T&T Supermarket Chain acquired by Loblaws

[prosperegal]

I didn't know that Zehr's still existed!

 

[urbandreamer]

^Loblaws will always be Zehr's for me. Growing up in the Waterloo area, how could it be anything else?

Zehr's, where the donuts kick ass!

 

[flar]

There's an Independent (YIG) in Ingersoll (down by London), otherwise I've only seen them in Ottawa.

 

[Skeezix]

There's an Independent (YIG) in Ingersoll (down by London), otherwise I've only seen them in Ottawa.

One sees them in various parts of Eastern Ontario. In its final years, Steinberg sold its Ontario stores and converted them to franchises, and the nucleus of the YIG chain in the former Steinberg footprint in Eastern and northern Ontario. Stores have presumablty been dropped and added over the years, but it's still something one doesn't see too often west of Kingston.

 

[Eug]

Does big ruin little in business acquisitions?

At T&T Supermarket, there are no little pink "inventory required" stickers like there are on the gaps in the shelves at the nearby Loblaw store.

The price of a four-litre bag of milk at $4.79 at the T&T store on Cherry St. is $1 cheaper than at the Loblaw store on Queen's Quay at Jarvis St.

And the small Asian supermarket carries dozens more varieties of Bok Choy than Canada's largest food retailer.

These are just some of the concerns consumers raised after Loblaw announced on July 24 that it had struck a deal with the shareholders of T&T to buy the 17-store chain for $225 million.

Would the marriage result in T&T acquiring some of Loblaw's flaws?

The supermarket giant has been struggling to turn around a flawed expansion strategy that left it with problems keeping products in stock and made it tough to cut prices.

"It hurt to hear some of those comments last week," Loblaw spokesperson Inge Van Den Berg said in a telephone interview. That's partly why Loblaw hastened to point out T&T would be operated as a separate division, she said.

"We will not be changing prices or practises in the stores," she said. "The same talented (T&T) team is going to run it. Our management team (at Loblaw) is focused here on the effort to turn our stores around."

---

Still, the temptation to centralize at least some of the purchasing to cut costs will be hard to resist, Dunne fears, which could affect the quality of T&T's produce offering. "You can run small stores on a very high quality. It's much more difficult for a large store to do that."

For its part, Loblaw says its main reasons for buying T&T is to get a better window on the fast-growing Asian Canadian market.

Loblaw has more to learn from T&T than the other way around, Loblaw deputy chairman Allan Leighton said at the time the deal was announced.

"The reasons we acquired T&T was to tap into that large, growing market where T&T far surpasses what we offer in our own stores," Van Den Berg said in an interview. For now, there are no plans to put Loblaw's private label President's Choice products on T&T's shelves.

The initial cost-savings will come from leveraging Loblaw's expertise in real estate, where its 1,000-store footprint means it can negotiate better deals on everything from capital to construction, she explained.

Loblaw can build T&T stores faster and more efficiently than T&T could on its own, Van Den Berg said. "That will assist T&T in achieving a faster return on those assets."

The same can really be said of Fortino's; years ago it was at least an 'italian-influenced' grocer, you saw some difference in cookies/biscotti and deli meats. Not true anymore. Its just Loblaws with an Italian name.

It's not the first time Loblaw has acquired an ethnic retailer, she added. Fortinos was considered an Italian chain when Loblaw bought it in 1988. The stores continue to carry many more Italian and ethnic products than a conventional Loblaw store, and merchandising is overseen by a separate team within Loblaw. Since the acquisition, Loblaw has expanded the number of Fortinos stores to 20 from eight.

 

[Felino]

It's sad. I stopped shopping at Loblaw's altogether 6-9 months ago. The price increases this year at their Loblaw's brand stores were ridiculous. Some products went up as high as 30%.

So I turned to T&T for some price relief and got it. Let's face it, they're buying T&T so they can continue to control pricing in the Canadian marketplace. It's sad and unfortunate that these practices continue to happen in all markets.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I think that each of the different names for Loblaws are also different limited companies. The franchises are each owned by different independent companies, but Loblaws is still the supplier for all.

With the different companies, they can be profitable or not, on their own. If all the stores in one company is no longer profitable, it can close down the entire company, but without affecting the other surviving companies.

Similar to having one member of your family going bankrupt, but the other family member are okay. They may even help the bankrupt member back onto their feet. Same with the Loblaws family of companies.

 

[waterloowarrior]

This is how Tesco (huge multinational/UK grocer) names its stores (wikipedia)... of course the smaller sized grocery store isn't as important in Canada, at least for Loblaw (Empire and Metro have more involvement with smaller/convenience stores).

Stores

Tesco's UK stores are divided into six formats, differentiated by size and the range of products sold. These are shown below;

Tesco Extra

Tesco Extra stores are larger, mainly out-of-town hypermarkets that stock nearly all of Tesco's product ranges.

Tesco Superstores

Tesco superstores are standard large supermarkets, stocking groceries and a much smaller range of non-food goods than Extra stores; they are referred to as "superstores" for convenience, but this word does not usually appear on the shops.

Tesco Metro

Tesco Metro stores are sized between Tesco superstores and Tesco Express stores. They are mainly located in city centres, the inner city and on the high streets of small towns such as Rowlands Gill, Nelson and Cleveleys.

Tesco Express

Tesco Express stores are neighbourhood convenience shops, stocking mainly food with an emphasis on higher-margin products (due to small store size, and the necessity to maximize revenue per square foot) alongside everyday essentials. They are found in busy city centre districts, small shopping precincts in residential areas, small towns and on Esso petrol station forecourts.

One Stop

One Stop stores are the only category which does not include the word Tesco in its name. These are the very smallest stores. They were part of the T&S Stores business but, unlike many which have been converted to Tesco Express, these will keep their old name. However, some have Tesco Personal Finance branded cash machines.

Tesco Homeplus

Stores offer all of Tesco's ranges except food in warehouse-style units in retail parks. Tesco is using this format because only 20% of its customers have access to a Tesco Extra, and the company is restricted in how many of its superstores it can convert into Extras and how quickly it can do so. Large units for non-food retailing are much more readily available. All of these will feature the Order and Collect desk where customers can purchase and collect most items straightaway.

 

[Therion]

^Loblaws will always be Zehr's for me. Growing up in the Waterloo area, how could it be anything else?

Haha, same here. I grew up in Guelph, and to me a big orange sign means Zehrs, no matter what the letters say. I still refer to the Loblaws down the street as Zehrs occasionally, which usually generates an uncomprehending stare from my Richmond Hill-bred wife.

It's sad. I stopped shopping at Loblaw's altogether 6-9 months ago. The price increases this year at their Loblaw's brand stores were ridiculous. Some products went up as high as 30%.

That's interesting, because on our last trip I remarked to my wife that it seems our grocery bills are considerably lower than they were last year. I honestly haven't noticed any price increases. In fact, some things are definitely cheaper, and Loblaws seems to make it a point to emphasize items that are on sale. Compared to Metro and Sobey's, they are light-years ahead in selection and quality. I have a Metro and a Loblaw within walking distance of my home, and I would never choose Metro to do a full shop.

I'm also hoping that Loblaw will now bring the T&T chain to the NYCC area. Considering the density of the Asian population here, it's surprising there isn't one already.

 

[afransen]

^It's funny how much perceptions of retailers varies from person to person.

 

[Therion]

I think I see the discrepancy: he stopped shopping at Loblaws when the boom-times fueled a major increase in food prices due to oil going up over $100. I didn't notice that when I posted my first reply. Prices have come down since then, but I agree with Felino that there was an increase last year. I think this was across the board, not just Loblaws. I don't think you would have saved money by switching to another retailer, proportionately speaking.

 

[adma]

I'm also hoping that Loblaw will now bring the T&T chain to the NYCC area. Considering the density of the Asian population here, it's surprising there isn't one already.

Maybe a rebranding of the Empress Walk Loblaws?

 

[Eug]

I heard on the (AM) radio a few days back that Loblaws announced it's going to cut prices.

EDIT:

Here we go

A major price cut by the Loblaw grocery chain on thousands of food items has shoppers hoping for a price war that could lead to major savings for recession-weary Canadians.

Last week, the company cut prices from 10 to 25 per cent on 3,000 items at its Atlantic Canada stories. It followed that up with 10 per cent savings for those on employment insurance at its Zehr stores in southwestern Ontario.

So why not cut prices overall in Ontario, not just for those on EI?!?

 

[Skeezix]

^It's funny how much perceptions of retailers varies from person to person.

So true, and so evident from so many of these retail threads.

 

[urbandreamer]

Metro=the grandest robbers of them all.
Sobey's=pretty big robbers, but some of their prepared food is ok to go; also, love the green (my favourite colour.)
Loblaws=decent, at least they have biggest selection, okay prices. Hate the name (am a Zehr's person) and colour scheme.
No Frills=why would you shop anywhere else for basics?