ottawa foodies

With all the talk about the serious quality control issues at Loblaws, which I totally agree with btw... I saw this in the Toronto Star this morning and thought I would share with those of you that don't frequent reading that newspaper.

www.thestar.com/article/305086

It's an interesting read...

Haven't read it yet - will tonight. But they were also talked about on CBC's Biznet this morning. Wasn't pretty. Talked about a whole whack of problems which has driven the stock price down.

BTW, one thing mentioned this morning was that they are not putting up any more Megastores for the time being. They are having enough trouble with other issues and have put all the megastores on hold. They talked about how people want small neighbourhood stores and not big megastores that are fewer and further between.

That Toronto Star article is way way better than this one ( www.theglobeandmail.com ) in the Globe. The Globe article implies that the first step in the Loblaws turnaround is more criminal background checks on employees because of all the food they're supposedly stealing. That's it.. Loblaws problems start and end with their criminal stock boys. A shameful article from a business paper, and I'd be embarassed (yes you MARINA STRAUSS ) to put my name on the byline.

I was shocked and really dismayed when I heard that they are pinning their problems on the floor level staff, there are always issues in that area, but usually minor, that a massive company would even suggest it is anything but the organization itself to blame is really disturbing.

I figured there was something more to Loblaws' demise than what we read in the Toronto Star article. There was an interesting article in Toronto Life magazine last fall on Galen Jr. who has now taken over the Loblaws operations from his father. My general impression is that he doesn't have his father's marketing savvy. Also our shopping habits are changing and Loblaws hasn't been keeping up IMO. I admittedly like the superstore but the only thing I buy at the grocery store now is canned stuff. On the upside I am guaranteed to always find pasta, beans, etc. when I walk into that store. On the downside I have to walk several miles to get there. Then in reading that Globe article I am really dismayed that they are passing the blame to their employees. Loblaws can offer their staff all the free groceries in the world but with hiring practices like that they will have a hard time finding new staff. Maybe the article will work in the employees' favour. Sometimes public embarrassment is the best publicity...

Thank goodness for the overhaul of their supply chain management. Like many others in the Loblaws thread, I always seem to find my local Superstore (Westboro) to be out of 1 or 2 staple items. That, and the produce is atrocious... i'm not sure how some of it even gets sold.

Of note is that I was in a Food Basics (Merivale) yesterday looking for something, and even found their discount produce to be of much higher quality than the Superstore. I may have to return for a second visit when I have more time. Aren't Loblaw's stores supposed to stock premium goods?

Lastly, does anyone know where the nearest Loblaw's distribution centre is located? My wife and I were chatting yesterday about the dodgy produce and lack of stock at our local Loblaw's stores. We never recalled such serious issues when we lived in Waterloo, and recalled that we had a brand new distribution centre only minutes away in Cambridge. Perhaps that has something to do with it?

N8 - Something tells me in all I read about this story today, that Loblaws DOES NOT have a warehouse / distribution centre in Eastern Ontario. They just load up a semi and make a delivery. Crazy! And would explain why there are shortfalls, and by the time the fresh food hits the shelves it isn't that fresh anymore. That and the fact that Loblaws has admitted that they are doing a poor job with perishables, yogurt was their example. Whereby when they receive yogurt from the supplier it has a 40 day shelf life, currently it gets onto the shelves with only 13 - 15 days remaining. Under their "new" and "improved" distribution system they are hoping for a 26 day shelf life. Talk about a company "hemoraging red" this spoilage rate is ridiculous.

We have basically been forced to use the Billings Bridge Loblaws for years, as it is our closest for basics, and have often complained they were out of things, and the veggies were often dodgey.

However, Loblaws has just sold it to a Your Independent, and they are changing things like crazy (including reducing their staff wages by as much as half--no union--so half their staff is leaving). We don't know if we are happy or sad. At least they'll still stock President's Choice products.But will they have the great Reduced meats? I've had fancy roasts that weren't even past their best-before date for less than half price--still perfectly good popped directly into the freezer or the oven. (By contrast, the Loblaw's at South Keys tries to sell stinking items with "best before"s of DAYS before...)

As for veggies, I mostly go to the Fresh Fruit down the street (Bank Street), and their vegetables seem pretty good.

Has anyone tried the new (well, new-ish) Farm Boy south on Bank toward Heron?

I have and can highly recommend it. I live in centretown bordering the Glebe and feel I have the best of both worlds. Hartman's is a hop skip and a jump away - much better than Loblaws IMO - and a short bus ride to Old Ottawa South where I have been shopping more and more these days. I didn't like the Loblaws there too much but Farm Boy is really nice. The square footage is smaller than their other stores but they have their most popular products in stock. They strategically placed the pre made meals in the display counter facing the entrance then other pre made stuff a little further past. The artichoke spinach dip is awesome by the way. They also have Premiere Moisson breads there, Bobs Red Mill cereals (my favourite!) and a small but excellent selection of organic veggies. Even the non organic veggies are always fresh. If you are in the area Pelican Fish is always highly recommended and the bakery next door to M&M is also good. And I would have to agree the Fresh Fruit store has good veggies and good prices.

As a tangent to this discussion, i popped into the Westboro Loblaws this afternoon and after a minute or so, found myself humming along to the Talking Heads "Once in a lifetime", which was being pipped in through the store's sound system. My immediate reaction was "holy s**t, for all those OFers' complaints about Loblaws, they could do far worse music-wise". (Have i just dated myself?)

Of course, given the song's (perhaps oblique) references to globalization, there's an irony in Loblaws use of this as background music ... kind of similar to the way Iggy Pop's "Lust for life" has been (mis-)interpreted in ads and how Reaganites appropriated Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".

anyway, i chuckled as i waded through their hopeless produce section and snobbishly pfffted at the "memories of crap" homogenized rip-offs.

water flowing underground!

It's been a week since :

I sent Inge van den Berg, Vice President, Investor Relations at Blah-Blah's an email through the Loblaw (not Loblaw's) corporate website.

I basically asked why should I invest in Blah-Blah's, given the fact their share price went from 75 bucks to 30 (now) in 2.5 years. Let alone bring up their earnings. I also passed on some comments from the forums found on Ottawa Foodies, to let him/her know what customers are saying about Laoblaw's. I told him these are comments from 'the street'.

I'll let you know if he/she responds.

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and no response even after a folow up email and follow up message through the Blahblah website.

In the last message I inferred I was an investigative journalist putting together an article with the working title: "The Rise and Fall of the Loblaw Empire".

Wow .... and I thought I would hear from their media relations dept. at least.

Ahhh yes, the Ivory Towers....