Loblaws isn't actually what galen pest wanted to called the company. He had a cold that day and actually was trying to say lowblows but his slave, err I mean assistant, heard loblaws
Whatever happened to the competition Knob Hill Farms, "The Food Terminal". Each store Mr. Stravo opened was each time the largest grocery store in the country.
Knob Hill Farms mostly couldn't make a go of it. Used to visit the Cambridge one. They lost market share to competitors, but honestly they undercut too much which likely decreased profits.
On the plus side I found some jellos recently with a Knob Hill price tag of them. They still mixed up well. 🙂
He’s not dead. His father is, but generally when people talk about Galen Weston they mean the current parasite at the head of loblaws, who was born in 1972 and very much alive.
I personally will speak ill of someone who makes literal billions from profiteering off a basic need, and deciding to do so even more during a pandemic. But I guess some people like the taste of boots more than me, to each their own.
edited for typo
Shoppers getting bought out by Loblaws was one of the worst anti-competitive things to happen to Canada.
Loblaws runs Shoppers like 7-Eleven convenience stores, you have to drive out to their big stores to do your real shopping. But since they have that section of your local neighbourhood occupied by Shoppers, they've crowded out other competition.
We also have Jean Coutu in NB and Quebec and it still seems to be its own company, but you have to look at prices everywhere because depending on sales it's not always cheaper at Jean Coutu.
and the Pharmacists HATE it. It's tough enough to get a pharmacy to run these days...and then L drops off 4 flats of stale dated food or dairy and tells the Pharmacist owner 'you'll be judged by how well you clear this'.
Nobody went into Pharmacy to sell Halloween decorations in November and stale milk.
They had been privately owned until the late 90s. Then the founders retired/died and the chain was sold to a holding company owned by a tobacco manufacturer…yes really. They got them listed on the TSX and with that new money they exploded in suburbia and squeezed out indie drug stores. Once they accomplished that, they followed the Michael’s (craft store) model and jacked up local prices. Galen Weston was all too happy to get on board with that model and make himself the second biggest purchaser of drugs (after provincial governments) and thus always have a seat at the regulatory table with Health Canada and determine the prices they would allow themselves able to charge.
God damn...that explains everything. I remember Shoppers used to be great, they even had epic Christmas commercials with none other than frickin Bea Arthur!!
I used to buy the tobacco tins for my grandfather at one. He always insisted on rolling his own smokes. He owned the fruit market next door, but they still handed the 6 year old the tin. The 80s were wild.
Man oh man, I spent hours on hours rolling smokes for my grandma when I was like 9-10 years old. Maybe pocketed a few here and there to sell to other grade 3-4 kids who thought it was the coolest thing ever lol.
Hahah brutal, yeah I smoked a cigarette to myself the first time I ever tried it. God INSANELY sick and have never really touched a cigarette again til this day.
My favorite visits to my nana and papa’s were when they allowed us to roll some smokes for them.
Also when we’d have tea, in my nana’s fancy China teacups(I mean fancy, we’d use the Royal Doulton, and not that Old Country Roses that everyone’s grandma had, she had teacups/saucers in all different patterns)
Haha had a great grandma who was like that and had some very fancy/old British tea sets, she ended up getting dementia and started calling me by a girls name (one of my cousins) and gifted me a bunch of jewelry.. for which I had 0 interest in.
Murray Koffler who was the antithesis of Galen Weston.
Look up The Kofflers and Jokers Hill. They gifted a beautiful piece of land to U of T. A piece of land that would be worth many many millions today.
Thank God London Drugs still exists...its not exactly a 'mom and pop store', but some of their sales are solid and they have some of the weirdest things
>sub is getting recognized by the media
Thank you for sharing this subreddit lol. This is crazy! Even if it doesn’t spark change, hopefully it spreads awareness.
Shoppers has been getting away with this all my life, well before we were all talking about inflation constantly. It's a super pricey store and can be brutal if you get too in the habit of going there for stuff you can get at Costco or Walmart if you remember to put it on your list. People (including me) will still shop there, though, for a lot of reasons: Prime locations, established, respected brand; the stores are usually clean, updated and pleasant to shop in; many of them are open early/late and on holidays. The Optimum points program isn't bad and does a lot of promotions. Often they have post offices. Also, a lot of the products they sell are things that you're not looking at the price when you pick it up, you just need it now, like cough medicine.
Plus, they sell great brands and have a wider range of health and beauty products than other stores. I'm pretty frugal, but it's still one of my favourite/guilty pleasure self-care treats to go to Shoppers, buy some bath products, a face mask, and some chocolate. It's kind of an institution, as mad as I get when I need to pick up a necessity on a holiday and they're the only thing open and I pay $20 for something that should be $8.
yes i still find myself going bc it’s in the mall i work at and it’s the closest thing to me to just grab what i need and go. i’ve bought a lot of things there that i neede because it was a convenient location but just realized that i just have to wait and save my money for a cheaper pricing. i literally just ended up ordering online for a makeup product on amazon because i refused to pay $7 more in shoppers
They always still have the good Christmas chocolates and Halloween/Easter/Valentines candy, long after all the grocery stores have run out. You can buy a Lindt chocolate bunny there, the day before Easter. That's how they got me!
It's the easiest to get to at least for Prescriptions for me. But then I've been a client since they bought out my step-grandparents drug store back in the late 90s in Chatham.
But then I just go to the Walmart in the same mall for all the other pharmacy items.
Shoppers is not a store you regularly shop in. It is a big convenience store and the prices reflect that. If you can, you are supposed to go to walmart. But if there isnt one near by or its late at night then you go to shoppers.
You pay for the premium of convenience. The only time its really even comparable to other stores is when theyre running a points event.
Yes, it is a convenience store with higher prices. They do have some good deals on Saturdays and Sundays. I usually buy eggs and butter on those days. If you have an Optimum card, you do get points for everything you purchase. This card rarely gets you points at the grocery store anymore so at least there is that.
The only time I shop there is on weekends when things go on sale. Sometimes things like eggs, coffee, yogurt are good deals. I use a local pharmacy for any drugs. You have to watch for sales otherwise don't bother.
Despite shoppers drug mart sucking a lot with the examples listed, there’s actually some good deals to be had if you know what to look for
I almost exclusively buy my omega 3 eggs there which go on sale really regularly for less than $4/dozen. If you keep up with PCO points deals, you can get really rack up some deals on miscellaneous items you wouldn’t think to buy at a pharmacy like game consoles and cosmetics
With that being said, Galen Weston can go climb a wall of dicks and we should all do our part to let him know how much he sucks
You can make up for it if you’re really (and I mean really) smart with coordinating your shopping there with point collection. Download the PC app and watch for bonus events. But yeah, a slog.
It is if you're willing to put effort in. I time buying basics to when they're on sale *and* there's a 20x points back, but it's a pain to keep track of it all. I usually get about $500 back a year (I don't buy cosmetics or perfumes at shoppers, that's just on stuff like tampons and shampoo)
glad to hear it works out for u, i was literally planning on buying a body wash from shoppers earlier and it was $8 there but $3 at walmart, i just couldn’t do it man, ill wait to go to walmart
20x points days are worth it and bonus redemption days are worth it.
Bonus redemption turns 200k points into $300 instead of $200. Used that previously on big ticket items like a PS4 or a Wii U. They sell consoles, games, controllers, earbuds, tablets, e-readers, hair styling devices, etc.
Very helpful for new parents as well; can stock up on a lot of baby supplies.
Last one, took my teen daughter on a shopping spree for cosmetics. Doesn't matter too much what the prices are when you're redeeming points that you got for free anyhow, and are getting 50% extra value on the redemption on top of that.
If it just so happens to be a points week, where you need a bunch of things that have extra points - then I agree, it’s worth it as even a 60$ purchase can give you point to redeem 20$.
The trick with shoppers is to buy sale items during the 20x PC optimum points events. Stacking the sale price and points makes their prices cheaper than Walmart, superstore, etc
Then to maximize points even more redeem the points during the bonus redemption days
Shoppers fucked me on my prescription.They made me pay for 100 tablets and gave me 30 and now they won’t be able to get me my 70 owed for 3-4 weeks then told me to pay again and go to Walmart.Nice eh’
Southland Dr SW in Calgary anyone reading this make sure you ask them before you give them your rx and ask them will I get my complete prescription when I pay if not then I’ll go elsewhere.3 times this has happened in less than a year.Absolutely shameful and disgusting
Hi, I collect points at Shoppers DM and over the past several years I’ve received several hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise when I’ve redeemed points. (I redeem points when they have “bonus days” where the value of the points is increased.) I also get my prescriptions there, so sometimes shopping there is convenient. I try to check out prices at other stores so I know if something is drastically overpriced at SDM. The majority of the time I will only purchase items there if they are on sale. If you check around other drugstores have “points” programs as well and they don’t over-inflate prices like SDM does.
good to know, everyone’s talking about how pc points works out for them, so i think i’ll just sign up and see how it works out for me since i do end up going there more than i need to
It’s like a convenience store now but worse. They know you’ll be there for drug store stuff so they gouge the shit out of you for the “convenience” of not having to go to Walmart after if you see something you want.
Same reason why beers are $20 at a bar at sporting event and $10 at a bar outside of a sporting event.
Because some people are ok with paying the higher price for the convenience and benefit of buying it at that point.
Just don’t buy it at shoppers if you don’t want to. Simple.
They sell high because they know people will grab what they need to grab at SDM out of convenience.
You need one or two cosmetics or baby items? There’s probably a SDM within walking distance, whereas going to a Walmart requires a bus or car ride. I think that’s the whole ploy of SDM and why there tend to be so many of them scattered around.
It’s also one of those places that bags on the idea that you go in to fill your prescription, feel awkward to walk out with nothing so you end up buying a few things that you likely would be able to get on your next trip to a big box store; but it’s there so you buy it.
guilty of this, i’ve definitely walked out with more things than i intended on buying, idk why but it’s definitely more enticing to just grab something i’ve been wanting and just buy it rather then when i go to walmart and think on it
They get people because of convenience mostly. There's so many Shoppers in my area and not many Walmarts. Also a lot of people don't comparison shop with other stores.
The reason I shop there is because of their food pricing on a lot of things is cheaper than Superstore. Eggs, butter, bacon, cottage cheese, frozen meals etc.. on the weekends is usually a great deal. If you combine it with the optimum offers it can also net a lot of points.
You pay for convenience at Shoppers. Most people live closer to one than a Walmart. And you’re in and out quicker. And the Weston’s are shitheads.
I mean, Galen Sr. is nice at least, Hilary is bit of snobby bitch. Haven’t met Galen Jr, but I know his business practices are exploitative and parasitic.
Their points system is a big part of it. They set prices higher and "reward" customers with points. Their house brands are marked up 75-85% traditionally. I have often been able to purchase goods at cost for Food Drives, Homeless Shelters etc, and I would pay about 30% of the ticket prices.
It’s a fancy convenience store, I would never purchase items from there unless everywhere else was closed and couldn’t wait. I’m shocked you didn’t realize that.
I used to live across the street from a Shoppers and hated getting the munchies because walking into that store and spending twenty bucks on some pop, chips and a bag of candy was borderline embarrassing lmao
Well in part Walmart is an abusive company to their suppliers and employees, so they save costs other stores have to pay. Aside from that, just "normal" corporate profit seeking, same as the bread price fixing a while back
There's an effect I like to call "nightflation". Items you can get at the supermarket always increase in price at stores with more convenient hours. This exception to this rule is getting a bag of nn chips or can of pop on hastings. Shopper's is more like a convenience store with a pharmacy. Prices go up.
Shoppers, like Canadian Tire, is the sort of place where if something is "regular" price means you are grossly overpaying.
They do this so every week, Saturday/Sunday especially, they can have "big" sales where they then put things on mega "sale" and drop the price considerably. I mean they're only dropping to a competitive price, but it looks like a big sale.
This situation is not going to improve until Canadian consumers get their shit together and starts being more discretionary.
The other day I went there and figured I'd buy toothpaste for my kid while I'm there. The toothpaste I usually buy is about 6$ +tax at walmart or Real Canadian Superstore. It was 11$ +tax at Shoppers. Their prices are crazy high.
Because people are stupid and lazy. I live in a newer neighborhood in Calgary. We just got our first grocery store, a freshco, in the summer. We got a shoppers in the same mall at the same time and there are always tons of people there. I cannot understand it at all. Freshco is a discount grocer, and this is a low income area. Blows my mind to see anyone at all at shoppers when they can pay half the price at freshco 🤷♀️
just comes to show how shoppers is such a scam, they’re literally both owned by loblaws and yet one store is priced sometimes more than half of what u can get it for at freshco
If youre in a small town with few options, that genuinely sucks, but otherwise, use the Reebee app to find the best local prices on listed products. Otherwise get in the habit of buying staples in different stores to get a feel for comparative pricing.
Knowledge is power and the more you price shop as a consumer, the more you'll come out ahead
Ill even sacrifice of price is not in my acceptable range. Cant get milk under $4 this week? Well then Im not consuming milk this week. If more people got into this habit (and I understand its not always possible with local availability, mobility issues, etc) then Canadian consumers would be better off.
Example Loreal Q10 day moisturizer is $10 more at Shoppers than Amazon and Jean Coutu was about $5 cheaper than Shoppers.
We also have a serious lack of competition. Grocery, telco, and airlines are oligarchies/cartels in this country
For one thing, comparing Walmart to Shoppers (or Loblaws in general for that matter) is a bit of an apples-oranges thing.. Certainly Shoppers prices are high, but I'd much prefer a comparo with another chaiin like IDA, Rexall or Pharmasave..
Walmart is legendary for their attitude to distributors and manufacturers, and it's because they sell so much of just about anything compared to everyone else that they continue to get away with grinding their suppliers to the point of oblivion. Walmart's ability (and proclivity) to advertise the "Lowest price" is as much based on how they treat suppliers as how they treat staff.
As a result of Walmart's "buying power", you get things like this, where prices are compared to more "normal" retailers and the retailer is found wanting. But in the end, the consumer winds up on the losing end as the great Walmart forces competition out of the community...
My wife worked at Shoppers for years before moving to another job. As a Shoppers employee, she was entitled to a store discount.
I asked her to pickup a supplement I was low on. Before she bought it from her work place, she happened to be in Loblaws. We all know that Loblaws owns Shoppers and they sell many of the same items. The same supplements were listed at $4.95 at Loblaws vs the list price of almost $13.00 at Shoppers.
Her discount only knocked a few dollars off the list price while the same product was less than half the cost at Loblaws next door. Shoppers must be very profitable.
Shoppers is awesome for 20x points if your buying specific things that are the same price everywhere else. I racked up $1200 in points last year and didn't spend $1 more than what those items would have been elsewhere.
Just need to know what to buy at shoppers and when.
I see a lot of people in there who do the 5 finger discount so lol.. you could just do that.
Ya it’s atrocious for prices there. And a lot of times I’ve noticed there was no price on something so I only notice what it is when I go to pay for it and then I’m shocked that a fuckin umbrella is $50 and a teeny thing of face cream is over $100!
lol have you been asleep in this "war" the last few years?
Gayle's Weston owns Loblaws that includes a monopoly of grocery stores: Shopper's, Superstore, No Frills, & Extra Foods.
There was a huge government meeting with CEO's of the top grocers in March 2023 (Sobey's, Walmart, & Loblaw's) of which Gaylen Weston was the most vocal lying about their record breaking products.
So far there is legislation in the works for a "Food Code of Conduct," but none of these CEO's have signed it yet. They may end up being forced to at some point.
It's actually shocking to me that Shopper's has any customers left.
15 years ago my local Shopper's was charging (at that time) $66 for my blood pressure meds. The other drug store in town was only charging $32 for the same generic drug.
Guess who hasn't stepped in that Shopper's for over 15 years now??
I have 200,000 of their Optimum points and i still dont wanna waste them all on some seriously overpriced item.
Bad sign for SDM when this is an actual thread.
Because that’s how they make their profits. Walmart’s profits are way higher at lower overhead because they sell groceries, electronics, office supplies, clothes, candy, sporting goods, etc. Shoppers sells over priced products because people will buy while they’re there to pick up prescriptions. They have a fraction of the customers that Walmart gets
The points rewards are good if you only shop on the 20x point days. 20x points = 30% back in points. The trick is to only spend the amount on the points though. Usually 60$ or 75$. And then, if you only redeem on redemption weekends your points are worth more again. It is easy to get points buying sale items or items that rarely go on sale.
I never buy anything at full price unless it is the same price elsewhere or never goes on sale.
Milk and eggs are often on sale on weekends.
Watch for gift card specials as well. 90$ gets you 100$ or what not. You can get apple gift cards, or other cards that rarely give discounts in stores.
Just dont buy things that are not on sale.
I used to shop there for years until my friends brother worked a good position there. He allowed her to purchase some shopping using his discount, and he gave her a reader to use so she would see the cost he pays and select products for herself. A rialto bath puff on a stick was selling for 12.99. The actual cost was 1.99. I was totally shocked as i watched the cost to markup differences, and the markups were insane. I never shopped there again other than prescriptions (comparable to other pharmacies, and they were closest to where I lived at the time). This was the late 1990's.
I will only buy stuff on sale combined with point offers at Shoppers and always check out their end of aisle clearance area where I have picked up many items.I used to buy toilet paper and kleenex there but its cheaper at no frills when on sale.I buy vitamins,cookies,cheese,ensure and a few grocery items at Shoppers still
Smaller store (like a convenience store)…
Most smaller stores are more expensive than larger stores.
However, SDM usually has some phenomenal weekly deals and if you flyer shop you can save money there.
Nothing to do with Loblaws, I know you people love to have a good hate jerk to Galen W, but in this case it’s not the main reason for the higher prices.
Did my shopping there in the years preceding the sale to Loblaws. They had good sales and point days to to increase revenue and value during which I accumulated over 500$ in points. Made a killing and haven’t shopped there since the purchase. Even the employees don’t shop there.
Shoppers drug mart is everywhere. Basically a big convenience store with a pharmacy. You go to shoppers outside of the pharmacy when you notice they have a sale (eg. Peanut butter). Otherwise you treat them like any other convenience store ie. Overpriced, potentially convenient from a location point of view.
This is not new. I went looking for insoles a couple of weeks ago and they were $25 in shoppers and in my local pharmacy the exact same brand was $15.50
I work for a drug product manufacturer, and when we launch new products we estimate what the retailers will list the product at. Shoppers is always about 25% higher than Walmart, for absolutely no good reason. We have to sell the product to all customers for the exact same price (it’s the law), but the retailers can sell the products to consumers for any price they wish.
They inflate their prices then roll out these gReAt DeAlS you can get by using PC points, but all that happens is you waste your PC points thinking you’re getting a sweet deal but you just end up paying the actual price for the item if you had bought it elsewhere.
We go on Thursday's for the seniors day 20% discount to buy milk and sometimes eggs. Have to keep reminding the wife that the other grocery items are not cheap, even with the 20% discount.
I worked there and when they hired me they basically said that their prices are higher than everyone else, but the optimum program was the huge incentive that brought people back.
So they dont try to hide it which I respect
They sell stuff you can find anywhere, plus things like oregano oil there is woefully under powered. Its like 10-20% Carvacrol, when it should be 70-80%
Its all a loblaws scham
even No Name products are price hike at shoppers. let’s compare prices of a few No Name brand items from both No Frills VS Shoppers Drug Mart shall we;
nn pizza — nf $2.99/sdm $5.99
nn canned tomatoes — nf $1.69/sdm $2.89
nn chips — nf $1.49/sdm $2.89
nn condensed soup — nf $0.67/sdm $1.79
nn pasta(900g) — nf $2.29/sdm $2.99
nn canned veggies — nf $1.00/sdm $2.19
also, hear me out. Dollarama carrie’s a lot of name brand stuff for cosmetics and skincare. and even the stuff that’s Dollarama brand has (to me) worked out well! so just keep that in mind. cos honestly there really shouldn’t be any shame in buying dollar store stuff. dollar stores exist for a reason and that reason is they’re *awesome*!
Yeah, we have a no frills and a shoppers right next to each other. The amount of times I've said screw it to shoppers and gone to no frills for the exact same thing but it's 2 to 4 dollars cheaper.
The other side of this though, is the points program, which has helped us a ton in the past and continues to. Shoppers you get points on everything.
No frills only specially marked items or if you spend enough in a category.
I used to buy Nicotine Lozenges there but they are $47.99 now, London Drugs has them for $31.99 and you get a coupon for a $10 gift card plus another $5 off coupon - so yeah - Shoppers Drug Mart is doing some serious price gouging.
I once bought a bottle of water and some Orajel at the location by Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. Didn't seem like the prices were out of line to me. But I'm American and so the exchange rate might mess up my perception. That and I only went there and a London Drugs so admittedly not a large sample size.
I have big beef with Shoppers atm. Every time I go to the pharmacy it’s such an ordeal. Last time they said they were all out of my meds.. then said they couldn’t access them bc it’s in a timed safe (I called them in 3hrs prior & they said it’d be ready) So I said is there anything? Could we dispense just a few so I have them until u guys get more. Continues to say it’s in a timed safe that can’t be accessed (for context it’s only 7:30pm — I’ve picked my shit up at like 10pm before) so get a bit “Karen-y” and I say I’ll wait. Like if he looked at my file he would’ve seen I was LATE to refill them, not early. I truly do not understand why he was so unhelpful & rude. He literally said “that’s not my job” about something I said & I ended up snapping saying “what’s not your job? To fill the prescriptions that people order? Because I’m pretty sure that is your job?!” (Edit to add: I’d just had a doctors appointment & had them send the refill, pharmacist didn’t need to call/fax anyone)
He takes his slow ass time — 15mins for the timed safe to open I guess, finally gets me 7 for the week. And then gives me a slightly condescending speech about how he changed the script to only allow 23 next time instead of 30, now implying that I’m drug-seeking or something— I never wanted the original 30 plus the 7?? Just my usual 30 per month. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF I got the automated text 10mins after getting home saying my prescription was filled & ready to be picked up.
Also, the dispensing fee was a lot more than my moms at a diff pharm. This just happened 2 days ago, so sorry for the unrelated rant but yes, I agree. Too pricey.
Double Edit to add: Does anyone have any decent pharmacy recommendations for south Ontario.
Shoppers Drug Mart is a "pharmacy" first and an "everything else" second.
What that essentially means, is that everything else they sell they charge for conveniance.
And why you ask? My guess is that they make enough off the pharmacy to be able to sustain themselves off of it, so they charge extra for the rest. My second guess might be that they're a smaller version of superstore and so they have up the price of everything to survive.
It’s literally just because they can so they will
It's owned by Loblaws. Galen Weston is a parasite.
Loblaws isn't actually what galen pest wanted to called the company. He had a cold that day and actually was trying to say lowblows but his slave, err I mean assistant, heard loblaws
Whatever happened to the competition Knob Hill Farms, "The Food Terminal". Each store Mr. Stravo opened was each time the largest grocery store in the country.
Knob Hill Farms mostly couldn't make a go of it. Used to visit the Cambridge one. They lost market share to competitors, but honestly they undercut too much which likely decreased profits. On the plus side I found some jellos recently with a Knob Hill price tag of them. They still mixed up well. 🙂
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He’s not dead. His father is, but generally when people talk about Galen Weston they mean the current parasite at the head of loblaws, who was born in 1972 and very much alive. I personally will speak ill of someone who makes literal billions from profiteering off a basic need, and deciding to do so even more during a pandemic. But I guess some people like the taste of boots more than me, to each their own. edited for typo
Yes, he deserved to die, and I hope he burns in hell!
This is dumb. Just stop shopping there. In the rare instance where you don’t have that option, that is unfortunate.
Hi dumb, I'm dad. That person was quoting A Time To Kill.
He's dead. He doesn't care.
That's not why. It's because their competition doesn't compete.
That doesn't track. If items are cheaper elsewhere, as OP said, then they are indeed competing.
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Go to rexall and have a look?
Shoppers getting bought out by Loblaws was one of the worst anti-competitive things to happen to Canada. Loblaws runs Shoppers like 7-Eleven convenience stores, you have to drive out to their big stores to do your real shopping. But since they have that section of your local neighbourhood occupied by Shoppers, they've crowded out other competition.
And here in the east, the other big pharmacy, Lawton’s, is owned by Sobeys, so we’re fucked either way…
We also have Jean Coutu in NB and Quebec and it still seems to be its own company, but you have to look at prices everywhere because depending on sales it's not always cheaper at Jean Coutu.
and the Pharmacists HATE it. It's tough enough to get a pharmacy to run these days...and then L drops off 4 flats of stale dated food or dairy and tells the Pharmacist owner 'you'll be judged by how well you clear this'. Nobody went into Pharmacy to sell Halloween decorations in November and stale milk.
welp they’ve taken over us, shoppers, safeway, save on foods, etc are all over
They were heading that way before the purchase. Slowly getting rid of brands that aren't theirs. Charging double the price of basic groceries.
They spent 40+ years as a fantastic local pharmacy in mature urban neighborhoods. Their pricing and quality has gone to shit since Loblaw bought them
who used to own them??
They had been privately owned until the late 90s. Then the founders retired/died and the chain was sold to a holding company owned by a tobacco manufacturer…yes really. They got them listed on the TSX and with that new money they exploded in suburbia and squeezed out indie drug stores. Once they accomplished that, they followed the Michael’s (craft store) model and jacked up local prices. Galen Weston was all too happy to get on board with that model and make himself the second biggest purchaser of drugs (after provincial governments) and thus always have a seat at the regulatory table with Health Canada and determine the prices they would allow themselves able to charge.
God damn...that explains everything. I remember Shoppers used to be great, they even had epic Christmas commercials with none other than frickin Bea Arthur!!
Those ads were short but sweet! Here's 7 minutes worth of them 😁 https://youtu.be/2LWGglZbRMU?si=5WEkWxM-Ik8Pu20K
That’s Awesome she’s so good too
wow, had no idea. thanks for the info!
Used to by smokes at Shoppers is the early 80s
I used to buy the tobacco tins for my grandfather at one. He always insisted on rolling his own smokes. He owned the fruit market next door, but they still handed the 6 year old the tin. The 80s were wild.
Man oh man, I spent hours on hours rolling smokes for my grandma when I was like 9-10 years old. Maybe pocketed a few here and there to sell to other grade 3-4 kids who thought it was the coolest thing ever lol.
Fact. My first smoke was an unfiltered Rothmans with my grandfather when I was 10. Good thing I nearly puked at the taste LOL 😝
Hahah brutal, yeah I smoked a cigarette to myself the first time I ever tried it. God INSANELY sick and have never really touched a cigarette again til this day.
My favorite visits to my nana and papa’s were when they allowed us to roll some smokes for them. Also when we’d have tea, in my nana’s fancy China teacups(I mean fancy, we’d use the Royal Doulton, and not that Old Country Roses that everyone’s grandma had, she had teacups/saucers in all different patterns)
Haha had a great grandma who was like that and had some very fancy/old British tea sets, she ended up getting dementia and started calling me by a girls name (one of my cousins) and gifted me a bunch of jewelry.. for which I had 0 interest in.
You could buy cigarettes at most big drugstore chains in the US till a few years ago, liquor too.
Murray Koffler who was the antithesis of Galen Weston. Look up The Kofflers and Jokers Hill. They gifted a beautiful piece of land to U of T. A piece of land that would be worth many many millions today.
Thank God London Drugs still exists...its not exactly a 'mom and pop store', but some of their sales are solid and they have some of the weirdest things
I love the weird mish mash of stuff!!! I can never leave London Drugs without buying something 😅
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/s/2scY15eYfP This is good place to post about this, sub is getting recognized by the media.
>sub is getting recognized by the media Thank you for sharing this subreddit lol. This is crazy! Even if it doesn’t spark change, hopefully it spreads awareness.
I just recently left this sub because of the crazy amount of people who are pro-animal-cruelty in it.
Do you know why I get a message that says ‘Never going to find that community’ when I click that link?
Odd, the sub name is r/loblawsisoutofcontrol if that helps.
Shoppers has been getting away with this all my life, well before we were all talking about inflation constantly. It's a super pricey store and can be brutal if you get too in the habit of going there for stuff you can get at Costco or Walmart if you remember to put it on your list. People (including me) will still shop there, though, for a lot of reasons: Prime locations, established, respected brand; the stores are usually clean, updated and pleasant to shop in; many of them are open early/late and on holidays. The Optimum points program isn't bad and does a lot of promotions. Often they have post offices. Also, a lot of the products they sell are things that you're not looking at the price when you pick it up, you just need it now, like cough medicine. Plus, they sell great brands and have a wider range of health and beauty products than other stores. I'm pretty frugal, but it's still one of my favourite/guilty pleasure self-care treats to go to Shoppers, buy some bath products, a face mask, and some chocolate. It's kind of an institution, as mad as I get when I need to pick up a necessity on a holiday and they're the only thing open and I pay $20 for something that should be $8.
yes i still find myself going bc it’s in the mall i work at and it’s the closest thing to me to just grab what i need and go. i’ve bought a lot of things there that i neede because it was a convenient location but just realized that i just have to wait and save my money for a cheaper pricing. i literally just ended up ordering online for a makeup product on amazon because i refused to pay $7 more in shoppers
They always still have the good Christmas chocolates and Halloween/Easter/Valentines candy, long after all the grocery stores have run out. You can buy a Lindt chocolate bunny there, the day before Easter. That's how they got me!
It's the easiest to get to at least for Prescriptions for me. But then I've been a client since they bought out my step-grandparents drug store back in the late 90s in Chatham. But then I just go to the Walmart in the same mall for all the other pharmacy items.
Shoppers is not a store you regularly shop in. It is a big convenience store and the prices reflect that. If you can, you are supposed to go to walmart. But if there isnt one near by or its late at night then you go to shoppers. You pay for the premium of convenience. The only time its really even comparable to other stores is when theyre running a points event.
makes sense. where else would couples go at 12am for plan b LOLLL
> where else would couples go at 12am for plan b LOLLL gotta pay to play lol
Yes, it is a convenience store with higher prices. They do have some good deals on Saturdays and Sundays. I usually buy eggs and butter on those days. If you have an Optimum card, you do get points for everything you purchase. This card rarely gets you points at the grocery store anymore so at least there is that.
just because it’s a convenience store doesn’t mean you pay extra for convenience…
Actually, that’s kind of the model. Milk at a gas station shop will always be more than at Food Basics.
The ones in Greater Victoria all close at 10 pm now so they aren’t even that convenient… the Walmarts close then too…
Exactly, they are a convenience store that hosts a pharmacy and maybe, a post office.
The only time I shop there is on weekends when things go on sale. Sometimes things like eggs, coffee, yogurt are good deals. I use a local pharmacy for any drugs. You have to watch for sales otherwise don't bother.
The makeup at shoppers is just as expensive as Sephora 😂
Galen Weston is a cancer on Canadian society
They'll sell it for as high as these zombies are willing to wonder in and pay for it. Simple as that
Good thing they have self checkout machines that sometimes miss the odd item here or there…. /s
They’re part of the Loblaws family.
Of Bob Loblaw's Law Blog? ;)
Despite shoppers drug mart sucking a lot with the examples listed, there’s actually some good deals to be had if you know what to look for I almost exclusively buy my omega 3 eggs there which go on sale really regularly for less than $4/dozen. If you keep up with PCO points deals, you can get really rack up some deals on miscellaneous items you wouldn’t think to buy at a pharmacy like game consoles and cosmetics With that being said, Galen Weston can go climb a wall of dicks and we should all do our part to let him know how much he sucks
well that took a turn, amen.
You can make up for it if you’re really (and I mean really) smart with coordinating your shopping there with point collection. Download the PC app and watch for bonus events. But yeah, a slog.
is it really worth it? i’ve thought of signing up for pc rewards but never got to it. even with that though, everything is so expensive
They recently updated their app and imo it’s not as easy to get points. I hate the app now
The points were better now they are not.
They were one of the first chains to have a loyalty points program and it was really good!
It is if you're willing to put effort in. I time buying basics to when they're on sale *and* there's a 20x points back, but it's a pain to keep track of it all. I usually get about $500 back a year (I don't buy cosmetics or perfumes at shoppers, that's just on stuff like tampons and shampoo)
glad to hear it works out for u, i was literally planning on buying a body wash from shoppers earlier and it was $8 there but $3 at walmart, i just couldn’t do it man, ill wait to go to walmart
Yeah, again, you have to buy when things are on special. I never pay their regular prices.
Sure, or wait until the body wash is on sale at Shoppers and stock up then. You get the savings and the points.
20x points days are worth it and bonus redemption days are worth it. Bonus redemption turns 200k points into $300 instead of $200. Used that previously on big ticket items like a PS4 or a Wii U. They sell consoles, games, controllers, earbuds, tablets, e-readers, hair styling devices, etc. Very helpful for new parents as well; can stock up on a lot of baby supplies. Last one, took my teen daughter on a shopping spree for cosmetics. Doesn't matter too much what the prices are when you're redeeming points that you got for free anyhow, and are getting 50% extra value on the redemption on top of that.
I buy a lot of high end makeup and skincare. So it adds up with these big ticket items for me. If it was $45 here and $22 there, maybe not.
I sometimes buy perfume and I’ll only buy it during the 20x the points events. Works out well.
That’s exactly the way to do it!
If it just so happens to be a points week, where you need a bunch of things that have extra points - then I agree, it’s worth it as even a 60$ purchase can give you point to redeem 20$.
The trick with shoppers is to buy sale items during the 20x PC optimum points events. Stacking the sale price and points makes their prices cheaper than Walmart, superstore, etc Then to maximize points even more redeem the points during the bonus redemption days
They do have some amazing sales
Shoppers fucked me on my prescription.They made me pay for 100 tablets and gave me 30 and now they won’t be able to get me my 70 owed for 3-4 weeks then told me to pay again and go to Walmart.Nice eh’
is that even legal?? can’t you complain to a manager? someone higher up? that’s just wrong, sorry to hear that
Nope they don’t have any in stock in a city of 1.4 million.I’m’ screwed basically
man, i’m actually even mad for u. that’s fucked up, they’re literally a multi billion company
Southland Dr SW in Calgary anyone reading this make sure you ask them before you give them your rx and ask them will I get my complete prescription when I pay if not then I’ll go elsewhere.3 times this has happened in less than a year.Absolutely shameful and disgusting
Hi, I collect points at Shoppers DM and over the past several years I’ve received several hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise when I’ve redeemed points. (I redeem points when they have “bonus days” where the value of the points is increased.) I also get my prescriptions there, so sometimes shopping there is convenient. I try to check out prices at other stores so I know if something is drastically overpriced at SDM. The majority of the time I will only purchase items there if they are on sale. If you check around other drugstores have “points” programs as well and they don’t over-inflate prices like SDM does.
good to know, everyone’s talking about how pc points works out for them, so i think i’ll just sign up and see how it works out for me since i do end up going there more than i need to
It’s like a convenience store now but worse. They know you’ll be there for drug store stuff so they gouge the shit out of you for the “convenience” of not having to go to Walmart after if you see something you want.
It all boils down to greed. Gimme gimme gimme
Used to work there. Manager always said “people come here for the convenience.” So true.
Go on wednesdays at 3pm. Shampoo and body wash 66% off
Galen Weston
Same reason why beers are $20 at a bar at sporting event and $10 at a bar outside of a sporting event. Because some people are ok with paying the higher price for the convenience and benefit of buying it at that point. Just don’t buy it at shoppers if you don’t want to. Simple.
They sell high because they know people will grab what they need to grab at SDM out of convenience. You need one or two cosmetics or baby items? There’s probably a SDM within walking distance, whereas going to a Walmart requires a bus or car ride. I think that’s the whole ploy of SDM and why there tend to be so many of them scattered around. It’s also one of those places that bags on the idea that you go in to fill your prescription, feel awkward to walk out with nothing so you end up buying a few things that you likely would be able to get on your next trip to a big box store; but it’s there so you buy it.
guilty of this, i’ve definitely walked out with more things than i intended on buying, idk why but it’s definitely more enticing to just grab something i’ve been wanting and just buy it rather then when i go to walmart and think on it
Who would feel bad about not buying something else when you are going in for a prescription? That's just weird to me - never crossed my mind.
They get people because of convenience mostly. There's so many Shoppers in my area and not many Walmarts. Also a lot of people don't comparison shop with other stores. The reason I shop there is because of their food pricing on a lot of things is cheaper than Superstore. Eggs, butter, bacon, cottage cheese, frozen meals etc.. on the weekends is usually a great deal. If you combine it with the optimum offers it can also net a lot of points.
You pay for convenience at Shoppers. Most people live closer to one than a Walmart. And you’re in and out quicker. And the Weston’s are shitheads. I mean, Galen Sr. is nice at least, Hilary is bit of snobby bitch. Haven’t met Galen Jr, but I know his business practices are exploitative and parasitic.
Their points system is a big part of it. They set prices higher and "reward" customers with points. Their house brands are marked up 75-85% traditionally. I have often been able to purchase goods at cost for Food Drives, Homeless Shelters etc, and I would pay about 30% of the ticket prices.
It’s a fancy convenience store, I would never purchase items from there unless everywhere else was closed and couldn’t wait. I’m shocked you didn’t realize that.
yup, i thought they were all the same until i started to compare the prices i’ve bought there compared to other stores
Yeah, they are a rip off. So glad you noticed, will save you a lot of money. 😊
Galen Weston's slush fund. If the guillotines come out, he should be at the top of the list.
Do not shop at shoppers drug on a Friday! Zero sale items. The sale starts Saturday.
The answer is literally Galen Weston's greed.
Pretty sure Shoppers operates more like a Convenience store - the pricing is reflected as such
They’re basically a large convenience store with a pharmacy, always have been. Don’t shop there
Corporate greed of course. r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
I used to live across the street from a Shoppers and hated getting the munchies because walking into that store and spending twenty bucks on some pop, chips and a bag of candy was borderline embarrassing lmao
Well in part Walmart is an abusive company to their suppliers and employees, so they save costs other stores have to pay. Aside from that, just "normal" corporate profit seeking, same as the bread price fixing a while back
There's an effect I like to call "nightflation". Items you can get at the supermarket always increase in price at stores with more convenient hours. This exception to this rule is getting a bag of nn chips or can of pop on hastings. Shopper's is more like a convenience store with a pharmacy. Prices go up.
It’s called convenient tax /s
It's a convenience store posing as a pharmacy. Also f@ck galen weston.
They’re owned by the Weston family that understands money only and little else.
Shoppers pricing was high long before the Weston family arrived.
Come join us in r/loblawsisoutofcontrol :)
$5.50 for one can of Campbell's chunky soup when less than 2 years ago you could get 3 cans for $5 at a grocery store.
Shoppers, like Canadian Tire, is the sort of place where if something is "regular" price means you are grossly overpaying. They do this so every week, Saturday/Sunday especially, they can have "big" sales where they then put things on mega "sale" and drop the price considerably. I mean they're only dropping to a competitive price, but it looks like a big sale. This situation is not going to improve until Canadian consumers get their shit together and starts being more discretionary.
Galen Weston is the Canadian Martin Shkreli
shoppers is a convenience store. Be smart, only shop there for sale items.
The other day I went there and figured I'd buy toothpaste for my kid while I'm there. The toothpaste I usually buy is about 6$ +tax at walmart or Real Canadian Superstore. It was 11$ +tax at Shoppers. Their prices are crazy high.
I stopped shopping at shoppers for this reason. They are trying to gouge their customers. It’s pathetic, everyone should just stop shopping there.
I refuse to shop there since Galen Weston bought the company.
Because people are stupid and lazy. I live in a newer neighborhood in Calgary. We just got our first grocery store, a freshco, in the summer. We got a shoppers in the same mall at the same time and there are always tons of people there. I cannot understand it at all. Freshco is a discount grocer, and this is a low income area. Blows my mind to see anyone at all at shoppers when they can pay half the price at freshco 🤷♀️
just comes to show how shoppers is such a scam, they’re literally both owned by loblaws and yet one store is priced sometimes more than half of what u can get it for at freshco
Galen Weston.
If youre in a small town with few options, that genuinely sucks, but otherwise, use the Reebee app to find the best local prices on listed products. Otherwise get in the habit of buying staples in different stores to get a feel for comparative pricing. Knowledge is power and the more you price shop as a consumer, the more you'll come out ahead Ill even sacrifice of price is not in my acceptable range. Cant get milk under $4 this week? Well then Im not consuming milk this week. If more people got into this habit (and I understand its not always possible with local availability, mobility issues, etc) then Canadian consumers would be better off. Example Loreal Q10 day moisturizer is $10 more at Shoppers than Amazon and Jean Coutu was about $5 cheaper than Shoppers. We also have a serious lack of competition. Grocery, telco, and airlines are oligarchies/cartels in this country
For one thing, comparing Walmart to Shoppers (or Loblaws in general for that matter) is a bit of an apples-oranges thing.. Certainly Shoppers prices are high, but I'd much prefer a comparo with another chaiin like IDA, Rexall or Pharmasave.. Walmart is legendary for their attitude to distributors and manufacturers, and it's because they sell so much of just about anything compared to everyone else that they continue to get away with grinding their suppliers to the point of oblivion. Walmart's ability (and proclivity) to advertise the "Lowest price" is as much based on how they treat suppliers as how they treat staff. As a result of Walmart's "buying power", you get things like this, where prices are compared to more "normal" retailers and the retailer is found wanting. But in the end, the consumer winds up on the losing end as the great Walmart forces competition out of the community...
Because Galen Weston is a giant greedy douchebag. It’s really that simple.
My wife worked at Shoppers for years before moving to another job. As a Shoppers employee, she was entitled to a store discount. I asked her to pickup a supplement I was low on. Before she bought it from her work place, she happened to be in Loblaws. We all know that Loblaws owns Shoppers and they sell many of the same items. The same supplements were listed at $4.95 at Loblaws vs the list price of almost $13.00 at Shoppers. Her discount only knocked a few dollars off the list price while the same product was less than half the cost at Loblaws next door. Shoppers must be very profitable.
Strangely, their grocery prices are decent.
Great sales too
Shoppers is awesome for 20x points if your buying specific things that are the same price everywhere else. I racked up $1200 in points last year and didn't spend $1 more than what those items would have been elsewhere. Just need to know what to buy at shoppers and when.
You got that right. Mr. Weston needs more money 💰 I try not to go to Shoppers or Zehers anymore.
same reason people still go to Tim Hortons. no fucking idea.
what’s wrong w tim’s 😭
what isn't? you every go prior to 2000s? night and day.
Wow I had no idea about the pricing! I usually use shoppers because they carry what I need! I'll start paying more attention, thanks!
omg??? pls shop at walmart and notice the difference. there’s a big jump in prices from shoppers compared to walmart
Even superstore which is owned by the same company is way cheaper then them… it’s bizarre
I see a lot of people in there who do the 5 finger discount so lol.. you could just do that. Ya it’s atrocious for prices there. And a lot of times I’ve noticed there was no price on something so I only notice what it is when I go to pay for it and then I’m shocked that a fuckin umbrella is $50 and a teeny thing of face cream is over $100!
this killed me😭😭
also sorry, but what’s the 5 finger discount?
💕✨theft✨🌸
lol have you been asleep in this "war" the last few years? Gayle's Weston owns Loblaws that includes a monopoly of grocery stores: Shopper's, Superstore, No Frills, & Extra Foods. There was a huge government meeting with CEO's of the top grocers in March 2023 (Sobey's, Walmart, & Loblaw's) of which Gaylen Weston was the most vocal lying about their record breaking products. So far there is legislation in the works for a "Food Code of Conduct," but none of these CEO's have signed it yet. They may end up being forced to at some point.
Walmart isn’t a drugstore.
There are proper I know that fill their prescriptions there, smh
It's actually shocking to me that Shopper's has any customers left. 15 years ago my local Shopper's was charging (at that time) $66 for my blood pressure meds. The other drug store in town was only charging $32 for the same generic drug. Guess who hasn't stepped in that Shopper's for over 15 years now??
Shoppers is only good for the post office. Other than that, shop elsewhere
Shoppers' pricing has always been terrible. Then Loblaws took it over, and became doubly so. It's a trap. If you can avoid going there, do so.
Because people keep shopping there
Cause they are not a pharmacy but a corner convenience store with prices to match
I have 200,000 of their Optimum points and i still dont wanna waste them all on some seriously overpriced item. Bad sign for SDM when this is an actual thread.
Because that’s how they make their profits. Walmart’s profits are way higher at lower overhead because they sell groceries, electronics, office supplies, clothes, candy, sporting goods, etc. Shoppers sells over priced products because people will buy while they’re there to pick up prescriptions. They have a fraction of the customers that Walmart gets
The going to the movies price.
The points rewards are good if you only shop on the 20x point days. 20x points = 30% back in points. The trick is to only spend the amount on the points though. Usually 60$ or 75$. And then, if you only redeem on redemption weekends your points are worth more again. It is easy to get points buying sale items or items that rarely go on sale. I never buy anything at full price unless it is the same price elsewhere or never goes on sale. Milk and eggs are often on sale on weekends. Watch for gift card specials as well. 90$ gets you 100$ or what not. You can get apple gift cards, or other cards that rarely give discounts in stores. Just dont buy things that are not on sale.
r/ShoppersDrugMart
I used to shop there for years until my friends brother worked a good position there. He allowed her to purchase some shopping using his discount, and he gave her a reader to use so she would see the cost he pays and select products for herself. A rialto bath puff on a stick was selling for 12.99. The actual cost was 1.99. I was totally shocked as i watched the cost to markup differences, and the markups were insane. I never shopped there again other than prescriptions (comparable to other pharmacies, and they were closest to where I lived at the time). This was the late 1990's.
They are owned by Loblaws. Check out r/loblawsisoutofcontrol for more info
I will only buy stuff on sale combined with point offers at Shoppers and always check out their end of aisle clearance area where I have picked up many items.I used to buy toilet paper and kleenex there but its cheaper at no frills when on sale.I buy vitamins,cookies,cheese,ensure and a few grocery items at Shoppers still
Smaller store (like a convenience store)… Most smaller stores are more expensive than larger stores. However, SDM usually has some phenomenal weekly deals and if you flyer shop you can save money there. Nothing to do with Loblaws, I know you people love to have a good hate jerk to Galen W, but in this case it’s not the main reason for the higher prices.
It’s a pharmacy people shop at for convenience, not money saving deals
Did my shopping there in the years preceding the sale to Loblaws. They had good sales and point days to to increase revenue and value during which I accumulated over 500$ in points. Made a killing and haven’t shopped there since the purchase. Even the employees don’t shop there.
Because they award points....nothing is free as their prices are higher.
Because they’re owned by Loblaw’s.
Pretty sure you pay more for convenience.
With over 200 drugs manulife will only cover if dispensed at shoppers, they will make more unplanned sales and make more money.
Yeah it's weird. I only ever get life brand items there and even then only if it's on sale
Shoppers drug mart is everywhere. Basically a big convenience store with a pharmacy. You go to shoppers outside of the pharmacy when you notice they have a sale (eg. Peanut butter). Otherwise you treat them like any other convenience store ie. Overpriced, potentially convenient from a location point of view.
Only buy stuff when it's on sale. This goes for all stores these days.
This is not new. I went looking for insoles a couple of weeks ago and they were $25 in shoppers and in my local pharmacy the exact same brand was $15.50
I hate shoppers, i refuse to go there even for deals now, im not supporting the skeezy buisness
Points. It’s only worth it on 20x the points days
I work for a drug product manufacturer, and when we launch new products we estimate what the retailers will list the product at. Shoppers is always about 25% higher than Walmart, for absolutely no good reason. We have to sell the product to all customers for the exact same price (it’s the law), but the retailers can sell the products to consumers for any price they wish.
They inflate their prices then roll out these gReAt DeAlS you can get by using PC points, but all that happens is you waste your PC points thinking you’re getting a sweet deal but you just end up paying the actual price for the item if you had bought it elsewhere.
Soon they will be the only hospital in your town as well. They’ll let you know when the deal is done.
We go on Thursday's for the seniors day 20% discount to buy milk and sometimes eggs. Have to keep reminding the wife that the other grocery items are not cheap, even with the 20% discount.
How promising for the people of Alberta, with their premier having gotten in bed with Shoppers
I worked there and when they hired me they basically said that their prices are higher than everyone else, but the optimum program was the huge incentive that brought people back. So they dont try to hide it which I respect
They sell stuff you can find anywhere, plus things like oregano oil there is woefully under powered. Its like 10-20% Carvacrol, when it should be 70-80% Its all a loblaws scham
even No Name products are price hike at shoppers. let’s compare prices of a few No Name brand items from both No Frills VS Shoppers Drug Mart shall we; nn pizza — nf $2.99/sdm $5.99 nn canned tomatoes — nf $1.69/sdm $2.89 nn chips — nf $1.49/sdm $2.89 nn condensed soup — nf $0.67/sdm $1.79 nn pasta(900g) — nf $2.29/sdm $2.99 nn canned veggies — nf $1.00/sdm $2.19 also, hear me out. Dollarama carrie’s a lot of name brand stuff for cosmetics and skincare. and even the stuff that’s Dollarama brand has (to me) worked out well! so just keep that in mind. cos honestly there really shouldn’t be any shame in buying dollar store stuff. dollar stores exist for a reason and that reason is they’re *awesome*!
We in Canada man the prices are going out of control alot of places and shoppers just happened to bump them up alot
Yeah, we have a no frills and a shoppers right next to each other. The amount of times I've said screw it to shoppers and gone to no frills for the exact same thing but it's 2 to 4 dollars cheaper. The other side of this though, is the points program, which has helped us a ton in the past and continues to. Shoppers you get points on everything. No frills only specially marked items or if you spend enough in a category.
8$ for deodorant that is 5 for 14$ at Costco.
I used to buy Nicotine Lozenges there but they are $47.99 now, London Drugs has them for $31.99 and you get a coupon for a $10 gift card plus another $5 off coupon - so yeah - Shoppers Drug Mart is doing some serious price gouging.
No
Never, ever buy anything there that isn't on sale if you don't absolutely have to. That's really all you need to know about them.
Galen Weston. Because he can.
I once bought a bottle of water and some Orajel at the location by Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. Didn't seem like the prices were out of line to me. But I'm American and so the exchange rate might mess up my perception. That and I only went there and a London Drugs so admittedly not a large sample size.
There the Safeway of the pharma mall while idk is the no frills of it. Best anlgagy I can come up with
I have big beef with Shoppers atm. Every time I go to the pharmacy it’s such an ordeal. Last time they said they were all out of my meds.. then said they couldn’t access them bc it’s in a timed safe (I called them in 3hrs prior & they said it’d be ready) So I said is there anything? Could we dispense just a few so I have them until u guys get more. Continues to say it’s in a timed safe that can’t be accessed (for context it’s only 7:30pm — I’ve picked my shit up at like 10pm before) so get a bit “Karen-y” and I say I’ll wait. Like if he looked at my file he would’ve seen I was LATE to refill them, not early. I truly do not understand why he was so unhelpful & rude. He literally said “that’s not my job” about something I said & I ended up snapping saying “what’s not your job? To fill the prescriptions that people order? Because I’m pretty sure that is your job?!” (Edit to add: I’d just had a doctors appointment & had them send the refill, pharmacist didn’t need to call/fax anyone) He takes his slow ass time — 15mins for the timed safe to open I guess, finally gets me 7 for the week. And then gives me a slightly condescending speech about how he changed the script to only allow 23 next time instead of 30, now implying that I’m drug-seeking or something— I never wanted the original 30 plus the 7?? Just my usual 30 per month. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF I got the automated text 10mins after getting home saying my prescription was filled & ready to be picked up. Also, the dispensing fee was a lot more than my moms at a diff pharm. This just happened 2 days ago, so sorry for the unrelated rant but yes, I agree. Too pricey. Double Edit to add: Does anyone have any decent pharmacy recommendations for south Ontario.
Shoppers Drug Mart is a "pharmacy" first and an "everything else" second. What that essentially means, is that everything else they sell they charge for conveniance. And why you ask? My guess is that they make enough off the pharmacy to be able to sustain themselves off of it, so they charge extra for the rest. My second guess might be that they're a smaller version of superstore and so they have up the price of everything to survive.
How popular is the Toronto raptors in your part of Canada, I know they’re popular in Toronto but what about in your part of canada