The SaveEasy grocery store in the Dartmouth Shopping Centre will be rebranded as a “No Frills” store in coming weeks. SaveEasy was a former Atlantic Canada grocery chain that was acquired by Loblaw Companies Limited in 1976; in recent years Loblaw has been phasing out the name. No Frills is a discount brand also owned by Loblaw. The Dartmouth store is currently company-owned, but the change in name comes with a change in ownership: the store will be owned by a franchisee, says Loblaw spokesperson Julija Hunter.
The SaveEasy store is within walking distance of Jelly Bean Square, a social housing project, but residents have long complained that prices are often higher than at the Loblaw-owned Atlantic Superstore three kilometres away on Braemar Avenue. Hunter says pricing decisions are complex. “We aim to offer our customers good value in all our banner stores,” she says. “We price our products and services competitively and consider a number of factors when making pricing decisions, including individual basis, on merit and cognizant of competitive position.”
The No Frills store might see some price relief; the brand is known for stripped-down stores with few extras like deli or fish counters. Reportedly, it operates on extremely low margins.
Employees, however, will also see lower returns. The Coast has been told that employees will lose all pay raises they’ve received at SaveEasy and with the name change receive No Frills starting pay.
“Conversion to the No Frills franchise operation entail a number of changes and we continue to work through these with employees,” says Hunter. “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on colleague salaries, however. The landscape is changing in the Atlantic. We believe that converting the SaveEasy to a No Frills allows us to compete more effectively and builds a sustainable business model for the future—that’s good news for our colleagues.”
This article appears in Aug 11-17, 2011.
I live near there, though I normally avoid the place like the plague. It is correct that prices are mostly far higher than at the nearest Superstore.
The corporate drone says, “We price our products and services competitively and consider a number of factors when making pricing decisions, including individual basis, on merit and cognizant of competitive position.” This is corporate bafflegab. Prices are higher due to the simple fact that many of their customers are low income, do not own cars, cannot often afford cabs, and therefore can be gouged with impunity.
Paul Harris
Dartmouth
Prices are higher and quality is lower.
The same marketing ploy was used by Norman Newman when he had a mini-chain of Capitol stores in metro. His perishables were the worst in metro. Made him quite wealthy.
He had a store on Portland street near what is now Steak & Stein (another Newman enterprise); built on an old swamp the store floor settled in different places and your cart would roll away as you picked the goods off a shelf. Cost him a small fortune to fix.
The Darkside Flake Force knows the score and tells it how it is… evil corporation exploiting the car-less poor because everyone knows a full-service, small-format grocery store has greater efficiencies than its big box, high-volume rivals and therefore should be cheaper.
If they were at all attune to reality they would be happy that despite the banner change they will still have a neighbourhood grocery instead of having no choice but to hire a cab to a big box strip mall.
Loblaws recently opened a No Frills near my home and sometimes the prices are a bit more but often they’re a lot less. Unlike many of their competitors, most Loblaws’ colleagues enjoy the benefits of Union membership. The United Food and Commercial Workers posted a YouTube Video advertising that for their members No Frills is Yes Frills.
Nadia
The Darkside Flake Force knows the score and tells it how it is… evil corporation exploiting the car-less poor because everyone knows a full-service, small-format grocery store has greater efficiencies than its big box, high-volume rivals and therefore should be cheaper.
If they were at all attune to reality they would be happy that despite the banner change they will still have a neighbourhood grocery instead of having no choice but to hire a cab to a big box strip mall.
Loblaws recently opened a No Frills near my home and sometimes the prices are a bit more but often they’re a lot less. Unlike many of their competitors, most Loblaws’ colleagues enjoy the benefits of Union membership. The United Food and Commercial Workers posted a YouTube Video advertising that for their members No Frills is Yes Frills.
Nadia
Gotta pity them over there. We got a no frills here in Spryfield last year. Prices are low, but the quality is barely dollar store level (less than, in many cases) and they seem to think refrigeration is optional (especially in the bunkers).
I used to live in toronto for several years. I did ALL of my shopping at no frills prices were lower and it was the exact same merchandise as in superstore and sobeys. Sobeys would just gouge you compared to anyone else.
Couldn’t agree more Paul Harris! That store is hellish – the only place I’ve ever gone to buy yogurt (at $1 more than Superstore or Sobeys, mind you), looked at the date, and noticed it was a week beyond the best before date. Yikes!. Buyer beware
I stopped into the Save Easy a few years ago to grab something really quick. It was so low-rent it wasn’t funny. It was like the “Superstore that Time Forgot” or something. It was as if management was waiting for it to be closed and didn’t want to put any money into it. I think I may have entered a LTWWB about the experience but I’m not sure.
This store is such a shit hole. Over priced – produce and refrigerated goods days or sometimes weeks out of date, still on the shelf… yuck.
Sorry to post essentially the same thing twice – I must have been looking at a tab where I hadn’t commented on it yet lol. Oh my. It’s monday
It’s clear that none of the people writing comments have recently been into the NO FRILLS or are savvy consumers. I have a car and live in Fall River and hate going out of my way but often have no choice but to shop here. This is the same produce as is available at Sobey’s or Superstore…
3 lbs carrots $2.
15 lbs mccain russets $3.49
1 lb asparagus $2.
4 pack green or red peppers $2.
skinless boneless chicken breast $1.99 lb
1 1b I can’t believe it’s not butter. $1.
HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!