DH was telling me that Loblaws isn't doing very well -he wouldn't know this from being in them :rolleyes: - which is a good thing as I don't want someone speeding me through the store. Do you like the Superstore, Extra Foods, Canadian Wholesale, Zehers (not sure about this one)? I prefer to shop Canadian and they have some good prices but when I compare the number of shoppers in the SS vs our Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart is busier - and it's not a very good store. I guess the things that annoy me about SS are having to pack my own groceries - (the guy in front of me is slow or I'm not going fast enough for the guy behind me & I can't watch the prices so have to go back when there is an error) , buy your grocery bags (not a real problem as I carry my cloth ones), to get a lower price you have to buy several of the same item and it can't even be a mix and match of the same brand, and there is never anyone to ask about a product. Oh - I really hate the self check out. There's always a problem and you have to wait while the clerk clears the till or finds the code. Their Joe clothes seem like great value and quite fashionable but I noticed today that no one was in there. The clerks were standing around.
I noticed in Vancouver - think it was an Extra or Wholesale - that they supplied the bags & did the packing. Guess the competition make the difference.
Anyone else have opinions why SS etc are doing that great? They better figure it out soon cause I just read that Wal-Mart plans to open up to 14 SuperCentres in Canada in 2007 and their goal is a total of 170.
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Nope, you're not the only wino here. I do use a cart in the liquor store - can't get all those bottles of wine in my bosom at once!
jan, it amaziz me.....but i'm glad people are returning their carts....25 or no....it's better then seeing them end up in the snow banks.
:biglol: i can't imagin' puttin my booze in a cart...i tend to keep it close to my bosum ;) ;) am i the only forum wino ????
Well I guess I got mislead by the responses here - boy oh boy was the SS ever busy today - I could hardly find a place to park and there wasn't a great sale. No more Saturday outings for me.
So after all these shoppers, I tried to think of the positive things - 7cents off the gas and they are always the last to raise their prices when all the other gas stations are starting the skyrocketing. Fresh produce and I actually found someone to help me today. Long line ups at the checkouts but I waited 5 minutes looking for something else and the numbers had decreased. No help for the cashier who needed a price check. The two people ahead of me in the checkout took their sweet time packing up but so what, other than I couldn't see the prices as my items went through. I know a real cashier could have packed in 1/4 of the time. I wondered if it was a silent protest on the part of customers.
On my way out I spotted a sweater for $4.94 - regular $20 - I would have bought it except I would have to take my other purchases to the car first. What a stupid place to put a sale item. Heck - next week it might be $2.94.
Another thing the SS has is a RV dump - this is a major community service for us campers - so DH always buys his gas at the same time.
I'd like to see Canadian companies win in the shopping but they sure better give better service. I spread my dollars around - I have the time - when summer comes the local farmers will get all my fresh produce bucks and those guys smile as they take them. So do I.
Cathie - we also rent our shopping carts at the liquor stores. Funny how people will walk for 25 cents.
Cathie here you need a coin to unlock the cart from the pile and you get it back when you hook it back up to the other carts. It's a system that does work for them to have the carts returned rather than floating around the parking lot but as seen in the other store, they don't have that problem when they offer carry out.
As for me tipping the guy who went above and beyond, nope. I have never known any of them to accept any kind of tip. I don't think they are allowed.
I work in a family owned independant grocery store and we get lots of people that tell us that they shop there because of the service. I get a nice discount on my groceries so I wouldn't shop anywhere else. I hate going into the huge stores for groceries and finding it full of other things. BTW our SOF store is rebuilding and they are making it smaller and just groceries not even books so they must be listening to what people say.
I never venture over to the SS...it is too big and with 3 kids...I don't even want to try.................so that is a big turn off for me.....I shop at a local family owned store...and although the prices are higher...the deli, produce and meat are amazing....and I can whip in and out in minutes.....I run to No Frills for my canned goods, cereal and snacks for the lunches..............this week they had minigo yogurt for a buck...( 6 pack)......gotta love those deals................so if the SS goes under....I wouldn't know any different................
our grocery stores are limited here....we have a ss dominion (aka loblaws) sobeys (nova scotia owned) walmart and costco.
i had a membership to costco for years....but didn't shopped there regularly....and it pissed me off to have to pay a membership fee to shop there....in price comparrisons to what i was buying there it wasn't a great savings. i get nauseous when i go to walmart....the crowds, lack of service, long line ups...the bright florecent lights give me a headache and it's generally not a happy experience for me there. i don't find the quality at sobeys, there no named canned foods are soggy...although they do have a great gourmet section and carry things i can't get elsewhere in the city. so that leaves dominion....i love it....the service is fabulous (but bear in mind the job situation here and most of the employees have been there for as long as i can remember) the staff is well informed and aren't difficult to find (vs walmart) there products are always fresh (although i refuse to pay 89 cents a pound for bananas, when i can buy them at the corner store for 59 cents a pound). the store is actually huge, and i vist only a small portion when getting groceries, but it is nice to have the luxury of poking when i do have the time.
i can't believe they're charging you to use the shopping cart...do you get it back when you return it???
and dustbunny, i hope you had a loonie or 2 in your pocket the day the young fella got you a new bottle of juice....if not a kiss would probably have sufficed.
i too have heard that loblaws/dominion were in financial trouble...i had read it in the globe awhile ago. but i think in alot of respects they went too big to guick. i know here we had several neighbourhood dominions, in areas of the city that really needed them. they closed in favour of the big superstores...not convinced how well its going to work for them.
about 6 years ago they bought a huge parcel of land from the city in an old heritage area of the city....residents went nuts...they were tied up in courts until recently....dominion won...on the conditions they have a community gym (vs membership) and they have to keep the mature trees on the property and put a park on the land as well. this area has huge estates so i find it odd that they'd want to be there...but i guess the wealthy eat too ;)
I was SS yesterday and they have put on a huge expansion nearly doubles in size. Making room for much large Pharmacy and clothing section. I bought a new bathroom scale and wow that was a mistake it will be fresh air and water here for a while have to take off the winter weight .
To see that the same things that bug me really get to other people too. I find the SS hard to get around in - big store, big carts and really narrow aisles (you can't even get around each other) and they stack those big huge displays right in the way of shoppers. Their customer service/or lack of it really sucks and I really hate being treated like a common criminal when entering and leaving the store. Once I bought about $200 worth of groceries and then wanted to go back to the camera dept (which was located close to the exit doors) to purchase a digital camera (lots of money just dropped in their store) and the so called greeter told me I couldn't take my cart back into that area and that I would have to leave it with him. I do like some of their food products (Presidents Choice) and some of their prices are really good - but they really do bug me!!
I could go on forever, but I will stop now.
I find there is no comparison between the Kmart and the Superstore I shop at. I consider Superstore to be a grocery store with interesting houseware, kids clothes, shoe etc. departments. K-mart is more like a Zellers to me, with a few grocery aisles in it.
My local Zellers recently got a frozen food aisle added, I suppose to keep competetive with K-mart.
If you want smilies in your post, use the ones that appear to the right of the box that contains your reply. The smilie will be inserted where your curser is in your message. If you want a smilie in your title, use the ones below the box that contains your reply.
It's a habit I have from another forum that requires a title in order to post. Unfortunately with the format they have it's not easy to read the titles as a continuation of the post - so I just fill in the title section with "asdf" - I'm a ten fingered typist - can'tcha tell? ;-)
Now I need someone to tell me how to get the smilies into the text area? Everytime I try to insert one it goes into the title bar.
I shop in SS only for non food items I never buy groceries there yuck. Their product is so second grade and the meat is terrible. But I do have a friend that works in SS and she says they are great to work for they have a great benefit package and pension plan she works 4 hours 4 days a week and loves it. I was so surprised when she told me that.
What does asdf mean?
I agree about the PC products - I tend to like most of them. I was also in an IGA in Ontario & tried their Compliments brand for a few things - what I tried were really good. Definitely can't say that about Safe-on-Food products - not that keen on Safeway but I think they are coming out with newer products.
Don't get me started on the StupidStores.
I had a great Loblaws and they build a new SS in town and closed the Loblaws. It drives me crazy. The store is too big, it's a real PIA to get in and out of the parking lot and half the time the stuff I've gone in for is not on the shelves.
That's the thing that bugs me the most and apparently that's the first sign that things are not going too well for the company.
I wish they'd get their act in gear because I loathe WalMart and won't be pleased to loose the Loblaws chain to them. They (Loblaws) should just stick to doing what they know best - which is grocery and President's Choice product developement and leave the combo store thing to the big box stores. I'd rather shop for my groceries in a store that does that alone.
That's my rant for the day.
I never shop at Superstore for groceries. I only buy "stuff" there, like socks, books and sunscreen etc. I really enjoy looking through their home decor aisles, but actually, I rarely buy any of it. If I happen to need something grocery related while I'm there, that's pretty much a guarantee of an unpleasant trip, as they never have the brands I need or they hide them under some kind of invisibility cloak and the staff would sooner run you over in their rollerblades than let you in on the secret of where it's hidden.
DBD, you're completely right about SuperStore having the goods and prices and NOTHING ELSE. In my city, the SuperStore doesn't even have a customer service phone line. CAN YOU IMAGINE??? If you have a question or problem... you have to go to the store because they don't even care to speak to you unless they can get you in there to spend more money. That to me says they don't want my business, so for the most part, they don't get mine.
Walmart is a far more pleasant place to shop, but again, I'd never buy groceries there. I do, however, have a problem with their evil, militant Greeter ladies who seem to profile me for a major shop lifter every time I'm in their store. EVERY time I'm on my way out the door, purchase in hand, they ask to see my reciept. One time I bought a $2.47 boot tray that was too wide for a bag so I said I'd just carry it. Greet-anator lady accosted me and when the description on the receipt said Boot Rack, she actually went to the trouble of comparing the numbers on the UPC code to the receipt to see if I stole it. Aside from her, everyone else seems to be quite helpful and pleasant though.
So anyway, if Superstore does have to pack it in one day, I won't feel too badly either. I AM willing to pay higher prices for things if the store has decent customer service. I buy all my groceries at Safeway, much to the dismay of friends and family who say, " But think of the money you're throwing away!". Ah, but think about how much more b*#chy I'd be if I shopped at SuperStore. That usually shuts them up in a hurry.
Am I that transparent :rolleyes:
So I take it you don't like SS. :laugh:
I rarely shop at SS. Closest comparison for me is Costco. Large floorspace, food prices often identical, variety of goods, self serve although Costco does help at the checkout by reloading the cart. I go to Costco because I can tell you the number of times I have ended up pissed off there and it's none. Times I've been pissed off at SS is nearly every time and normally I call it stupidstore. I even go to the trouble of shopping at another grocery store for the things I can't get at Costco (usually I need smaller packages) and SS could sell to someone like me but they don't seem all that interested in having me go there so I'll go pay the higher price somewhere else that does want my business.).
For whatever reason, the staff are usually rude. Often they are untrained. Everything seems to involve a hassle there. There are problems with returns, getting things through without price checks, finding stock, having a coupon is asking for a 20 minute delay while they figure it out and argue about it (don't even get me started on that one). If you forget something the store is structured in such a way as to cause walking a football field to get back to where you want to be because they have these huge long isles there is no way around or through. Also don't get me going on having to have a loonie on me just to go shopping and I can't tell you the number of times I have just kept driving on to another store because I don't happen to have a loonie (same for Safeway who require quarters).
They have a bad reputation around here for leaving their food out on the docks too long even in the summer, usually there is some noisy floor cleaning device motoring around while shoppers are there (I never see that at other stores), the fish dept really does smell (I notice that since I can't take that smell and it really does go far beyond the dept.). Not too inspiring when there are some other really gorgeous stores around that make it a real pleasure to shop in.
I think it's really telling when I am surprised if I can leave that store feeling either good or neutral. Those times are the exception. How many places stay in business when people are consistantly walking out going 'wow, I actually made it out of there without a migraine this time!".
If they want more people to shop there all they would have to do is act like it. For the most part I get the feeling customers are just a pain to them. They have it down in price and merchandise but can't seem to get a handle on their customer service and they only have themselves to blame if they lose the market. Price is not everything and they have been riding on some belief that is all they have to supply. One thing I'll say for Walmart (which also isn't my favourite place but I don't mind going in there at all) is they don't seem hostile towards their customers, offer good value on a lot of things, and if they are a US company such is life. A lot of Canadian companies shot themselves in the foot when they pulled their staff off the floors and put customer service on the back burner. Those that are surviving know what they are doing.
While I'm on a rant... I have to say we have the Calgary Co-op grocery stores here. They are not known for their low prices, they are pretty much on par I guess with Safeway. Every co-op offers carry out (so no carts hanging around the lot...and they are free carts too!). Their stores are some of the nicest around with the best bakeries, deli, and other in store foods. The staff are great on all sorts of levels and those stores are always busy. I don't think I have ever heard anyone complain about them and they have been in business, locally owned, for decades and still going strong so it can be done.
Not long ago a Co-op carry out kid noticed I had a bottle of OJ leaking when we got to the car. He took that OJ, ran in the store, found another bottle (no easy feat since I had taken the last one off the shelf) and ran it back to me at the car. I can imagine what I would have had to do at SS to get a new bottle of OJ. That's why I will go to Co-op over any other store when I need groceries. it's almost always a pleasure.