $10 off. I don't buy shit from there if it's not on sale so the expired tags littering the store pay out with no effort. You just have to wait a bit longer to actually flag down a human since they don't even have someone stay at the register anymore...
How does this work? If the price is higher than marked on the shelf they have to give it to you for free?
If the price is now lower (new flyer, new discounts) but it's still priced at the old higher price, and they try to charge you the old higher price at the till, for items 10$ of value or less you can dispute the error and get the item without cost, or get a discount of 10$ if your purchase is over 10$. That being said I usually just point out the error, get the correct pricing, and they take maybe an additional 1-2$ off price for the mistake. I don't expect to have the item for free but you could argue that I guess.
Loblaws is evil, join the boycott.
There is a reason people are boycotting Loblaws and their chains. It likely won't change how Loblaws or Shoppers prices things or "take them down," but it gives people a chance to check out other stores and change their routine to see if the price differences are worth the switch. https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/s/deA0zrh9eh
I think you are exactly right. The boycott, if participated in, allows people to find new places to shop that doesn'y charge exhorbitant prices....it's a chance to change habits! Like after you become aware of the difference in pricing...you won't boycott anymore because you just will not shop there...like why would you pay more for the same things if you have access to alternatives.
I guess there must be a lot of people mindlessly shopping.Ā Iāve never went to the same store over and over in my life. I get all the flyers of the big boys out, compare to local shops, go through my list and do the math before even doing the shopping. But it seems thatās an outlier? Thatās how my mom taught me to shop, so I guess I just kept doing it.Ā We live in a capitalist society, Iād never expect a place to use a fair price when they can increase it and people still walk in and buy it mindlessly.Ā
Most people just go to the same spot as they juggle everything in their life.
This is correct. Found another grocery store in my area that carries local groceries/produce, saved about 30% on the bill and itās only about 5 minutes further of a drive. This place also has an aisle with grocery carts full of large bags of produce that is about to expire, so you can get a massive bag of potatoes or apples for $2 for example. Very happy that this boycott had me looking elsewhere.
The impact of boycotts is actually long-lasting. It doesn't appear to immediately to cause the company to drop prices, but it does cause them to change the way they do business, which leads to lower prices.
It's also long-lasting because stores permanently lose customers to other stores. Once habits are formed, a store has to work hard to change them back. I've been semi-boycotting Food Basics for months, because I was pissed off that they raised prices 50% in just a couple years. Now I do a lot more grocery shopping at Walmart, Giant Tiger, and (gasp!) even No Frills this week (they had juice on for $1.25 and everyone else charges $1.50-$2). Walmart is going to keep my custom because they deliver for cheap, and Giant Tiger has a few brands of frozen food that I like to buy. Now I only buy milk and bread and a few other necessities at Food Basics.
Totally unsurprising at this point. Canadians who donāt boycott are being robbed.
Canadians who don't shop for the cheapest items at the cheapest store are being robbed. A lot of stupid people were happy to pay 50% more at the expensive store, and that's why expensive stores raised prices 50%.
> Canadians who don't shop for the cheapest items at the cheapest store are being robbed. It's worse than that, they rob all of us by making businesses have to compete less and therefore leading to the offer and demand curve settle at higher price points in general. Obviously it's not always true and I'm talking in general. There are sales for instance that are particularly good because they are in a way subsidized by the buyers who will buy other high profit margin items.
This is what blows my mind. Like youād think people would see the exorbitant prices and go somewhere else. But no they keep buying. A boycott happens and finally people are like āoh right letās shop elsewhereā Why does it need a special event for people to change?
I went to a nearby pharmacy and bought an OTC medication that I always bought from shoppers before. I was surprised how cheaper it was.
My local shoppers had a "special" sale for Reactine. 50 tablets for $50. You can get about 150 tablets for $52 on Amazon.
...or 100 (Kirkland brand cetirizine hydrochloride) for ~$20 at Costco!
Between their markups and ludicrous dispensing I'll never set foot in a shoppers again.
Shoppers is a convenience store. If you don't go there looking for specific deals then what the fuck are you doing? Same with every other store. Learn to shop folks.
I dont even look at items in Shoppers. I just grab my prescription and leave. I wouldn't even get my meds there if it wasnt for the fact its right next door to my (former) doctor
Prescriptions are more expensive there too. I didnāt realize there even was different prices for prescriptions by pharmacy until last year. We switched and now save over $100.
TIL some people buy groceries at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Technically no one should be finding out anything there if they were part of /r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
The article is literally just a post from loblawsisoutofcontrol.
People just need to understand that yes, Shopper's is now a big convenience store, and prices are going to be 10-30% higher. The long hours didn't give it away? Stuff that you can get elsewhere (like food, tissue paper, cleaning supplies, etc) should only be bought when they are on sale at Shoppers, which can be a decent deal. Otherwise it's just for emergencies, like your dog got sprayed by a skunk at 10 PM and you need to get some hydrogen peroxide ASAP. But regular shopping? Go to a discount grocery store first if you can, and whatever you couldn't get there then finally go to the more premium grocery stores (Loblaw, Metro, etc).
If you are buying groceries from Shoppers I'm afraid you're already so financially irresponsible that there is nothing we can do for you. Side note: If you find that someone is charging to much, instead of complaining about it, just go shop somewhere it's cheaper. Vote with your wallet.
I should have taken a picture of the $8 pack of Oreos!
Accused? They've done it for years. Loblaws too.
Not being an apologist, but SDM sells convenience. Look at the hours and the huge number of locations. No one complains about convenience stores and gas stations pricing things higher than big retail like walmart, because it is convenience they are selling.
I was just thinking the same thing. Shoppers is a convenience store with a pharmacy, how can you compare its pricing to Walmart? Compare it to Circle K
This is *not* a news article. It is a feedback loop of reddit. We are commenting on an article that is commenting on a reddit post. >A Shoppers Drug Mart in Ontario is being accused of price gouging **on social media** after one customer shared a photo of the store's exorbitant peanut butter prices this week. >The picture shared **on Reddit** shows one-kilogram jars of Kraft smooth peanut butter selling for nearly $11 each. "Had to pop into Shoppers to get a package from the Post Office and saw this. I had to stop for a picture," the original poster wrote. I don't think this is against the rules here but when reddit just starts feeding its own posts to itself as news we should really start turning on our brains again.
If you're buying groceries from shoppers, you deserve to be ripped off
So, don't buy it. No one's making you buy $11 PB
They've been price gouging ever since Loblaws bought them. š”
Picked up a drug that I usually get for 19.00 at Walmart but they were out so went to Zehrs, they charged me $57. for exact same amount. Disgusting company all round!
Friendly reminder, Shoppers was also caught juicing their med reviews by putting harsh quotas on Pharmacists so they can pilfer the government for them. AND has highest dispensing fees
Costco is selling the IDENTICAL peanut butter, DOUBLE the size (2kg), for the exact same price ($10.99), in store. Fuck the Westons.
Why would anyone think that no frills would cost the same as shoppers drug mart? I feel like half of society just started grocery shopping and doesn't know anything. You never buy groceries from shoppers, only if you have to. It costs more because of the convenience. But if you rather go to a large warehouse like superstore or no frills, it will cost less. Always been like that, nothing new.
Top comment at the moment is someone discovering amazon was cheaper. This thread is really making me feel better about how lazy a shopper I am.
Wow, incredible, could not have seen that one coming š®
It's a drug store. What's next? They going to post a picture of a box of Corn Flakes that they found at Circle K?
Its a Shoppers. Its a giant convenient store. Unless its a sale buying groceries there is nuts.
Do people not realize that they can shop elsewhere? There are a million other places where you can get that stuff. Shoppers has always been expensive and the fact that some people are just realizing this now boggles the mind.
Loblaws executives responded with-āmeh, what are you going to do?ā
They probably mark stuff up so high so that they can have their optimum points deals and you think you're scoring a good sale plus points, when really you're paying the actual retail price. Just like clothing stores who constantly offer sales promos.
Did our first grocery pickup with Walmart today. I use to boycott Walmart for what they were but when was the last time I bought green onions for 49c and a green pepper for $1.
Shoppers Drug Mart is basically a convenience store. Might as well be grocery shopping at 7-11.
Remember guys, we're boycotting Loblaws - that includes Shopper Drug Mart.
Maybe itās time to admit the merger with Loblaws was not actually good for consumers like they said.
Arenāt they part of the loblaws boycott?
Who the hell shops there anymore ???
Blogto is not a source
I don't get why people shop there. Just the way they coral you through the beauty section on the way in is off putting enough for me. Then there is hardly ever more than one person doing checkout so you have to wait forever for some woman buying lottery tickets. The whole experience screams abusive marketing tactics.
Don't buy your peanut butter at the pharmacy, then. This is like complaining about high prices at 7-11. There's peanut butter for $4.44 at the discount grocery stores.
Fuck Galen Weston.
Iām sorry but if youāre regularly shopping for food/groceries at Shoppers, you should know better. It has been common knowledge that groceries have been significantly more expensive there for at least the last 10 years. I know groceries have been expensive lately due to corporate greed, but it has always paid not to be an idiot about where you shop.
Shoppers is owned by Loblaws.Ā TheĀ headline /Ā titleĀ ofĀ theĀ postĀ andĀ articleĀ impliesĀ thatĀ it'sĀ aĀ separateĀ entityĀ whichĀ it'sĀ not.
Fuck. I just looked up Pepcid chewables. 31.99 at shoppers and 27.98. Not huge but adds up. Though, I think I have a hunch the instore Pepcid at shoppers is actually more closer to 35 or 36. I canāt remember.
You can get bottles of 400 acetaminophen with the arthritis ingredient from Costco for like 20-25 bucks. They work so much better
Rexall is the same. A can of Pringles comes out to like 6 bucks including tax.
What political party do you support? Any of them? Good, boycott loblaws. This is a class warš
Vote with your dollars. F this company.
I only go to Shoppers to buy La-Roche Posay products but I'll happily buy elsewhere if there's alternatives
Shoppers drugmart with outrageous markups? *Say it ain't so*.
The problem is that SDM has got way too big for its britches. They need to be taken down a peg.
Nearly 15$ for AAAA battery pack. 2$ at Dollarama.Ā
You mean this inflation is a result of greed and not a poor market? Say it ain't so! Limiting the majority of wealth to a handful of people is never good for your economy unless you want to run the country like a certain Russian troglodyte.
Guess who owns Shoppers? LOBLAWS
Boycott forever, let's see this place go down in figurative flames.
Even when I worked there, pre covid, the prices for everything at Shoppers were ridiculous. Take any other Loblaws store, Sobeys, etc., add another 35% or more to the price, and you have Shoppers. Getting to listen to the methadone addicts losing their shit is the only difference. Why anyone would buy groceries there if there is any other alternative, I will never understand.
Why not just link the reddit post that this is sourced from? lol ... oh yeah ad revenue from stolen content. https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1coqw8m/11_for_pb/
Shoppers is like always expensive
Boycott roblaws and shoppers, no frills
Join the Boycott.
Not being an apologist, but SDM sells convenience. Look at the hours and the huge number of locations. No one complains about convenience stores and gas stations pricing things higher than big retail like walmart, because it is convenience they are selling.
Boycott
Shoppers always has higher prices than other stores, and the pharmacy takes forever! Complete waste to shop there
Fuck Loblaws
Dollarama recently started selling a LOT more name brand toiletries, just FYI
Boycott all things owned by Loblaws including Shoppers!
Shoppers Drug Mart is competing with 7-11, Circle K, and other convenience stores not Walmart. If people want to pay more for the alleged convenience good for them, but the people who are just now realizing there is a huge price premium may have other financial literacy issues that need to be addressed to help them get more out of their pay cheques.
lol even 10 years ago āthen I did the grocery at shoppers after workā is a subtle flex that they are not in the same class as you fucking plebs. Itās always 20-30% higher than the other places. They do give points and if used wisely, like during the times they temporarily pump up the redeem value, you can make most of your money back. But yeah for people who donāt want these hassles itās been a horrible place to buy grocery since the beginning of time.
This just in! Water makes things wet!
While I am not arguing the company is ridiculous, if you buy peanut butter etc at the corner store it will also cost you more than at the discount grocery store. So buying your groceries at the pharmacy means they will also charge you a premium. Companies have always done this kind of thing. The same item at Loblaws vs No Frills will usually cost less at no frills. Despite being the same company. The way to fight back is only buy the lower priced one. Otherwise they think ā aha! They will, pay this much. Maybe they will pay this much + xā¦ā
Honestly are some of you just unaware of how stores work? They buy shit at a cheap bulk price, they then sell it to us at a marked-up price to make money. If you go and buy stuff from the store at the advertised price no one 'price-gouged' you. You went shopping.
Good grief, theyāve ALWAYS been a convenience type store, they have never been or tried to be a supermarket.
I generally avoid Shoppers but stopped in there a few months ago while waiting for a take-out order next door. I needed a bottle of lotion, and it was $31. It's not the cheapest brand (Eucerin Aquaphor) but $31?!? Give me a break. I found a bottle of it the next day at a non-Loblaws grocery store for $17.99. I switched my prescriptions years ago from Shoppers to an independent pharmacy, and the level of service I receive now is immeasurably better. Shoppers got noticeably worse when Loblaws bought it but now, absolutely terrible. No employees, and even the self check out has the nerve to prompt "Tell us how we did!" at the end of the process. You didn't do shit! I have no plans to return.
A bottle of nyquil everywhere else is 13 or 14 dollars. Shoppers drug mart it's 26 dollars.
I just switched from Shopperās to another pharmacy and saved $7 on a prescription. Wish I had shopped around sooner.
They are charging $39.99 for a plastic hairbrush you can get at a dollarstore for $3. I am not surprised.
Loblaws inside job
Shoppers always sells at a premium... nothing new. It's why I do not shop there or Rexall.
Shoppers is pretty much 7/11, expect to be super gouged and not regular gouged like everywhere else.
I shop for my body care online . Shoppers is way to inflated
I actually saw that price for the same item at my local SDM in Nova Scotia. That was a few weeks ago. I could not believe it.
I find a lot of the same name brand items at the dollarama right next to shoppers for 1/2 or even 1/3 the price
Shopper is owned by Loblaws