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Three years after A&P Canada was purchased by Quebec-based Metro, changes stemming from the deal are becoming evident to shoppers at the company's Dominion stores in Toronto. The Equality and Master Choice house brands are gradually being replaced with the Selection and Irresistibles labels. Bakery shelves include loaves of Première Moisson bread. Aisles are being rearranged and exteriors torn away as three aging stores (Yonge-Eglinton Centre, Bayview-Eglinton [top], and Bloor-Robert [bottom]) undergo renovations.
Though these three stores were long overdue for an overhaul, another factor may be spurring the sudden spate of activity. It may be coincidental that rival grocer Sobeys has recently opened or is planning "Urban Fresh" concept stores near the Dominions under renovation. Sobeys has rapidly expanded in downtown Toronto, taking a page from Britain's Tesco chain in developing smaller, convenience-based stores that fit better into high-density neighbourhoods than the large-box strategy pursued by Loblaws after it closed many of its smaller locations.
Photos by Jamie Bradburn
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The Sobeys at Yonge and Breadalbane Sts. does not have a weekly flyer or product promotions. The flyer was discontinued several years ago--and with that I stopped shopping there since it was no longer a meaningful destination for my groceries.
If I drop in it's because I'm passing by it and have a look-in to see what I'd like to take home with me.
When they reinstate the flyer and have some products on promotion, then I'll reconsider.
I find that those flyers are nauseating. The food always looks sickly and gross.
They opened a Sobey's close to my house and I have definitely decreased my number of visits to Dominion. It is also worth mentioning that the minute they sold Dominion to Metro, the whole layout changed and it became more annoying... like you can notice they moved stuff around clearly for promotional and marketing issues, and it is now more cramped with things. There are always attendants with carts obstructing the way and picking and moving around the produce, probably to give the impression that they're just arrived, even if they could might as well have been in the back for a couple of days or so, we don't know that.
Re #1 and #2: I don't pay attention to the flyers and actually joined the Red Dot Campaign so that they don't leave all that promotional crap in my mailbox. If I need to get something, I'll buy what I need. If it is on sale, good, if not, I'll just have to pay for it. I prefer not to shape my weekly menus based on what's on sale (I do base my menus on what's in season, though, but that's a different story).
Flyers are more helpful for suburbanites in deciding which store to go to since there's likely 2 or 3 at each major intersection.
Also, those convenience-based stores suck.
Whoa! Sorry for the bad grammar, I don't know what I was thinking!
I really wish the Dominion at Yonge/Eg wasn't the most convenient place for me to shop (sans car), because it's a shithole. The renovations make the place look like a dollar store right now, and there are a lot of products missing. And they're definitely *not* fresh obsessed...a lot of the fruits and veggies are mangled.
The neighbourhood-sized Sobeys "Urban Fresh" model is perhaps the smartest direction an existing grocery chain can possibly hope to make in a major city where suburban-styled big box supermarkets are rapidly showing themselves for the sincere waste of footprint space and urban street scape-gouging they are.
With this neighbourhood-sized model, no longer is it necessary to hoof, rocket, or bike it to some far-flung location by an expressway to do most of your basic shopping. It's a model well known to markets like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle, London, and even parts of Vancouver which largely had missed here until very recently.
Of course, one thing we lack here which most of those cities have are co-op grocery stores. We effectively have only one which in its insular glory would rather not be seen or be patronized by Torontonians (whereas a second really is only a "co-op" in the staff-ownership sense, not a member-owner model). If "Urban Fresh"-sized grocery stores can humble the mega-supermarket model, then bring it on.
[No, I'm not loyal to any particular grocery store, but having them close to home helps. Where I live, Sobey's is actually quite far away, so it's either Evil Dominion or Blahblaws most of the time.]
I'm still kinda bitter about the new Sobeys at Davisville. It has a chandelier and everything... but I miss my Kitchen Table!
Don't forget Bathurst and Lawrence -- they're ripping up that one too.
The Bloor/Robert Dominion store brings back memories of my four years at U of T. 'Borrowing' milk crates. Late night runs for Jolt Cola or other 'nutritious' food. Good times.
Loblaws made - and is still making - a huge mistake in evolving into big box stores. I'm not discounting big box stores - they have a place. I remember making a run every one or two months to a Superstore. But for the most part, I bought most of my groceries at the local stores.
Loblaws can't compete directly with Wal-mart. You can't beat Wal-mart by copying Wal-mart. If you do, you are already dead in the water. Loblaws needs to differentiate itself from Wal-Mart and go back to the neighbourhood store model. Then again, I'm biased because they are closing my neighbourhood Zehrs (a Loblaw Companies brand).
Dominion was too expensive for my regular grocery shopping, and I don't see these renovations changing that.