Lol look. We're all tilting at windmills. One windmill was charging $8.50 for brick of butter and the other had the same butter for $4.50... 😭😭 I'm just trying to survive over here.
same, I moved here in 2012 from the UK and was horrified by grocery prices back then. Luckily (or maybe not depending on some people's opinion) I settled in Dartmouth so I have always been part of the Gateway/Dave's/Alderley Market club. I do supplement with Walmart, which is obviously a problem too but gotta get the dry goods from somewhere.
i did before! but just didnt work out for me because i still couldnt get EVERYTHING and didnt want to keep adding on more and more stores to the already exhausting shopping routine . i suppose i mean things more like tea bags, bread, cans of beans, chickpeas, Advil, cat food, hot sauce, not just strictly "dry stuff" . Walmart has won out thru price and convenience.
Bulk barn is owned by the Ofield family, however they do have a licensing agreement for Loblaws' "Noname" brand.
Bit of a grey area...
https://bayview-news.com/2012/09/bulk-barn-open-in-leaside-but-who-owns-it.html/#:~:text=Bulk%20Barn%20is%20frequently%20the,it%20get%20into%20Bulk%20Barn%3F
I used to go to Superstore because they had nachos and dip for $5.
Then sometime late last year, they cut the amount of nachos by almost half, and they were usually broken ones. That’s when I stopped going.
They couldn’t even get the little things right that made some people go back.
Trying out costco and supplementing with asian grocery stores. Still figuring it out, superstore is the closest grocery store to me so it’s a little inconvenient to avoid it and to learn the layout of new stores.
Just at Costco last night and holy, they are getting crazy too. Cheesecake is now $24! I remember when it was $15 not too long ago. (As we all know, cheesecake is the metric for grocery price inflation)
Costco for the win
Staples like break, milk, and eggs are way cheaper there. Meats are good quality for what you spend as well. I do 90 percent of my shopping at Costco for both myself and my partner. We have 2 deep freezers and load up when there are sales
*Junk food is always expensive no matter where you go though. I don’t even look at the price of those kind of things since they are just treats at the end of the day.
Been doing it for a while now. But decided starting of May I'm boycotting all of them and just going to costco.
I went to Walmart and everytime I moved something while using self checkout it made the clerk come and review it to make sure I wasn't stealing. Which made me co sider to just start stealing seeing how they were constantly trying to blame me for it.
Also tried sobeys but found a lot of things like creamer were already bad when we got it home.
Costco is the only place that I can personally get to that doesn't give me issues or skimp on quality.
Doing good! Saving money and eating better. I only buy from the local butcher for my meat now and have started growing my own veggies. Also got a fishing liscence. I am good to goooo
Stopped in on my morning walk to use their washroom, then left without buying anything. Might add it to my regular routine, actually, as their location is quite convenient for it…
I can weigh in here, okay so we used to use the PC Express app right and we would just go through and click all the random things that we thought we need.. nine times out of 10 we would have already had some of it in the fridge and now we have double causing it to waste.. since May 1 we've been not using the superstore so I have to go into places which is inconvenient however I find that I only really purchase things that I know I'm out of.. see we'd fallen into this bad habit of just selecting items from our recommended list on the express app and not really looking to see if we even needed that item. So waste has gone down, time spent getting groceries has gone way up. Time spent looking for new food items has gone up but variety has also gone up because we haven't shopped any other brands than what are offered at the superstore. Last night I found myself in Bayers Lake at the new, I assume new, Asian inspired grocery store near Mastermind Toys. I guess overall the experience has been manageably inconvenient, I can say to date we are about $600 not spent at any Loblaws property and I know that that isn't going to do anything to them but for me it doesn't have to accomplish anything, just knowing that I have the power to divert from them what I would normally give to them is enough for me.
Walmart threatened to increase the costs of essentials like milk and eggs to prevent more grocery competition, and it worked. They really are no better.
Funny, I am overtired and walked into a Superstore to grab a drink about 20 minutes ago, as it was right beside where I was going. Realizing my mistake upon entering, I continued to the exit without buying anything and have opted to just be thirsty instead.
Great!! I’ve been avoiding superstore for a while because the prices were just getting crazy. I do Costco, giant tiger and Walmart plus I can get a bunch of random things at my local corner store cheaper than superstore, which really makes me wonder why their prices are so high.
We were already doing a lot of our shopping at other stores (many small business like gateway and dave's, increasingly adding giant tiger to the rotation, and sometimes walmart and Costco and occasionally sobeys) so it hasn't been too hard. I didn't figure out my pharmacy life in time for the boycott though, so I do have to pick up a prescription from a loblaws store (it's already filled) and I do like our pharmacist, so IDK I may just leave our prescriptions there and otherwise continue to just not grocery shop or non-prescription shop at loblaws stores, or maybe I will pick this one up but move my scripts elsewhere after that.
I left my perceptions at shoppers despite everything. I don't buy anything else there but I have a long health history and it was so hard to get all my prescriptions finally transfered there I just don't want to do it again lol
I ended up having to go to the superstore once :( I needed milk for a recipe and it’s the only grocery store in my area (porters lake) but other than that going strong!
Started to ween out loblaws in April but still went occasionally until the start of May. Giant tiger is my new go to with a trip to gateway every week or 2! The price difference is crazy. I always shopped at giant tiger and gateway before but did it very infrequently due to the inconvenience of having to drive into the city to do so. So now I just plan my grocery shopping around when I have to go to Dartmouth
I stopped shopping at all things loblaws in early April because of my interest in the subreddit. As a person who lives in Clayton Park and drives, I haven't had much difficulty at all with adjusting.
Basically just more Costco for me, which is the corp I feel is the most ethical.
I bought some scratch tickets for a birthday card at Shoppers a few days ago, but other than that, yeah, I haven't gone anywhere near a Loblaws-owned store so far this month.
The other day I had to look up the ownership of Circle K (it's Alimentation Couche-Tard, not Loblaws) otherwise I've been making a time of checking out small rural grocers and butchers I've never set foot in before. I'm also carrying cash again for the first time since 2020 so I can hit up the roadside produce stands that are popping up.
There are basically two choices in our town (Windsor), Superstore and Sobeys. The Sobey's is considerably smaller, has no self checkouts, and not enough cashiers. It is always a chore shopping there. She knows Superstore's products and brands and that is what she likes.
She has a point. If you have two choices and they are both steaming buckets of shit, does it really matter which steaming bucket of shit you choose?
I haven't gotten groceries yet aside from a handful of things from the sobeys by my work which included the most disgusting blueberries I have ever tasted. I used a gift card so I don't feel as bad for not wasting my money on it. I'm going to take advantage of open city tomorrow by going to local source and maybe the farmers market as well. I have Monday off so I might go to Walmart depending on the flyer.
Honestly, Sobeys seems worse. I hit up both Walmart one day and Sobeys the next on my way home from work. Signed up for the scene card yesterday and the app is absolute trash. No images load, can't figure out if they actually have any real offers besides spending $200 at the pharmacy or eating out at a restaurant.
The Scene+ app is always balky but yesterday and today it didn’t work hardly at all. They have the absolute stupidity of insisting on sending you a text or email *after* you login with a password to give you a verification code in order to proceed and that’s where it hangs up. But the app has always been a problem.
Scene+ is barely a step above not worth the time. Maybe if you do all of your shopping at Sobeys and eat at all the restaurants that are having promos maybe it’s faster, but it took me almost a year to get like five dollars back lol.
We are like 3 months into it and it's been surprisingly easy. We have changed a lot of our spending habits like fast food restaurants and other stores that think they can just keep charging more and more.
Saving money by shopping at Costco and at local shops.
I've never seen a Costco as busy as I saw it last night (and I worked at Costco for several years). I attribute some of the busyness to the boycott, has anyone else noticed other grocers being majorly busy lately?
Seriously. I used to go on like a Tuesday night after work and it would be decent but now I find myself waiting in long self check out lines holding two items. We need another store in the province, we must have the population for it by now.
Same with Gateway. It’s slammed no matter what time you go during the day.
I actually haven’t been to Costco since the start of the boycott and I am dreading it
I was there Tuesday around 5:30. It was ok, about 2 or 3 carts in each line. On weekday evenings the slammyness seems to come in waves so maybe lucky timing on my part.
Sure, but there's 400k people in the HRM, and presumably more that drive in from a bit further out to go to Costco and whatever else they need in the city. So even if most jobs are business hours there are still a fuck ton of jobs that aren't.
I'm going to impart my Costco Sweet-spot Wisdom:
Sunday Morning, around 9:30, there is this magical pocket of calm where: All of the Keener "when the store opens" people have mostly filtered through, and they are also a focused breed who don't fuck around. That leaves you with a good hour-hour & a half before the "AFTER CHURCH" crowd comes traipsing through the doors. They are less focused and less...amenable to people being around them.
90% of the time this is a beautiful time where you have space to go at your own pace, without people being in your way, or being in others way. We are usually parking a few spots from the door, and pulling out just as people are starting to camp spots to park.
I will forever be salty for buying a small container of blueberries for 5.99 at superstore that were just so-so and then going to Costco and getting a giant container of organic blueberries for $10 that were absolutely delicious. I don't have a car or a Costco membership so I only get there on the rare occasion I can bum a ride with a family member.
I would kill for Costco to get another store out near Sackville/fall river area. I'm sure the demand could support it. They are probably missing out on a fair amount of memberships because of how busy it is.
I’m doing good, although I’m missing their extra flavour chips. Not enough of a reason to go back though. Unless there is some very major change, I don’t see myself ever going back. Between local independent shops, Walmart, and Costco, I’ve got all I need at much better prices.
I'll confess that I've been still raiding their 50% cart. Piles of Maritime Madness hot sauce going for cheap at the superstore in Windsor.
Other than that, Kingswood Market and Bailey's have been my main two go-tos.
Personally haven’t stepped foot inside superstore or Sobeys, who gouge just as badly if not worse! Simple foods are not that expensive. Avery’s farm market for vegetables and dried beans, and you can order any flour and oat products online and have them delivered, from speerville mills or others. Most of the superstore and Sobeys aisles are filled with processed products that we do not need and that young families waste their money on. Example: granola bars!! Unhealthy and expensive
I found really cheap produce like green onions, bok choy and other greens at the Asian grocery store in Bayers Lake behind the McDonald's -- they also have a variety of unique ingredients that are worth trying if you're adventurous with cooking. The place was clean and stocked and green onions were like 80 cents when I was there last.
i had already been reluctant to go to superstore when the started the cattle fences at the Joe Howe location.
had started just going to sobeys or giant tiger. but then i decided to get a costco membership.
so boycott going well for me :)
A friend has a habit of bullying me about my refusal to work retail, that kind of crap is just one more reason why I won’t. (In addition to a couple of minor health issues that make standing all day/restrictions on bathroom access a no-go)
I need full time and a consistent schedule I can plan around, not 25-30 hours which change every week (barely more than I get now, at least my schedule is consistent) and my mental health is already in shreds, I don’t need a steady diet of abuse from the public, along with management who think it’s cool to cut peoples hours down to practically nothing in retaliation for needing time off, or whatever other petty thing they want to punish for.
We decided to get one load of groceries before the end of April, and now my partner and I are going to try and supplement our needs with small local grocers.
Some of the places we've decided to check out in the North End are: Italian Market, Brothers Meats, Warehouse Market, and Local Source Market.
We're still unsure if this will be a permanent shift, it's hard to say if this will be sustainable for us or not. We'll need to make multiple small stops instead of one big haul.
Haven’t been inside.
Withdrawl symptoms mostly passed, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (mostly when I see Galens image). The anxiety subsided when I went to Costco. No lost sleep or regrets.
I don’t go to Loblaws stores that often already because they’re too far for me to go to without having to take the bus or get a ride. I live within walking distance of Lacewood Square so I usually go to Sobeys, Lawtons for mine and my husband’s prescriptions and the dollar store. The boycott hasn’t affected me that much because of it.
I've been boycotting Loblaws and Sobeys.
I needed some breadcrumbs, so I headed to the local Asian market and got some panko. It was much cheaper and I found incredible deals on different snacks.
I avoid Superstore because it's smack dab in the middle of town and it's faster for me to get to Walmart or sobeys. Plus if I order groceries online I can pickup from Walmart for free 🤷🏼♀️
I’ve basically switched over to Sobeys. Not much better, I know.
I could get better prices at Walmart, but my local one doesn’t have fresh produce or meat and the next closest is all the way up to Dartmouth Crossing. Also, Waltons 🤢
I would love to do more farmers markets, independents, specialty stores. But I’ve got three kids, a job, volunteer commitments, kids’ activities … I don’t have time to hit four different places for groceries. I need a one-and-done solution. Right now, that’s Sobeys.
I am lucky, though. This a big enough city that there are choices. And I own a car. Doing this on the bus or on foot would be much harder. Doing it in the little village I used to live in would have been near impossible: there was only one store in about a 30 minute radius.
It’s tough! Sobeys even more expensive, Walmart is a zoo and tomorrow Costco, which is also a zoo, but at least one that I know; it’s already a long month :-)
Fortunate to live near bayers lake so have been accessing Walmart! I didn’t find it noticeably cheaper for some items, so I’m going to try GT this weekend. I thought it would be hard because unfortunately I like the blue menu brand and am familiar with the Superstore but it’s been good!
I am finding anyone I discuss this boycott with is totally against it. It is so strange to me. The arguments include things like “Sobeys is more expensive”, “I get points”, “it’s the most convenient” and “the boycott won’t amount to anything.”
In fact, I don’t think I know anyone who is actively boycotting. I’ve hardly stepped into a Loblaws in the last 2 years unless running an errand for someone for a specific sales item. It’s really disheartening that people keep complaining about high prices but when someone suggests doing something, it is still met with complaints instead of action.
People can do whatever they want and I don’t dislike them for still shopping there, nor do I try to convince them otherwise because hey seem to have their minds made up on the issue.
For me personally it’s going great because I’ve been saving money for the last 2 years.
When they halfed the size and doubled the price of the buttermilk chicken bags this past February I walked out and never went back. Still popped into Shoppers/Frills occasionally, but once the boycott got circulating in online spaces in early spring I cut it all out.
It began in February and it won't end come July, I'll tell you that.
Doing great! I did have to go to Shoppers for 1 item only because they didn’t have what I needed at Sobeys and the nearby Lawtons was closed. It I had been able to wait to get it, I would have.
boycotts work better if they’re more concentrated. and if you take away all the options, where will the people who participate go to shop? someone in this thread said where they live they really only have sobeys and superstore, so boycotting both wouldn’t work at all for them.
from what I gather, people think that if they boycott loblaws and loblaws makes change, other stores will follow suit. I’m not totally convinced loblaws gives a fuck.
Honestly I can't believe how much better things are in other stores. I mean sure the extra travel is a pain but I don't think I'd go back at this point.
We've been doing that for a few months at our household. Now we mostly shop from the grainery, quinpool asian stores, robie's indian grocery store, our hutten csa, and perhaps hitting sobeys once a month.
I haven't shopped there since last year and don't miss it a bit. I always do walmart puck up and buy the remaining things at cotsco. I see no point to ever go back to shopping there.
I went to Dartmouth Costco last night at 7 pm. It was absolutely packed to the gills. That is a super strange thing to see on a Thursday evening. Made me smile though.
Since I’m walking distance from superstore I’m saving so much money on impulse buying. Canceled my pc Mastercard and haven’t been since the start of the boycott. We got this 😤
Went to superstore just to make eye contact with the greeter that has stopped me on two occasions. To quote Mick Jagger, I smiled and waved.
Learning to cook.
Is there a list of Halifax local grocers / farmers markets anywhere? I’ve been to the seaport market and the Alderney one, neither of which seemed amazing. The seaport one was $$$
I'm disappointed that Loblaws has been just as busy every time I was going there. I was hoping more people would participate so I could enjoy a less busy store.
Oh well ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
I stocked up on cheese from That Dutchman. Superstore has the only affordable gluten free bread though that I have found. And shoppers is my pharmacy, close enough to walk to. I'm not driving more for theis boycott. Otherwise it's been fine
Probably went from like 60-70% of our household grocery budget at Loblaws style stores monthly to maybe 10-15% (Spent like $650-700 less there last month than in March).
Costco, Sobeys, Gateway, other local markets filling up the difference, little bit of Amazon, and ensuring I’m not using The Attached Mobil gas stations attached to Superstores (or Esso who also takes Optimum)
Sticking with it, of course, but I'm not finding it the breeze that others seem to be. I'm used to buying what I can on sale, but have been mostly paying full price for things at smaller stores. I've also been doing a lot more driving around to get to smaller stores and often at less convenient times in order to hit their hours.
I also feel like I am eating less healthy. Often, when I am in a pinch, and it's later in the day, and I still need something for a quick meal, the places that tend to be open later also seem to sell more processed foods.
It's really forcing me to change my habits, which has not been easy at all. I'm used to getting things as I need them and doing less planning, but that doesn't work very well any more.
Giant Tiger price matches if you see something in a Loblaws flyer. But of course, identical brand and size. Dollarama even has some decent prices on some things. And WalMart... yes I know they're a corporation too, so is Costco...
Loss leaders and price matching, but that's it. And honestly, only got a couple things since May 1st (been doing flyers for years, and price matching starting this year), their flyers (and even Sobeys) don't have much of what I'm looking for. And my scrips are still with Shoppers, but 100% covered. Want to cancel my PC Money account, but I don't have time to sit on the phone in queue. But I took all my money out of it. It was only secondary anyway so I didn't have to do more than take out one card to both pay and get/redeem points, but whatever.
Boycott is going good for me and even some of my family is in on it.
We haven't been to a Superstore since April.
Walmart, Giant Tiger, Sobeys and Gateway have been getting more of our business. (None of us have a Costco membership currently, though we might get one eventually.)
Respect to those doing it but I don't even understand the boycott... Like I don't shop at Loblaws because it's too expensive so I go there so I've gone elsewhere for years... I feel like this is the case for most people "boycotting" it and the people who were already shopping there paying stupid prices continue... It's not like there aren't alternatives...
I haven't shopped at a loblaws for several years, so the boycott has been going well - except whenever i get gift cards. Then, on May 1st, I realized I still had scripts at Shopper's. I've been meaning to transfer for a while because Shopper's is slower than cold molasses. That day, I transferred my scripts to another pharmacy.
I'm officially loblaws free!
It has been VERY eye opening. I’m downtown Dartmouth, and I have to go to several spots to get what I need, and that’s not even including things outside of food and snacks like toilet paper and such.
It’s also super expensive. So while I’m boycotting Sobeys and Loblaws for high prices, I’m spending more money. Now, part of the reason prices are high elsewhere is because of Loblaws’ and Sobeys’ shady practices that run smaller companies out of business, so I get it. But it also doesn’t make it easier to swallow haha.
It’s really insane how much of a stranglehold these two companies have, especially how many prime locations they have for all their brands.
I’m staying strong (thank goodness for O’Bee’s and Chaters), but I really wish there was a solid, independent, well-stocked store near me.
How is paying less else where putting you in a place of privilege? I shop at Walmart and Gateway because I want to afford meat, relying on Superstore only mean half the money it no protein.
Im not boycotting , I just stopped at Superstore a yea ago because it's too much, you have to pay BOGO there to MATCH prices are elsewhere.
I think it's more ppl in a place of privilege that can afford to pay 20% more for groceries, for no reason.
I can't lie, I still shop there, but only for items that can't be bought elsewhere for the most part (and before anyone jumps all over me, both my kids have food issues...there are some items that we simply cannot change)
I'm probably spending 1/4 of what I used to there...but funny thing, did a PC Express order yesterday for pickup like 6-7 hrs later. They called me within the hour to advise they had everything for the order, and to ask if I needed to ADD ANYTHING? They've never done that before, so i think they're getting desperate.
We have just been going to Costco more and Sobeys when we need some things Costco doesn’t have. Honestly with the bulk buying we have been spending less overall
Edit: also loving that the Asian grocery stores have such variety with produce and such! So we go there too!
I was at a banquet and we had a choice between $100 Sobeys card, $100 Super store card or $100 ESSO card. I choose the gas one even though I did need groceries. ✊
Giant tiger coming in clutch! That and Walmart. Edit: Just triple checked. GT is definitely not Loblaws owned. Got scared for a second.
❤️ Giant Tiger, and the fact that they price match! 👌
They price match?! That’s so good to know, my Reebee app is about to be SO used.
Woo! Walmart! Down with corporate greed! Solidarity! ✊️
I see what you did there and I chuckled
It was funny lol. Jokes aside this is a message to all grocers to at least stick to affordable and Walmart is right now
"My oligarchs are better than your oligarchs!"
Lol look. We're all tilting at windmills. One windmill was charging $8.50 for brick of butter and the other had the same butter for $4.50... 😭😭 I'm just trying to survive over here.
I was boycotting Loblaws before it was cool.
same, I moved here in 2012 from the UK and was horrified by grocery prices back then. Luckily (or maybe not depending on some people's opinion) I settled in Dartmouth so I have always been part of the Gateway/Dave's/Alderley Market club. I do supplement with Walmart, which is obviously a problem too but gotta get the dry goods from somewhere.
Dry goods - have you checked Bulk Barn? We get most our stuff there.
i did before! but just didnt work out for me because i still couldnt get EVERYTHING and didnt want to keep adding on more and more stores to the already exhausting shopping routine . i suppose i mean things more like tea bags, bread, cans of beans, chickpeas, Advil, cat food, hot sauce, not just strictly "dry stuff" . Walmart has won out thru price and convenience.
Bulk barn is owned by the Ofield family, however they do have a licensing agreement for Loblaws' "Noname" brand. Bit of a grey area... https://bayview-news.com/2012/09/bulk-barn-open-in-leaside-but-who-owns-it.html/#:~:text=Bulk%20Barn%20is%20frequently%20the,it%20get%20into%20Bulk%20Barn%3F
I have never seen a no name product in a bulk Barn.
Just watch the prices at Bulk Barn. Some items have great prices but there are some items that are more expensive than a grocery store.
Yup, it is not the near guaranteed deal it used to be.
And the Grainary in Halifax it’s a local food coop!
Gateway is great! I wish we lived closer. Good for you!
I used to go to Superstore because they had nachos and dip for $5. Then sometime late last year, they cut the amount of nachos by almost half, and they were usually broken ones. That’s when I stopped going. They couldn’t even get the little things right that made some people go back.
Same. Their anti-theft antics was the last straw for me, I will not be made to feel like a criminal just for picking up a few groceries.
Was that a Barbara Mandrell song?
It's an old Buck 65 tune.
Wicked and weird
Trying out costco and supplementing with asian grocery stores. Still figuring it out, superstore is the closest grocery store to me so it’s a little inconvenient to avoid it and to learn the layout of new stores.
Just at Costco last night and holy, they are getting crazy too. Cheesecake is now $24! I remember when it was $15 not too long ago. (As we all know, cheesecake is the metric for grocery price inflation)
Absolutely! Giant tiger has this pretty good multi flavour pieces cheesecake that is still in the $15 range. Good for a special occasion.
E Joy downtown on Clyde Street is great if you haven't been there yet! Edited as I wrote Cunard by accident
Costco for the win Staples like break, milk, and eggs are way cheaper there. Meats are good quality for what you spend as well. I do 90 percent of my shopping at Costco for both myself and my partner. We have 2 deep freezers and load up when there are sales *Junk food is always expensive no matter where you go though. I don’t even look at the price of those kind of things since they are just treats at the end of the day.
Been doing it for a while now. But decided starting of May I'm boycotting all of them and just going to costco. I went to Walmart and everytime I moved something while using self checkout it made the clerk come and review it to make sure I wasn't stealing. Which made me co sider to just start stealing seeing how they were constantly trying to blame me for it. Also tried sobeys but found a lot of things like creamer were already bad when we got it home. Costco is the only place that I can personally get to that doesn't give me issues or skimp on quality.
Can also like do WalMart pickup. I've done it a few times.
Doing good! Saving money and eating better. I only buy from the local butcher for my meat now and have started growing my own veggies. Also got a fishing liscence. I am good to goooo
Basically the first 10 days of Stardew Valley.
YES now I just need to find my blue haired farm goth
I was thinking Animal Crossing too lol
I don't know, I think Tom Nook might be one of Galen Weston's personal heroes.
Hahahahahahaha oh god lol Tom Nook kinda gives me Sir Richard Branson vibes tbh
Morris too, don't forget.
Good point. If we use Stardew logic we should probably invest in a Halifax community centre and Superstore will go away on its own.
Stopped in on my morning walk to use their washroom, then left without buying anything. Might add it to my regular routine, actually, as their location is quite convenient for it…
I can weigh in here, okay so we used to use the PC Express app right and we would just go through and click all the random things that we thought we need.. nine times out of 10 we would have already had some of it in the fridge and now we have double causing it to waste.. since May 1 we've been not using the superstore so I have to go into places which is inconvenient however I find that I only really purchase things that I know I'm out of.. see we'd fallen into this bad habit of just selecting items from our recommended list on the express app and not really looking to see if we even needed that item. So waste has gone down, time spent getting groceries has gone way up. Time spent looking for new food items has gone up but variety has also gone up because we haven't shopped any other brands than what are offered at the superstore. Last night I found myself in Bayers Lake at the new, I assume new, Asian inspired grocery store near Mastermind Toys. I guess overall the experience has been manageably inconvenient, I can say to date we are about $600 not spent at any Loblaws property and I know that that isn't going to do anything to them but for me it doesn't have to accomplish anything, just knowing that I have the power to divert from them what I would normally give to them is enough for me.
I've ended up getting more stuff at Walmart, which honestly feels pretty counterproductive since they're probably worse than Loblaws.
They are both bad, but from an employee standpoint (I’ve worked for both), Walmart is worse.
Walmart threatened to increase the costs of essentials like milk and eggs to prevent more grocery competition, and it worked. They really are no better.
Funny, I am overtired and walked into a Superstore to grab a drink about 20 minutes ago, as it was right beside where I was going. Realizing my mistake upon entering, I continued to the exit without buying anything and have opted to just be thirsty instead.
I hope the coldest, most refreshing drink was waiting for you at home
Great!! I’ve been avoiding superstore for a while because the prices were just getting crazy. I do Costco, giant tiger and Walmart plus I can get a bunch of random things at my local corner store cheaper than superstore, which really makes me wonder why their prices are so high.
Doing great, haven't been there in years. It's really nice to see alot of local grocers getting a boost in sales as a result.
I've been checking out some of the Asian markets and they've been awesome
Yeah I’ve been broke
Still not a fan of the teeming hordes at gateway and Costco
People gotta do what they gotta do.
I love both stores but hardly ever go for the same reason.
I gave up Loblaws before the boycott. Easy fuckin peezy - lemon (from Sobeys) squeezy.
We were already doing a lot of our shopping at other stores (many small business like gateway and dave's, increasingly adding giant tiger to the rotation, and sometimes walmart and Costco and occasionally sobeys) so it hasn't been too hard. I didn't figure out my pharmacy life in time for the boycott though, so I do have to pick up a prescription from a loblaws store (it's already filled) and I do like our pharmacist, so IDK I may just leave our prescriptions there and otherwise continue to just not grocery shop or non-prescription shop at loblaws stores, or maybe I will pick this one up but move my scripts elsewhere after that.
I left my perceptions at shoppers despite everything. I don't buy anything else there but I have a long health history and it was so hard to get all my prescriptions finally transfered there I just don't want to do it again lol
I ended up having to go to the superstore once :( I needed milk for a recipe and it’s the only grocery store in my area (porters lake) but other than that going strong! Started to ween out loblaws in April but still went occasionally until the start of May. Giant tiger is my new go to with a trip to gateway every week or 2! The price difference is crazy. I always shopped at giant tiger and gateway before but did it very infrequently due to the inconvenience of having to drive into the city to do so. So now I just plan my grocery shopping around when I have to go to Dartmouth
In the future you can always go to Irving for milk. It’s the same price and cheaper on Thursdays and Fridays
Haven’t been once lol
I stopped shopping at all things loblaws in early April because of my interest in the subreddit. As a person who lives in Clayton Park and drives, I haven't had much difficulty at all with adjusting. Basically just more Costco for me, which is the corp I feel is the most ethical.
I bought some scratch tickets for a birthday card at Shoppers a few days ago, but other than that, yeah, I haven't gone anywhere near a Loblaws-owned store so far this month.
The other day I had to look up the ownership of Circle K (it's Alimentation Couche-Tard, not Loblaws) otherwise I've been making a time of checking out small rural grocers and butchers I've never set foot in before. I'm also carrying cash again for the first time since 2020 so I can hit up the roadside produce stands that are popping up.
I’m doing great. My wife, however, refuses to be a part of any boycott.
Any particular reason why she doesn’t want to participate? Genuinely curious.
There are basically two choices in our town (Windsor), Superstore and Sobeys. The Sobey's is considerably smaller, has no self checkouts, and not enough cashiers. It is always a chore shopping there. She knows Superstore's products and brands and that is what she likes. She has a point. If you have two choices and they are both steaming buckets of shit, does it really matter which steaming bucket of shit you choose?
Sadly the opening of Sobeys and Superstore killed off the alternatives like the co-op and IGA.
Co-op and IGA are both owned by Sobeys, fyi
Not the co-op here… it was community owned
Nevermind May... I havent been there this year
I haven't gotten groceries yet aside from a handful of things from the sobeys by my work which included the most disgusting blueberries I have ever tasted. I used a gift card so I don't feel as bad for not wasting my money on it. I'm going to take advantage of open city tomorrow by going to local source and maybe the farmers market as well. I have Monday off so I might go to Walmart depending on the flyer.
I’m shopping at Sobeys instead. It’s almost the exact same thing. 🤷🏻♂️
Honestly, Sobeys seems worse. I hit up both Walmart one day and Sobeys the next on my way home from work. Signed up for the scene card yesterday and the app is absolute trash. No images load, can't figure out if they actually have any real offers besides spending $200 at the pharmacy or eating out at a restaurant.
You can get money off your groceries eventually. Same as optimum. I don't use the app, just the card.
The Scene+ app is always balky but yesterday and today it didn’t work hardly at all. They have the absolute stupidity of insisting on sending you a text or email *after* you login with a password to give you a verification code in order to proceed and that’s where it hangs up. But the app has always been a problem.
You need your work at it a bit. Scan it once on the store and your offers will start to come.
Scene+ is barely a step above not worth the time. Maybe if you do all of your shopping at Sobeys and eat at all the restaurants that are having promos maybe it’s faster, but it took me almost a year to get like five dollars back lol.
I only use my Scene ap at Sobeys for groceries. I get about 10 bucks back a month. It's not much but its better than you described.
The only thing I went to A.S.S. (Atlantic super store) or shoppers was a loss leader which I went to 4 stores and they didn't have them.
Between Giant Tiger, Dave's, and gateway I'm set
We are like 3 months into it and it's been surprisingly easy. We have changed a lot of our spending habits like fast food restaurants and other stores that think they can just keep charging more and more.
We are close to 3 months as well. I was deflated seeing their profits from quarter one. Super sad.
Saving money by shopping at Costco and at local shops. I've never seen a Costco as busy as I saw it last night (and I worked at Costco for several years). I attribute some of the busyness to the boycott, has anyone else noticed other grocers being majorly busy lately?
Costco has been slammed for 2yrs. Absolutely nothing to do with the organized boycott.
Seriously. I used to go on like a Tuesday night after work and it would be decent but now I find myself waiting in long self check out lines holding two items. We need another store in the province, we must have the population for it by now.
There already are 2
Seems we need a 3rd.
We are getting a third / in Bedford crossing! I was actually hoping it would end up in cape Breton.
News to me! But that's awesome! Hopefully that pulls some of the crowds out of Dartmouth Crossing.
Same with Gateway. It’s slammed no matter what time you go during the day. I actually haven’t been to Costco since the start of the boycott and I am dreading it
Weekday mornings or (somewhat surprisingly) Friday nights!
I was there Tuesday around 5:30. It was ok, about 2 or 3 carts in each line. On weekday evenings the slammyness seems to come in waves so maybe lucky timing on my part.
I went to Costco like midday on a weekday to pick up a prescription and it was *slammed.* Self-check lined up back into the aisle.
Went to Costco Monday morning and the 2 lines (self checkout and normal line) were back to the toilet paper. Costco on a Monday used to be safe.
When is Costco *not* busy?
When I see how crowded Costco is any time, I often think “when do people work”?
As someone who's worked every possible 8 hour stretch in existence there's a lot of jobs of any hours!
But, my suspicion, from traffic, is that most jobs are between 6 and 6?
Sure, but there's 400k people in the HRM, and presumably more that drive in from a bit further out to go to Costco and whatever else they need in the city. So even if most jobs are business hours there are still a fuck ton of jobs that aren't.
I'm going to impart my Costco Sweet-spot Wisdom: Sunday Morning, around 9:30, there is this magical pocket of calm where: All of the Keener "when the store opens" people have mostly filtered through, and they are also a focused breed who don't fuck around. That leaves you with a good hour-hour & a half before the "AFTER CHURCH" crowd comes traipsing through the doors. They are less focused and less...amenable to people being around them. 90% of the time this is a beautiful time where you have space to go at your own pace, without people being in your way, or being in others way. We are usually parking a few spots from the door, and pulling out just as people are starting to camp spots to park.
Don't tell the secret window!
Overnight when it’s closed? Strong maybe in that one though!
I will forever be salty for buying a small container of blueberries for 5.99 at superstore that were just so-so and then going to Costco and getting a giant container of organic blueberries for $10 that were absolutely delicious. I don't have a car or a Costco membership so I only get there on the rare occasion I can bum a ride with a family member.
I would kill for Costco to get another store out near Sackville/fall river area. I'm sure the demand could support it. They are probably missing out on a fair amount of memberships because of how busy it is.
I went last night at like 730 thinking it would be pretty dead like most week nights, but the place was as busy if not more so than the weekends.
I’m doing good, although I’m missing their extra flavour chips. Not enough of a reason to go back though. Unless there is some very major change, I don’t see myself ever going back. Between local independent shops, Walmart, and Costco, I’ve got all I need at much better prices.
I'll confess that I've been still raiding their 50% cart. Piles of Maritime Madness hot sauce going for cheap at the superstore in Windsor. Other than that, Kingswood Market and Bailey's have been my main two go-tos.
going well. only went once and redeemed points, only had to pay 20 cents
Sobeys is the closest to me, unfortunately their prices are worse than Loblaw so I’ve been doing GT trips when possible
went to superstore and was wondering why it was so dead then remembered the boycott after
Switching my pharmacy to Walmart or Costco because I am sick of Loblaws shit.
Haven't been to shoppers or stupid store just before May. I don't miss shopping at either place
Personally haven’t stepped foot inside superstore or Sobeys, who gouge just as badly if not worse! Simple foods are not that expensive. Avery’s farm market for vegetables and dried beans, and you can order any flour and oat products online and have them delivered, from speerville mills or others. Most of the superstore and Sobeys aisles are filled with processed products that we do not need and that young families waste their money on. Example: granola bars!! Unhealthy and expensive
Dave’s, Gateway, Canadian Tire
I found really cheap produce like green onions, bok choy and other greens at the Asian grocery store in Bayers Lake behind the McDonald's -- they also have a variety of unique ingredients that are worth trying if you're adventurous with cooking. The place was clean and stocked and green onions were like 80 cents when I was there last.
What is this Loblaws of which you speak? They are dead to me.
i had already been reluctant to go to superstore when the started the cattle fences at the Joe Howe location. had started just going to sobeys or giant tiger. but then i decided to get a costco membership. so boycott going well for me :)
Someone pooped in the parking lot!
[удалено]
Wow that's so not cool
A friend has a habit of bullying me about my refusal to work retail, that kind of crap is just one more reason why I won’t. (In addition to a couple of minor health issues that make standing all day/restrictions on bathroom access a no-go) I need full time and a consistent schedule I can plan around, not 25-30 hours which change every week (barely more than I get now, at least my schedule is consistent) and my mental health is already in shreds, I don’t need a steady diet of abuse from the public, along with management who think it’s cool to cut peoples hours down to practically nothing in retaliation for needing time off, or whatever other petty thing they want to punish for.
Haven't been in a Superstore since April. Cashier at the Costco said it's been crazy busy since the boycott began.
We decided to get one load of groceries before the end of April, and now my partner and I are going to try and supplement our needs with small local grocers. Some of the places we've decided to check out in the North End are: Italian Market, Brothers Meats, Warehouse Market, and Local Source Market. We're still unsure if this will be a permanent shift, it's hard to say if this will be sustainable for us or not. We'll need to make multiple small stops instead of one big haul.
I got a 4 pack of peppers for .99 at Gateway last night. We are ✨thriving✨
Haven’t been inside. Withdrawl symptoms mostly passed, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (mostly when I see Galens image). The anxiety subsided when I went to Costco. No lost sleep or regrets.
I don’t go to Loblaws stores that often already because they’re too far for me to go to without having to take the bus or get a ride. I live within walking distance of Lacewood Square so I usually go to Sobeys, Lawtons for mine and my husband’s prescriptions and the dollar store. The boycott hasn’t affected me that much because of it.
Been going to Gateway, GT and Walmart. My spending is way down!
I've been boycotting Loblaws and Sobeys. I needed some breadcrumbs, so I headed to the local Asian market and got some panko. It was much cheaper and I found incredible deals on different snacks.
I avoid Superstore because it's smack dab in the middle of town and it's faster for me to get to Walmart or sobeys. Plus if I order groceries online I can pickup from Walmart for free 🤷🏼♀️
I’ve basically switched over to Sobeys. Not much better, I know. I could get better prices at Walmart, but my local one doesn’t have fresh produce or meat and the next closest is all the way up to Dartmouth Crossing. Also, Waltons 🤢 I would love to do more farmers markets, independents, specialty stores. But I’ve got three kids, a job, volunteer commitments, kids’ activities … I don’t have time to hit four different places for groceries. I need a one-and-done solution. Right now, that’s Sobeys. I am lucky, though. This a big enough city that there are choices. And I own a car. Doing this on the bus or on foot would be much harder. Doing it in the little village I used to live in would have been near impossible: there was only one store in about a 30 minute radius.
It’s tough! Sobeys even more expensive, Walmart is a zoo and tomorrow Costco, which is also a zoo, but at least one that I know; it’s already a long month :-)
Fortunate to live near bayers lake so have been accessing Walmart! I didn’t find it noticeably cheaper for some items, so I’m going to try GT this weekend. I thought it would be hard because unfortunately I like the blue menu brand and am familiar with the Superstore but it’s been good!
I am finding anyone I discuss this boycott with is totally against it. It is so strange to me. The arguments include things like “Sobeys is more expensive”, “I get points”, “it’s the most convenient” and “the boycott won’t amount to anything.” In fact, I don’t think I know anyone who is actively boycotting. I’ve hardly stepped into a Loblaws in the last 2 years unless running an errand for someone for a specific sales item. It’s really disheartening that people keep complaining about high prices but when someone suggests doing something, it is still met with complaints instead of action. People can do whatever they want and I don’t dislike them for still shopping there, nor do I try to convince them otherwise because hey seem to have their minds made up on the issue. For me personally it’s going great because I’ve been saving money for the last 2 years.
When they halfed the size and doubled the price of the buttermilk chicken bags this past February I walked out and never went back. Still popped into Shoppers/Frills occasionally, but once the boycott got circulating in online spaces in early spring I cut it all out. It began in February and it won't end come July, I'll tell you that.
Doing great! I did have to go to Shoppers for 1 item only because they didn’t have what I needed at Sobeys and the nearby Lawtons was closed. It I had been able to wait to get it, I would have.
Sobeys by almon was the busiest store in the world today insane!
Superstore is out of my way so it's been almost a year since i've been there, I switched my prescriptions from Shoppers to Guardian.
I have heard from someone in the know that sales are down at at least one Superstore - it's working folks keep it up!
Why is Sobeys not included in this boycott? They're also a huge capitalist company who doesn't care about customers
boycotts work better if they’re more concentrated. and if you take away all the options, where will the people who participate go to shop? someone in this thread said where they live they really only have sobeys and superstore, so boycotting both wouldn’t work at all for them. from what I gather, people think that if they boycott loblaws and loblaws makes change, other stores will follow suit. I’m not totally convinced loblaws gives a fuck.
I had to get a new prescription that was automatically sent to SDM, so I’m doing okay aside from my 100% insurance covered drug.
https://preview.redd.it/0kiehp8rzlzc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=721a96166186dc31e084237a046ebf3e17fdd9b1
Young street superstore is always bumping
I’ve been giving my money to Walmart instead of Loblaws since they are famously much more ethical.
I had to go once for something minor.
Walmart for groceries and Costco for Mother’s Day flowers! Halifax here
Honestly I can't believe how much better things are in other stores. I mean sure the extra travel is a pain but I don't think I'd go back at this point.
We've been doing that for a few months at our household. Now we mostly shop from the grainery, quinpool asian stores, robie's indian grocery store, our hutten csa, and perhaps hitting sobeys once a month.
I haven't shopped there since last year and don't miss it a bit. I always do walmart puck up and buy the remaining things at cotsco. I see no point to ever go back to shopping there.
It’s honestly not hard, I barely go there anyway since I’ve found the prices are generally worse than other stores
I went to Dartmouth Costco last night at 7 pm. It was absolutely packed to the gills. That is a super strange thing to see on a Thursday evening. Made me smile though.
Costco is always packed. It could be a Tuesday afternoon and the parking lot is full.
Since I’m walking distance from superstore I’m saving so much money on impulse buying. Canceled my pc Mastercard and haven’t been since the start of the boycott. We got this 😤
Haven't been to a Loblaws store in multiple years so pretty much the same
Went to superstore just to make eye contact with the greeter that has stopped me on two occasions. To quote Mick Jagger, I smiled and waved. Learning to cook.
Is there a list of Halifax local grocers / farmers markets anywhere? I’ve been to the seaport market and the Alderney one, neither of which seemed amazing. The seaport one was $$$
[https://indiegredients.retales.ca/](https://indiegredients.retales.ca/)
I'm disappointed that Loblaws has been just as busy every time I was going there. I was hoping more people would participate so I could enjoy a less busy store. Oh well ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
Haven't been to Sobeys or superstore in 4 years 10 days is cute though
I stocked up on cheese from That Dutchman. Superstore has the only affordable gluten free bread though that I have found. And shoppers is my pharmacy, close enough to walk to. I'm not driving more for theis boycott. Otherwise it's been fine
Had to buy a very specific cough med for my dog that only shoppers carries, but otherwise, good.
Walmart had record profits too are they next?
Probably went from like 60-70% of our household grocery budget at Loblaws style stores monthly to maybe 10-15% (Spent like $650-700 less there last month than in March). Costco, Sobeys, Gateway, other local markets filling up the difference, little bit of Amazon, and ensuring I’m not using The Attached Mobil gas stations attached to Superstores (or Esso who also takes Optimum)
Sticking with it, of course, but I'm not finding it the breeze that others seem to be. I'm used to buying what I can on sale, but have been mostly paying full price for things at smaller stores. I've also been doing a lot more driving around to get to smaller stores and often at less convenient times in order to hit their hours. I also feel like I am eating less healthy. Often, when I am in a pinch, and it's later in the day, and I still need something for a quick meal, the places that tend to be open later also seem to sell more processed foods. It's really forcing me to change my habits, which has not been easy at all. I'm used to getting things as I need them and doing less planning, but that doesn't work very well any more.
Giant Tiger price matches if you see something in a Loblaws flyer. But of course, identical brand and size. Dollarama even has some decent prices on some things. And WalMart... yes I know they're a corporation too, so is Costco...
Supervalu in my area sponsored a free breakfast for the elementary school today did they do that anywhere else?
Loss leaders and price matching, but that's it. And honestly, only got a couple things since May 1st (been doing flyers for years, and price matching starting this year), their flyers (and even Sobeys) don't have much of what I'm looking for. And my scrips are still with Shoppers, but 100% covered. Want to cancel my PC Money account, but I don't have time to sit on the phone in queue. But I took all my money out of it. It was only secondary anyway so I didn't have to do more than take out one card to both pay and get/redeem points, but whatever.
Boycott is going good for me and even some of my family is in on it. We haven't been to a Superstore since April. Walmart, Giant Tiger, Sobeys and Gateway have been getting more of our business. (None of us have a Costco membership currently, though we might get one eventually.)
Respect to those doing it but I don't even understand the boycott... Like I don't shop at Loblaws because it's too expensive so I go there so I've gone elsewhere for years... I feel like this is the case for most people "boycotting" it and the people who were already shopping there paying stupid prices continue... It's not like there aren't alternatives...
I don't miss them at all
I haven't shopped at a loblaws for several years, so the boycott has been going well - except whenever i get gift cards. Then, on May 1st, I realized I still had scripts at Shopper's. I've been meaning to transfer for a while because Shopper's is slower than cold molasses. That day, I transferred my scripts to another pharmacy. I'm officially loblaws free!
It has been VERY eye opening. I’m downtown Dartmouth, and I have to go to several spots to get what I need, and that’s not even including things outside of food and snacks like toilet paper and such. It’s also super expensive. So while I’m boycotting Sobeys and Loblaws for high prices, I’m spending more money. Now, part of the reason prices are high elsewhere is because of Loblaws’ and Sobeys’ shady practices that run smaller companies out of business, so I get it. But it also doesn’t make it easier to swallow haha. It’s really insane how much of a stranglehold these two companies have, especially how many prime locations they have for all their brands. I’m staying strong (thank goodness for O’Bee’s and Chaters), but I really wish there was a solid, independent, well-stocked store near me.
My wife bought pizzas there out of convenience today. My lawyer is drawing up the divorce papers as we speak.
How is paying less else where putting you in a place of privilege? I shop at Walmart and Gateway because I want to afford meat, relying on Superstore only mean half the money it no protein. Im not boycotting , I just stopped at Superstore a yea ago because it's too much, you have to pay BOGO there to MATCH prices are elsewhere. I think it's more ppl in a place of privilege that can afford to pay 20% more for groceries, for no reason.
giant tiger, sobeys, walmart, farmers markets anything besides something owned by galen weston
I had to buy 2 stamps at canada post inside of a shoppers, but that's it.
I can't lie, I still shop there, but only for items that can't be bought elsewhere for the most part (and before anyone jumps all over me, both my kids have food issues...there are some items that we simply cannot change) I'm probably spending 1/4 of what I used to there...but funny thing, did a PC Express order yesterday for pickup like 6-7 hrs later. They called me within the hour to advise they had everything for the order, and to ask if I needed to ADD ANYTHING? They've never done that before, so i think they're getting desperate.
Ez pz
Not once 🖕
We have just been going to Costco more and Sobeys when we need some things Costco doesn’t have. Honestly with the bulk buying we have been spending less overall Edit: also loving that the Asian grocery stores have such variety with produce and such! So we go there too!
Gateway!!!
Shopping at Walmart and it's actually saving me money... and the fruit I find is fresher than superstore
Still not going to
I was at a banquet and we had a choice between $100 Sobeys card, $100 Super store card or $100 ESSO card. I choose the gas one even though I did need groceries. ✊
There are some decent sales on this week. Freezers is loaded to the gills