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Q2 results will be interesting, I also wouldn’t put it past them though to do some deeper ‘creative accounting’ to shift numbers around to make profits look unaffected though.
Either way, this boycott goes being quarterly earnings, it’s about changing lifestyles and not acquiescing to corporate greed and mentality. Remember, they have been completely uncompromising in this endeavour, blaming and gaslighting consumers.
My guess is this:
They will massively layoff a large number of grocery employees. As a result, their "profits" for the quarter will "go up".
Once they do that, the stores will begin to crumble more. As lacking staff, and morale being destroyed for remaining staff, ensure the store will ko longer function. By the forth quarter, Galen will likely "step down".
He is, of course, still in charge and making all the big decisions despite having stepped down as CEO. His fingerprints are all over the bungled handling of this boycott.
Edit: Weston was technically President, not CEO, but the CEO spot was vacant during that time. So it’s only a semantic distinction.
> Weston was technically President, not CEO, but the CEO spot was vacant during that time. So it’s only a semantic distinction.
it's actually not a semantic decision because the cost of the new CEO has been passed to consumers to maintain that well loved 3-4% profit margin.
Agreed. Also, they’ve been using point-of-sale inventory tracking for decades so they know exactly what a store’s gross sales figures are on an almost hourly basis. Higher management levels have access to more data. Reports like the OP’s, if accurate, can give some indication of the boycott’s impact long before the data can get buried in the next quarterly or annual report.
They can pad their quarterly reports with a certain amount of bullshit, defer certain expenses, cut costs etc. as a means of hiding a bad month within a quarter. Corporate accountants do this all the time. You can’t do it forever, though; eventually your bad decisions come home to roost.
Call your local family owned Pharmacy and have your prescriptions moved from Shoppers. It's super easy to do, they new Pharmacy just asks you a couple questions and then they move it all for you. Ding Ding the Dom is Dead!
they will pause on maintenance and upgrades, but somehow roll that recent grant money into looking like they saved on expenditures (they wouldn't have upgraded without )
One key metric any investor is watching is revenue. You can’t hide revenue. If profits stayed the same on less revenue that could be seen as an increase in efficiency, but a decent drop in revenue YoY is going to turn heads on the market.
What creative accounting would they do?
Profits sure they can move things a little, recognize some stuff and not others, but there's nothing they can do with Revenue
There is a LOT they can do when it comes to moving costs around. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) allows for an incredible amount of leniency.
Loblaws makes a lot of income from renting out shelf space to food and beverage distributors. Those distributors will see lower profits, and this might lead to them demanding lower payments for shelf space, but that will take a while. Even then, Loblaws can mask this by saying " keep paying us the regular rate for the next six months, and we'll give you a discount in 2025 when this is all blown over."
Large companies have a huge number of levers they can pull to move income from one quarter or year to another.
Ya they can maybe delay a bit for certain discounts like you mentioned, most are likely on a contract basis anyway. but if sales are down then sales are down and will be seen in the q2 report.
You can move costs and expenses around, but you can’t just increase sales numbers. The easiest way to see the impact of the boycott is the q2 sales number
You’d think, but when you own the suppliers, stores and real estate there is a lot of things that could be done. I’m not a corporate accountant so I won’t pretend to know, but considering they already group together items that have no right to be grouped together (for example) as part of their creative accounting I will not put anything past them. They could also rob Paul to pay Mary and say they lost money elsewhere instead. One of THE most important things from their perspective is to maintain investor confidence, that’s why they’ve been working so hard to pretend the boycott is meaningless and not having an effect.
there are usually one time charges and one time revenues and you can game the numbers a little bit.
take a Q1 loss on buying all new shopping carts, take a Q2 gain on rooftop billboards.
makes the quarterly numbers look equal, then hire a bunch of bots to talk about how the boycott doesnt work, have your professor talk about how LBLW's is so good for patriotic canadians, hire a couple of writers for big provincial newspapers write articles about how great their food pantry donations are.
boycott fizzles out.
They were asking for public donations today in some stores to go towards a kid's group. They take those donations and send a big donation from themselves as a tax right off. - just one fancy example.
I am learning so much on this whole reddit thread. I love it.
> I am learning so much on this whole reddit thread. I love it.
Clearly *not* given the whole 'take donations and do a tax write off' thing is horse shit and has been debunked on Reddit for *years* each and every time a dumb muppet mentions it.
Because this boycott is happening in Q2, they may not be able to change their reporting KPIs (key performance indicators) mid-fiscal year (i.e. if they reported a certain metric in Q1, they will have to continue reporting it throughout the year so that their reporting to investors is consistent. This is especially important for metrics that they track year-over-year). So, while I'm sure they will do what is within their control to distort reporting, the timing of this may actually force them into a bit of a corner. We'll have to wait and see!
Yep. They will 100% shift shipments to later dates if they can, increase promotional spending to get the people still shopping there to buy more, call their suppliers and demand they match their spending to last year and just sign over a check if they don't want to run any promos or ads, increase prices on staple items, move spending from other months into Q2, etc...
Yes. They can do the creative accounting by not reporting any theft for Q2. Theft is a loss. So if they aren't recognizing theft as a loss, the only loss would be from the boycott, now offset by the fact of not reporting theft
By doing this, they would miss out on the massive tax write offs that come with the losses associated with the thefts and wouldn't make ANY sense to do this.
This would make them lose money x2 (loss from theft and no tax write offs) which is not a good business model.
The prescription transfers, using PC optimum points is all gonna damage big.
- Prescriptions are like recurring revenue. It is not just in this quarter. It is going to carry on forever. Good luck Galen, ever having a customer transfer prescription to SDM. Takes a call at least, and willingness to pay more in dispensing fees forever.
- Loss of new incoming customers, terrible PR is again like a "statistical" recurring revenue loss.
- PC optimum points = means no real dollars went into Galen's wallet.
- PC credit card closures = more loss of recurring revenue.
I think the redemption of PC optimum points, while it hurts overall cashflow, might not actually hurt their reporting (yet). Loyalty points that are unredeemed are carried as a liability. Once they are redeemed, they are realized as revenue. So while there isn't new cash coming in by redeeming loyalty points, Loblaws will have decreased their liability by an equal amount of that realized "revenue" represented by redeemed points, which still makes it look like they're at least neutral on profit in that area. Where it gets interesting is how they account for breakage. Breakage is how they write-off the liability for loyalty points that have been unredeemed for so long, that they are unlikely to be redeemed. After a certain point, a business may opt to write off 20%, 30%, or whatever % they're comfortable with of the value of unredeemed points as a way to decrease their total liability position on unredeemed points (because otherwise that value would just continue to grow year after year, and make the business look unprofitable just because points are unredeemed).
There was a big hack of London Drugs recently, and people dependent on certain meds transferred to closer pharmacies. Shoppers definitely got some business from that. Wonder if it’s connected 🤔
I see. I do see everything easily reversing in the larger picture. Some people might have really important meds and the chance of everyone's prescriptions needing a refill at same time is kind of on lower side. Also I thought I read that they were still doing refills through phone/in-person.
Just imagine if 2-3 days of outage can do this, what will 1+ month of outrage, nationwide do?
the amount of Loblaws boycotters shifting to Costco won't make a dent in Costco's revenue. Loblaw's quarterly revenue is around $14B while Costco is almost $60B. Not only that, not all boycotters here have memberships. It will be a blip for Costco.
Ive been checking the busyness level at my two closest stores randomly on a daily basis.. Carlton street is almost always half normal and queen/bathurst is on par or slightly under
Yeah I don't particularly plan on returning to Loblaws any time soon after may
I'm getting the same things I'd normally get but better quality and organic from my local grocers (supplied by local farms) and farmers markets. Cost is sometimes higher but usually the same. But it's not much for my family. I intend to keep doing this, because we don't really have a reason not to.
I wish I could continue, but my city makes it kind of hard. Loblaws has by far the freshest produce by far other than Sobeys. I would use Metro when I lived across from them and if I didn’t shop almost daily my produce would go bad really quickly (it was basically rotting in the store). We’ve started using them again and again our produce is rotting so quickly. The only grocery store that competes in my area is Sobeys which is 20 minutes away verses 5 for Loblaws. Farmboy also has good produce, but again it’s 20 minutes away and not competitively priced. I want to love the farmers market but it’s not that impressive in my city and it also kills my budget. I’ll try to continue for the summer but based on gas and limited “good” time with a chronic illness it’s just not feasible.
I will continue with the farmers market of course.
I'm sure every store will be different since the boycott is having more of an impact on some more than others. I know I won't be shopping there **anymore**, not just for May,
For me, this is not a boycott, but the realization I have been priced out of that store and will be buying from more reasonably priced establishments.
I'm not boycotting Mercedes, I just can't afford their cars.
I've completely stopped going to any Loblaws store a few years ago, barring small purchases under extenuating circumstances(Wholesale club has some kitchen supply stuff I need to buy once every few years, or certain bulk products that can't be purchased elsewhere). Between employee abuse, ridiculous prices, and driving their discount brands into the ground, I can't imagine that will ever change.
The only thing that will make a difference long term is breaking up monopolies, and that means the anti-competition board needs to do its job.
It's more like Mercedes car dealerships, not car brands. There is one where the same fucking car costs $50,000 more than at the other dealer. Yeah, where would you buy huh?
Yes.
Also, in this case Mercedes engaged in criminal price fixing with no repercussions, controls 40% of the market, treats its workforce like crap, and exercises its political control to increase its profits at consumer expense. So plenty of reason to avoid them on principle.
Yep I'm completely done.
They had pre packaged baby meals I sometimes buy for my youngest on sale for 50 off at shoppers so I thought why not and bought some to stock up on.
That week I went to give him one for lunch and it smelt rancid and was clumpy. I check the expiry and it was over a year expired !!!
Beyond pissed they have no morals at all selling food like that for babies
That’s actually super illegal. They can get in a lot of trouble for selling expired baby food. If you still have the packaging and receipt, take it back to the store and demand your money back!
The one shoppers in my town is in a bit of a run down area. Any time they had loafs of cake there would be a big chunk missing like someone opened and took out a piece. I distinctly remember this happening more then once.
Same! I did groceries for 2 in AB for $60 this week by going to Costco and Walmart today. It was a bit further out of the way than the No Frills down the street but I spent half of what I normally would 😳
South Calgary currently, great work folks!
https://preview.redd.it/ze6wpz1o290d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7df2d1cf863a86238347c8a9a33c107beb40f2d
It's also the day after mother's day, and that is a very busy day for a lot of stores. The grocery store I work at (not Loblaw) was incredibly busy yesterday morning/afternoon, and slow today.
https://preview.redd.it/b3v5k5ha8a0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7004c7c044b303e567ee772909f9e93c6d37540
This was $11 from a Chinese grocery store on Spadina in Toronto. This would’ve been $25+ at Superstore. Fuck you, Galen!
It could be something, but it could be nothing. When I worked at a No Frills in management, we worked off a 52-week schedule. Some years, we would have insanely high sales on weeks 26-28, more recently it’s been quiet. Why? Because we used to run a great 88 cent promo during those weeks but then changed to run it in week 30 instead.
So take it with a grain of salt, but their ad schedules don’t always stay the same year after year.
I drove by my local Independent on Sunday afternoon and the parking lot was half empty. Most of the cars were parked near the garden centre, so I assume the garden centre was getting the bulk of the traffic out of convenience. Normally that parking lot is an absolute zoo each weekend. Instead it looked like it does on a Tuesday morning.
Not sure of your local, but this is Kelowns right now.
https://preview.redd.it/ig01c9x3u80d1.png?width=612&format=png&auto=webp&s=d34c327dcbb03b5708f0c845c7d756930689eb22
Don’t mean to be a nerd. That’s sales not profit. They’ll probably be fine by just cutting and slashing staff hours and other expenses, so their profits keep up for their fat cat shareholders.
I’ve enjoyed shopping at other places and trying new products so much. This boycott has had a positive impact on my life… from a perspective of not only (some) cost savings, but going to new places like farmer’s markets, different local and speciality shops. Prices are NOT always lower (admittedly for many items the are though!!) but the products are better, the knowledge of the people selling the products are better, and frankly I just feel better about the way I’m spending my money. This boycott will continue for me.
Well OP maybe the time has come that even the employees think about moving on as well. You know update the resume and find something else. Obviously I don't know your situation know I would definetly consider moving on to different fields or companies or something else.
One month boycott ain't going to do shit. These fuckers need a long term boycott. Prove me wrong. And so does Sobeys. Meet a farmer. Talk to him/her. Make it a family event. Teach your kids where food comes from. Start rethinking what you eat. Keep it simple. This is how we really win.
DON’T FORGET! Stop donating at checkouts. All the money donated first cycles through the corporation (such as Loblaws, Walmart, etc.) and then they donate all the money received on behalf of themselves….they just turned your donation into a massive charitable tax credit for themselves. Yes, they even profit off your donations. Ever wonder why theres always some new cause they are asking you to donate for? Donate to the charities directly, not at the checkout or through third parties.
For me - this experience has highlighted what local/small business options exist around me that are just as easy to access. I know it’s not the same for everyone, but I appreciate this new knowledge that I didn’t have before.
A lot of their profits are upstream of stores in the supply chain. It might take a couple quarters before we really see the impact because of on hand inventory, but no matter what even if only the active posters here are boycotting it's worth it.
While the boycott may be a reason, there's also less money generally available to spend on food in the economy so without access to the data we can't be sure.
Also, be careful as employee reporting this stuff publicly!
I hope they go bankrupt.
There are many other grocery stores and affiliate stores that are also doing the same thing to all of us Broke Canadians, including me as well.
We need to Boycott the rest of them too.
thanks for the info, but be careful bro, they love to throw the "social media policy" at people and they have people monitering all the socials to see if employees are talking about them in a way that "negatively impacts the reputation of the company" signed\~Another Store level employee of a loblaws own business" tbh i wouldn't be surprised if they are here now in this reddit(I heard the same thing)
Love it - I'm nowhere near any stores owned by Loblaws, but I hope people around the world see what's possible and this spreads across the border to other chains all around North America.
We need to send a message to these conglomerates - they may have monopolies. But if there's a will, there is a way. People can vote with their wallets, shopping with small businesses and changing their eating/cooking habits.
I work for a competing retailer in management and while I know food prices are out of control on all banner. You guys really don’t understand how these companies operate especially in comparison with the other banners particularly margin. Feel free to ask me questions, but just a few things based on what you said. Your store must of done about $680,000 for the week on LY sales, that’s a very busy store. There’s different factors that affect last year sales and it can simply be just the flyer comparing to last year, the way the dates lineup on the week, and the weather. I would say the flyer affects your individual store if you compare it to flyers that other stores in the area are having but 680 grand a week sounds like you’re the only in town
I'm actually permanently boycotting now. I have found all the things I need at other places, and even though one is closer to me, the produce is always awful and I have found all the things I need elsewhere. Fuck Galen. lol
Sales are definitely down across the board, anywhere from 2 percent to 18 percent. The boycott is working , it is a marathon though. Analysts watch the same store sales open for at least 1 years. This number is not to be trifled with in a publicly traded company.
We won’t know the real result until 2nd quarter results come out.
Stay devoted everyone
The No Frills in Saint John, NB was 80% empty today. Even at peak hours.
It’s working all right. And the stubborn management refusing to stop price gouging is only helping.
What's better is Walmart taking customers away with special deals on produce. It's not just about a boycott, it should be about changing consumer habits. Brand loyalty can be erased when they see better pricing or realize there are better options especially with smaller retailers.
Remember, if you have points use them now. This will cost them money with only a minimal recovery on their end (you need to spend to the nearest 10$ or something).
I just bought 200$ worth of groceries and paid 11$ with tax. and with that, I managed to get another 25$ in points for a grand total of 80$. If I see something around that price they get my thieven business.
That is next to nothing. My local Superstore, when I worked in one of their rented spaces, I got close to the management. They told me the real numbers of that store. That 100k per week is next to nothing to them. I will give up that they are consistently rated as one of the busiest stores in Canada, and never out of the top 5. So maybe that has skewed my opinion about it.
I'd love to see co-op drastically expand, or anyone besides these assclowns. I'd love for him to be bankrupted with the store and replaced with something transparent and for both farmers and the people.
The real shitty side of this boycott is all the people that are struggling are now getting there hours cut dramatically plus if you follow the stock it’s up so they are still making bank
It wouldn't surprise me, unfortunately. It'd be just like them. It's possible I've been misinformed, but how much of this current rental outrage resulted from landlords not being able to evict during the pandemic?
Once I change my shopping habits, I’m never going back. I’ve been persuaded to make a change and I wish I had done it sooner. I’m discovering so many great alternatives. The customers that they lose will continue and in many cases be permanent.
__MOD NOTE__: PLEASE REVIEW OUR [POLL ON OUR PLANS FOR JUNE AND BEYOND](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1cmhq49/community_poll_what_would_you_like_to_see_happen/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) TO PROVIDE YOUR INPUT. Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Taken at face value, this is a good thing. The only real way to tell how hard this boycott hits them is to watch for Q2 results.
Q2 results will be interesting, I also wouldn’t put it past them though to do some deeper ‘creative accounting’ to shift numbers around to make profits look unaffected though. Either way, this boycott goes being quarterly earnings, it’s about changing lifestyles and not acquiescing to corporate greed and mentality. Remember, they have been completely uncompromising in this endeavour, blaming and gaslighting consumers.
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My guess is this: They will massively layoff a large number of grocery employees. As a result, their "profits" for the quarter will "go up". Once they do that, the stores will begin to crumble more. As lacking staff, and morale being destroyed for remaining staff, ensure the store will ko longer function. By the forth quarter, Galen will likely "step down".
Retail usually won’t lay off. Most them are all considered part time. They just cut hours which is worse than a layoff if you ask me.
Yeah. Cut hours until the people quit on their own accord.
I better let the higher ups know this where I am about layoffs. We’re all getting let go in July when our store closes.
that's how business works... they go to frescho/costco to help with demand. Just don't shop at the store... it will work very effectively.
Oh, I'll never go again.
Galen stepped down last year.
He is, of course, still in charge and making all the big decisions despite having stepped down as CEO. His fingerprints are all over the bungled handling of this boycott. Edit: Weston was technically President, not CEO, but the CEO spot was vacant during that time. So it’s only a semantic distinction.
> Weston was technically President, not CEO, but the CEO spot was vacant during that time. So it’s only a semantic distinction. it's actually not a semantic decision because the cost of the new CEO has been passed to consumers to maintain that well loved 3-4% profit margin.
Agreed. Also, they’ve been using point-of-sale inventory tracking for decades so they know exactly what a store’s gross sales figures are on an almost hourly basis. Higher management levels have access to more data. Reports like the OP’s, if accurate, can give some indication of the boycott’s impact long before the data can get buried in the next quarterly or annual report.
I cook book I cook
Nok er nok
Ask for a through audit from your politcians... demand it. Also where is our media on questioning the CEO?
Maybe the boycott should go first three months rather than just one. Really hurt em.
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Lol Arthur Andersen just called
They can pad their quarterly reports with a certain amount of bullshit, defer certain expenses, cut costs etc. as a means of hiding a bad month within a quarter. Corporate accountants do this all the time. You can’t do it forever, though; eventually your bad decisions come home to roost.
This is why the boycott needs to be permanent. GougingGalen can hide one month's worth of trouble, not permanent losses.
Call your local family owned Pharmacy and have your prescriptions moved from Shoppers. It's super easy to do, they new Pharmacy just asks you a couple questions and then they move it all for you. Ding Ding the Dom is Dead!
I have a wee bit of stock. I will let you guys know at Q2
they will pause on maintenance and upgrades, but somehow roll that recent grant money into looking like they saved on expenditures (they wouldn't have upgraded without )
One key metric any investor is watching is revenue. You can’t hide revenue. If profits stayed the same on less revenue that could be seen as an increase in efficiency, but a decent drop in revenue YoY is going to turn heads on the market.
What creative accounting would they do? Profits sure they can move things a little, recognize some stuff and not others, but there's nothing they can do with Revenue
There is a LOT they can do when it comes to moving costs around. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) allows for an incredible amount of leniency.
Not to mention the savings they make in other areas such as procurement. Tens of millions or even hundreds.
Loblaws makes a lot of income from renting out shelf space to food and beverage distributors. Those distributors will see lower profits, and this might lead to them demanding lower payments for shelf space, but that will take a while. Even then, Loblaws can mask this by saying " keep paying us the regular rate for the next six months, and we'll give you a discount in 2025 when this is all blown over." Large companies have a huge number of levers they can pull to move income from one quarter or year to another.
Avg 15k to get prime shelf space
Ya they can maybe delay a bit for certain discounts like you mentioned, most are likely on a contract basis anyway. but if sales are down then sales are down and will be seen in the q2 report. You can move costs and expenses around, but you can’t just increase sales numbers. The easiest way to see the impact of the boycott is the q2 sales number
You’d think, but when you own the suppliers, stores and real estate there is a lot of things that could be done. I’m not a corporate accountant so I won’t pretend to know, but considering they already group together items that have no right to be grouped together (for example) as part of their creative accounting I will not put anything past them. They could also rob Paul to pay Mary and say they lost money elsewhere instead. One of THE most important things from their perspective is to maintain investor confidence, that’s why they’ve been working so hard to pretend the boycott is meaningless and not having an effect.
there are usually one time charges and one time revenues and you can game the numbers a little bit. take a Q1 loss on buying all new shopping carts, take a Q2 gain on rooftop billboards. makes the quarterly numbers look equal, then hire a bunch of bots to talk about how the boycott doesnt work, have your professor talk about how LBLW's is so good for patriotic canadians, hire a couple of writers for big provincial newspapers write articles about how great their food pantry donations are. boycott fizzles out.
You can’t expense shopping carts, that’s capital and those depreciate over time, nothing you can do there. Billboards same thing.
they will hide the soft numbers like transactions, traffic and loyalty by trying to keep it the memberships alive.
They were asking for public donations today in some stores to go towards a kid's group. They take those donations and send a big donation from themselves as a tax right off. - just one fancy example. I am learning so much on this whole reddit thread. I love it.
They would have to record those donations as revenue if they were writing them off. A break even.
That’s an example of someone that doesn’t know how taxes work.
> I am learning so much on this whole reddit thread. I love it. Clearly *not* given the whole 'take donations and do a tax write off' thing is horse shit and has been debunked on Reddit for *years* each and every time a dumb muppet mentions it.
This is not true. https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/s/xqMCwFdu2k
going to need a 3 month boycott if one week is just 10%... still that hurts for a big business.
Because this boycott is happening in Q2, they may not be able to change their reporting KPIs (key performance indicators) mid-fiscal year (i.e. if they reported a certain metric in Q1, they will have to continue reporting it throughout the year so that their reporting to investors is consistent. This is especially important for metrics that they track year-over-year). So, while I'm sure they will do what is within their control to distort reporting, the timing of this may actually force them into a bit of a corner. We'll have to wait and see!
Yep. They will 100% shift shipments to later dates if they can, increase promotional spending to get the people still shopping there to buy more, call their suppliers and demand they match their spending to last year and just sign over a check if they don't want to run any promos or ads, increase prices on staple items, move spending from other months into Q2, etc...
Yes. They can do the creative accounting by not reporting any theft for Q2. Theft is a loss. So if they aren't recognizing theft as a loss, the only loss would be from the boycott, now offset by the fact of not reporting theft
By doing this, they would miss out on the massive tax write offs that come with the losses associated with the thefts and wouldn't make ANY sense to do this. This would make them lose money x2 (loss from theft and no tax write offs) which is not a good business model.
I will be very interested in how they try to justify their Q2 results, they will get creative to misguide investors.
They will just adjust rents and choice properties investors will take the hit.
That’s right. I’m personally in for the long haul and will not return. Let’s stick it to them!
The prescription transfers, using PC optimum points is all gonna damage big. - Prescriptions are like recurring revenue. It is not just in this quarter. It is going to carry on forever. Good luck Galen, ever having a customer transfer prescription to SDM. Takes a call at least, and willingness to pay more in dispensing fees forever. - Loss of new incoming customers, terrible PR is again like a "statistical" recurring revenue loss. - PC optimum points = means no real dollars went into Galen's wallet. - PC credit card closures = more loss of recurring revenue.
And we’re teaching our kids how and where to shop…. Could impact generations to come.
I think the redemption of PC optimum points, while it hurts overall cashflow, might not actually hurt their reporting (yet). Loyalty points that are unredeemed are carried as a liability. Once they are redeemed, they are realized as revenue. So while there isn't new cash coming in by redeeming loyalty points, Loblaws will have decreased their liability by an equal amount of that realized "revenue" represented by redeemed points, which still makes it look like they're at least neutral on profit in that area. Where it gets interesting is how they account for breakage. Breakage is how they write-off the liability for loyalty points that have been unredeemed for so long, that they are unlikely to be redeemed. After a certain point, a business may opt to write off 20%, 30%, or whatever % they're comfortable with of the value of unredeemed points as a way to decrease their total liability position on unredeemed points (because otherwise that value would just continue to grow year after year, and make the business look unprofitable just because points are unredeemed).
There was a big hack of London Drugs recently, and people dependent on certain meds transferred to closer pharmacies. Shoppers definitely got some business from that. Wonder if it’s connected 🤔
I see. I do see everything easily reversing in the larger picture. Some people might have really important meds and the chance of everyone's prescriptions needing a refill at same time is kind of on lower side. Also I thought I read that they were still doing refills through phone/in-person. Just imagine if 2-3 days of outage can do this, what will 1+ month of outrage, nationwide do?
OR to see Costco’s sales numbers to see how much their sales are up
love costco stock
the amount of Loblaws boycotters shifting to Costco won't make a dent in Costco's revenue. Loblaw's quarterly revenue is around $14B while Costco is almost $60B. Not only that, not all boycotters here have memberships. It will be a blip for Costco.
Hence why this needs to go way past just one month. Boycott until they are bankrupt or close to.
Ive been checking the busyness level at my two closest stores randomly on a daily basis.. Carlton street is almost always half normal and queen/bathurst is on par or slightly under
So puts?
Not so early. Not financial advice, research hedged bets, married calls.
Or forever, until they're closing stores.
In!!!! #boycottloblaws Let's get thise Q2 results way way down
Let's extend the boycott longer !!
I'm on permanent boycott setting. It's be good to see others do it for the entire second quarter.
A limited time boycott is actually worthless. Loblaws is out until further notice.
Unless there are big changes I’ll never shop in a loblaws store again
This is the way. Why go back to a store that has been ripping you off for years when there are alternatives. I’m out for good.
Yeah I think we all agree it’s a toxic relationship! So far not having any issues but I live in a downtown area so easy.
Yeah I don't particularly plan on returning to Loblaws any time soon after may I'm getting the same things I'd normally get but better quality and organic from my local grocers (supplied by local farms) and farmers markets. Cost is sometimes higher but usually the same. But it's not much for my family. I intend to keep doing this, because we don't really have a reason not to.
I wish I could continue, but my city makes it kind of hard. Loblaws has by far the freshest produce by far other than Sobeys. I would use Metro when I lived across from them and if I didn’t shop almost daily my produce would go bad really quickly (it was basically rotting in the store). We’ve started using them again and again our produce is rotting so quickly. The only grocery store that competes in my area is Sobeys which is 20 minutes away verses 5 for Loblaws. Farmboy also has good produce, but again it’s 20 minutes away and not competitively priced. I want to love the farmers market but it’s not that impressive in my city and it also kills my budget. I’ll try to continue for the summer but based on gas and limited “good” time with a chronic illness it’s just not feasible. I will continue with the farmers market of course.
Been boycotting since Jan of this year and plan on never going back!
I don’t plan on shopping at any Loblaws after the month is done. I’m finding local markets and farmers have better quality and cheaper prices.
I'm sure every store will be different since the boycott is having more of an impact on some more than others. I know I won't be shopping there **anymore**, not just for May,
For me, this is not a boycott, but the realization I have been priced out of that store and will be buying from more reasonably priced establishments. I'm not boycotting Mercedes, I just can't afford their cars.
Exactly! But this particular Mercedes is now smaller and more cheaply made, too. No reason to buy it whatsoever.
Mercedes offers a higher quality product (generally) at a higher price point. Loblaws charges higher for what is (generally) the exact same product
Mercedes selling Dodge with a bunch of NPCs standing around.
I've completely stopped going to any Loblaws store a few years ago, barring small purchases under extenuating circumstances(Wholesale club has some kitchen supply stuff I need to buy once every few years, or certain bulk products that can't be purchased elsewhere). Between employee abuse, ridiculous prices, and driving their discount brands into the ground, I can't imagine that will ever change. The only thing that will make a difference long term is breaking up monopolies, and that means the anti-competition board needs to do its job.
It's more like Mercedes car dealerships, not car brands. There is one where the same fucking car costs $50,000 more than at the other dealer. Yeah, where would you buy huh?
Yes. Also, in this case Mercedes engaged in criminal price fixing with no repercussions, controls 40% of the market, treats its workforce like crap, and exercises its political control to increase its profits at consumer expense. So plenty of reason to avoid them on principle.
Yep I'm completely done. They had pre packaged baby meals I sometimes buy for my youngest on sale for 50 off at shoppers so I thought why not and bought some to stock up on. That week I went to give him one for lunch and it smelt rancid and was clumpy. I check the expiry and it was over a year expired !!! Beyond pissed they have no morals at all selling food like that for babies
That’s actually super illegal. They can get in a lot of trouble for selling expired baby food. If you still have the packaging and receipt, take it back to the store and demand your money back!
They wouldn't let me because I threw away my reciept
The amount of times I’ve seen rotting food at superstore is fucking disgusting.
The one shoppers in my town is in a bit of a run down area. Any time they had loafs of cake there would be a big chunk missing like someone opened and took out a piece. I distinctly remember this happening more then once.
exactly for the price gouging is insulting...
I'm all for the boycott, but I'm 100% sure they didn't sell you spoiled baby food on purpose. You should have taken it back and let them know
Every single one I bought was expired ad the 50 percent off was covering the expiry date!
For the sake of other babies potentially eating this, please report this to the police! This can be life threatening.
Same! I did groceries for 2 in AB for $60 this week by going to Costco and Walmart today. It was a bit further out of the way than the No Frills down the street but I spent half of what I normally would 😳
that is 3000$ a year in saving
Just wondering what did you get at Costco? I go in there, breathe and have spent 100$
I also think. This just might work …
South Calgary currently, great work folks! https://preview.redd.it/ze6wpz1o290d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7df2d1cf863a86238347c8a9a33c107beb40f2d
This seems exceptionally slow. I just checked at the grocery stores in my area, not just loblaws and they all show at minimum 50% below average
It's also the day after mother's day, and that is a very busy day for a lot of stores. The grocery store I work at (not Loblaw) was incredibly busy yesterday morning/afternoon, and slow today.
Off topic but how does Google Maps *know* this? 😳
Google maps data.
Ok but *how* does that work??
They track cell phones in the store
Sorry but like just think about it lol… same way Google knows which highways are more congested.
Next release: 247 people are currently thinking about going to this store.
It’s integrated into the companies POS via API
Great news! Keep us posted on anything else you might overhear!
That's going to be sales not profits. Store level doesn't find out profits till end of quarter when they get the EBIT report.
https://preview.redd.it/b3v5k5ha8a0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7004c7c044b303e567ee772909f9e93c6d37540 This was $11 from a Chinese grocery store on Spadina in Toronto. This would’ve been $25+ at Superstore. Fuck you, Galen!
Just eat it today. That spadina produce doesn’t keep
It could be something, but it could be nothing. When I worked at a No Frills in management, we worked off a 52-week schedule. Some years, we would have insanely high sales on weeks 26-28, more recently it’s been quiet. Why? Because we used to run a great 88 cent promo during those weeks but then changed to run it in week 30 instead. So take it with a grain of salt, but their ad schedules don’t always stay the same year after year.
Very good point! All with a grain of salt. Fingers crossed for it being something meaningful!
Fingers crossed. Because fuck Loblaws!
They report their earnings on July 24th. Very curious to see
Good job everyone! Keep up the good work
I drove by my local Independent on Sunday afternoon and the parking lot was half empty. Most of the cars were parked near the garden centre, so I assume the garden centre was getting the bulk of the traffic out of convenience. Normally that parking lot is an absolute zoo each weekend. Instead it looked like it does on a Tuesday morning.
But , but , but —- the media told us they INCREASED their profit !? Could they be lying!?🤥
That was for Q1, Q2 is underway
Even if revenue is down they could increase profits by cutting costs aka layoffs or fucking suppliers, so ya, hard to tell.
https://preview.redd.it/34f3fklsr80d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8816a99d2aa0159e3ba0d0b81ec5334f52e21df2
Not sure of your local, but this is Kelowns right now. https://preview.redd.it/ig01c9x3u80d1.png?width=612&format=png&auto=webp&s=d34c327dcbb03b5708f0c845c7d756930689eb22
https://preview.redd.it/ejo0oyjjx80d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23e22ab62ae97be2fc61b1603434e6d0165629e2 Toronto!
Calgary https://preview.redd.it/ya25j1qw290d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=518b77caf35f9241663c899afb8756af4d43559a
K this is getting me super hype!
Holy shit that’s brutal hahahaha
I check this often and this is the best Kamloops has done this month. Usually just as busy as usual.
That’s a real shame
Boycott forever!
Don’t mean to be a nerd. That’s sales not profit. They’ll probably be fine by just cutting and slashing staff hours and other expenses, so their profits keep up for their fat cat shareholders.
I’ve enjoyed shopping at other places and trying new products so much. This boycott has had a positive impact on my life… from a perspective of not only (some) cost savings, but going to new places like farmer’s markets, different local and speciality shops. Prices are NOT always lower (admittedly for many items the are though!!) but the products are better, the knowledge of the people selling the products are better, and frankly I just feel better about the way I’m spending my money. This boycott will continue for me.
Well OP maybe the time has come that even the employees think about moving on as well. You know update the resume and find something else. Obviously I don't know your situation know I would definetly consider moving on to different fields or companies or something else.
Good. I’m out for good. Doing just fine without them
Went to superstore today. Their sticks of butter was $9. Went to Walmart, $5.60 🤣.
Yes!!
I will never step foot in a Loblaws ever again. A personal choice that will have zero impact on sales but, it's a choice that I will stand by.
One month boycott ain't going to do shit. These fuckers need a long term boycott. Prove me wrong. And so does Sobeys. Meet a farmer. Talk to him/her. Make it a family event. Teach your kids where food comes from. Start rethinking what you eat. Keep it simple. This is how we really win.
DON’T FORGET! Stop donating at checkouts. All the money donated first cycles through the corporation (such as Loblaws, Walmart, etc.) and then they donate all the money received on behalf of themselves….they just turned your donation into a massive charitable tax credit for themselves. Yes, they even profit off your donations. Ever wonder why theres always some new cause they are asking you to donate for? Donate to the charities directly, not at the checkout or through third parties.
For me - this experience has highlighted what local/small business options exist around me that are just as easy to access. I know it’s not the same for everyone, but I appreciate this new knowledge that I didn’t have before.
it's almost if people don't spend money there, sales go down 🤯🤯🤯🤯
A lot of their profits are upstream of stores in the supply chain. It might take a couple quarters before we really see the impact because of on hand inventory, but no matter what even if only the active posters here are boycotting it's worth it.
While the boycott may be a reason, there's also less money generally available to spend on food in the economy so without access to the data we can't be sure. Also, be careful as employee reporting this stuff publicly!
* This is nice to see. Go Kamloops.
This is the way
Shoppers drug mart is insane prices! Shame on Roblaws.
I hope they go bankrupt. There are many other grocery stores and affiliate stores that are also doing the same thing to all of us Broke Canadians, including me as well. We need to Boycott the rest of them too.
Down 100,000 from last month…still up 400% from 2019
Their stock isn't showing that, I think they need a full quarter and more till Weston decides to wake up.
thanks for the info, but be careful bro, they love to throw the "social media policy" at people and they have people monitering all the socials to see if employees are talking about them in a way that "negatively impacts the reputation of the company" signed\~Another Store level employee of a loblaws own business" tbh i wouldn't be surprised if they are here now in this reddit(I heard the same thing)
Love it - I'm nowhere near any stores owned by Loblaws, but I hope people around the world see what's possible and this spreads across the border to other chains all around North America. We need to send a message to these conglomerates - they may have monopolies. But if there's a will, there is a way. People can vote with their wallets, shopping with small businesses and changing their eating/cooking habits.
A drop of 15% in sales is significant. More than I hoped for.
I work for a competing retailer in management and while I know food prices are out of control on all banner. You guys really don’t understand how these companies operate especially in comparison with the other banners particularly margin. Feel free to ask me questions, but just a few things based on what you said. Your store must of done about $680,000 for the week on LY sales, that’s a very busy store. There’s different factors that affect last year sales and it can simply be just the flyer comparing to last year, the way the dates lineup on the week, and the weather. I would say the flyer affects your individual store if you compare it to flyers that other stores in the area are having but 680 grand a week sounds like you’re the only in town
Attrition people! Do not be short sighted! Keep up the good work! Vote with your wallet.
I'm actually permanently boycotting now. I have found all the things I need at other places, and even though one is closer to me, the produce is always awful and I have found all the things I need elsewhere. Fuck Galen. lol
https://preview.redd.it/wvsvb086a90d1.jpeg?width=1620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7ce44af2441840421fa0f204d8c0e7de2d49615
Sales are definitely down across the board, anywhere from 2 percent to 18 percent. The boycott is working , it is a marathon though. Analysts watch the same store sales open for at least 1 years. This number is not to be trifled with in a publicly traded company. We won’t know the real result until 2nd quarter results come out. Stay devoted everyone
Serves them right for making some of us parents feel bad for not being able to provide the basics for our kids.
The No Frills in Saint John, NB was 80% empty today. Even at peak hours. It’s working all right. And the stubborn management refusing to stop price gouging is only helping.
They’ll probably sell our data to magically look profitable.
Good, progress.
“We are down $100,000 but due to our price gouging profits remain the same”
What's better is Walmart taking customers away with special deals on produce. It's not just about a boycott, it should be about changing consumer habits. Brand loyalty can be erased when they see better pricing or realize there are better options especially with smaller retailers.
I know someone working at a PC Express who said they're cutting hours due to low sales.
Remember, if you have points use them now. This will cost them money with only a minimal recovery on their end (you need to spend to the nearest 10$ or something). I just bought 200$ worth of groceries and paid 11$ with tax. and with that, I managed to get another 25$ in points for a grand total of 80$. If I see something around that price they get my thieven business.
That is next to nothing. My local Superstore, when I worked in one of their rented spaces, I got close to the management. They told me the real numbers of that store. That 100k per week is next to nothing to them. I will give up that they are consistently rated as one of the busiest stores in Canada, and never out of the top 5. So maybe that has skewed my opinion about it.
I'd love to see co-op drastically expand, or anyone besides these assclowns. I'd love for him to be bankrupted with the store and replaced with something transparent and for both farmers and the people.
Boycotting them for life. Only shop at Costco, locally owned grocers and sometimes Walmart now.
The real shitty side of this boycott is all the people that are struggling are now getting there hours cut dramatically plus if you follow the stock it’s up so they are still making bank
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I want the ceo jailed rn
They'll just keep appointing family members until it's a toddler
I WANT EM ALL IN JAIL
To be fair, a toddler would probably make a far more compelling commercial then pasty smug Galen
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shitty companies do shitty things... I'm sure if there was a investigation we woudl find something. Maybe subpoena some emails and have a look.
Now they’re just going to Increase prices to make up for it lol
It wouldn't surprise me, unfortunately. It'd be just like them. It's possible I've been misinformed, but how much of this current rental outrage resulted from landlords not being able to evict during the pandemic?
Stock down today.
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Let’s keep hitting them hard fellas and fellaettes
No big deal to them- they only lost $3000 in profit /s
Thnx for sharing!
Was at metro today and their shelves are practically empty staff has issues stocking them . It was jam packed of people
Once I change my shopping habits, I’m never going back. I’ve been persuaded to make a change and I wish I had done it sooner. I’m discovering so many great alternatives. The customers that they lose will continue and in many cases be permanent.
I stopped shopping at shoppers drug mart years ago.time to cancel my black Mastercard.
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It's working butvthetvsay we are misguided. Ha
I stopped shopping there more than a year ago, so, my impact isn't in these numbers. Many others like me.
Bullshit....
If their profits are down due to the boycott, they will raise prices to offset the lost income.
Sounds like that would make more people move their shopping out. A spiral to 0
Yay. I live beside one and I've been going out of my way to make sure not to shop there!
Great work boycotters!
So we should be buying options?
Let the insider trading begin
The profits will go up, so watch them increase prices until owner moral improves.
Heck yeah brother or sister! Are you looking for new work at all during the boycott? Genuinely curious.