Does Anyone See The Point of FreshCo?

TravellingChris wrote: ↑ Sobeys is busily converting full-service Safeway (and to a lesser extent, Sobeys) supermarkets in Western Canada to its FreshCo brand. The problem is that when they convert the store, they are removing the main reasons that consumers choose one of the Sobeys group supermarkets over a competitor: the full-service departments and Air Miles. I've always liked Safeway's bakery: that's gone when FreshCo takes over a Safeway. Our family avidly collects Air Miles: FreshCo doesn't participate.

What I fail to understand is what is supposed to bring me to FreshCo? What am I getting there that I can't get anywhere else? No Frills is the dominant retailer in the hard discount format. If I'm already shopping at No Frills (which already covers Western Canada pretty well) why would I switch? And if I'm a Safeway shopper at a store that is becoming FreshCo, why would I stay a customer of that location when all the reasons I shopped there are now removed?

TravellingChris wrote: ↑ What I really don't understand is FreshCo's refusal to participate in Air Miles. I understand it in terms of cost to the retailer, but in the absence of being able to earn or redeem AM at FreshCo, why would I go there as a shopper? I can earn PC Optimum points at No Frills (on featured products) as well as redeem them, so that's a factor in helping me to choose that store. So why would anyone choose FreshCo?

zappy312 wrote: ↑ I think you missed the point that FreshCo is Empire's competition to No Frills (and Food Basics in Eastern Canada). I'm guessing that Safeway is underperforming compared to their competitors, which have an option for value oriented shoppers - which No Frills (and Superstore) offers, compared to Safeway. Sure, they might alienate some of their customer base, looking for a full service grocery store, but they're likely going to be able to capture a larger market segment by going after consumers looking for value.

TravellingChris wrote: ↑Sobeys is busily converting full-service Safeway (and to a lesser extent, Sobeys) supermarkets in Western Canada to its FreshCo brand. The problem is that when they convert the store, they are removing the main reasons that consumers choose one of the Sobeys group supermarkets over a competitor: the full-service departments and Air Miles. I've always liked Safeway's bakery: that's gone when FreshCo takes over a Safeway. Our family avidly collects Air Miles: FreshCo doesn't participate.

What I fail to understand is what is supposed to bring me to FreshCo? What am I getting there that I can't get anywhere else? No Frills is the dominant retailer in the hard discount format. If I'm already shopping at No Frills (which already covers Western Canada pretty well) why would I switch? And if I'm a Safeway shopper at a store that is becoming FreshCo, why would I stay a customer of that location when all the reasons I shopped there are now removed?

What I really don't understand is FreshCo's refusal to participate in Air Miles. I understand it in terms of cost to the retailer, but in the absence of being able to earn or redeem AM at FreshCo, why would I go there as a shopper? I can earn PC Optimum points at No Frills (on featured products) as well as redeem them, so that's a factor in helping me to choose that store. So why would anyone choose FreshCo?

I'm also puzzled by the corporate strategy: many of the Safeways being converted are near Save-on-Foods. This means that anyone who still wants a store with an on-site bakery, deli, etc. is simply going to go down the street to Save-on when FreshCo takes over.

r3ddrag0nx wrote: ↑ Doesn’t Freshco now accept Air Miles? Just had a cashier mention it to me, but I coulda sworn he was wrong.

Kuurgen wrote: ↑ One of my beefs (pun intended) with Frescho is their move to selling meat "by the tray".
Instead of it being x dollars per kilogram, they prepackage meat in varying weights and mark the tray at a fixed price.
So every tray in the display will be $6. One tray I checked of ground hamburger was 380 grams at $6
I am seeing a lot of retailers moving to this model.

bylo wrote: ↑ Walmart has been doing it for some time too. Now more recently Superstore is doing the same thing. Neither show the actual weight so it's difficult to find the heaviest brick. [Maybe that's a provincial difference.] Regardless, this gambit just lets the stores charge a higher per kilo price to the innumerates in their customer base.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ It’s not just in the West …
Sobey’s Group is restructuring throughout Ontario too

Here they are closing many of their Sobeys chains to convert them to either FreshCos or Farm Boys

Both of these chains are “niche markets” one on the lower end … and one on the higher end

I think it personally ridiculous that this is their strategy vs offering a full service middle of the road store … which Sobeys was … to go head to head with other full service stores in the market (here they would be the likes of Loblaws, Your Independent, Metro )

I have been a long time fan of Farm Boy … they started here in Eastern Ontario in Cornwall … so been shopping with them for decades

But they are a niche … mostly fresh foods. So as such I cannot do all my shopping there. I still need all the middle aisles that a conventional grocery store offers.

FreshCo isn’t for me either. I am not a big fan of Discount Grocers … cuz I value my fresh goods … like an instore Bakery, Deli etc. We are not folks who buy prepackaged white bread … or deli meats. We just don’t like them. We much prefer fresh.

So I visited FreshCo once … it just wasn’t for me.

Lol, what closing out Sobeys has actually done for me … is see me spend more of my grocery dollars at both Loblaws Group & Metro Inc stores … which has actually worked out well. In that I am earning way more points / miles than ever before (Metro even gives base miles on beer & wine purchases) … and I think Metro which has always been # 3 in Canada has figured this out … cuz they seem to have really upped their game in their mainstream stores of late … with more choices, better sales, more AMs promos etc. I would say they are STEALING MARKET SHARE from Sobeys !!!

We’ve always been strategic shoppers … but we appreciate a one stop shop mainstream store. So this week I figure the best deals for us are at Metro that’s where I am heading. Next week it could be Loblaws, Sobeys, Independent, or IGA Quebec if I also happen to be in the Neighbourhood. We aren’t brand loyal.

Now if the likes of Farm Boy offered AirMiles … I would be all over that. I could easily plan my groceries around one week fresh, and next week dry goods.

But no news of that ever happening … anymore than the PCO Lovers in the big cities seeing T&T coming onboard that program which so many PCOers wish for.

My sister lives out west. She loves Safeway. The gutting of Safeway is sad. I think you Westerners have it far worse than us Easterners as Sobeys is making so many of the stores into FreshCos … when the quality / similarities are definitely gone.

That’s one thing I think is pretty awful out west that I saw … outside of the bigger cities (even in suburbia) choice is far more limited than it is here in the east for mainstream grocery stores.

Whole lot of Discount Grocers, fewer mainstreams, and a sprinkling of RCSS (few & far between) in the mix. I think I would hate grocery shopping if I lived west of Ontario. At least down east … Sobeys Group still has a good number of Sobeys stores (Sobeys HQ being in Atlantic Canada)

Don’t know the answer …

But the west is IMO being robbed of choice.

Question … Are Sobeys even building mainstream grocery stores out west these days ?
I know they seem to have stopped doing so in Ontario
Their new focus now is these conversions … or building more Farm Boys mostly

TravellingChris wrote: ↑ Sobeys is busily converting full-service Safeway (and to a lesser extent, Sobeys) supermarkets in Western Canada to its FreshCo brand. The problem is that when they convert the store, they are removing the main reasons that consumers choose one of the Sobeys group supermarkets over a competitor: the full-service departments and Air Miles. I've always liked Safeway's bakery: that's gone when FreshCo takes over a Safeway. Our family avidly collects Air Miles: FreshCo doesn't participate.

What I fail to understand is what is supposed to bring me to FreshCo? What am I getting there that I can't get anywhere else? No Frills is the dominant retailer in the hard discount format. If I'm already shopping at No Frills (which already covers Western Canada pretty well) why would I switch? And if I'm a Safeway shopper at a store that is becoming FreshCo, why would I stay a customer of that location when all the reasons I shopped there are now removed?

What I really don't understand is FreshCo's refusal to participate in Air Miles. I understand it in terms of cost to the retailer, but in the absence of being able to earn or redeem AM at FreshCo, why would I go there as a shopper? I can earn PC Optimum points at No Frills (on featured products) as well as redeem them, so that's a factor in helping me to choose that store. So why would anyone choose FreshCo?

I'm also puzzled by the corporate strategy: many of the Safeways being converted are near Save-on-Foods. This means that anyone who still wants a store with an on-site bakery, deli, etc. is simply going to go down the street to Save-on when FreshCo takes over.

bylo wrote: ↑ That's what I thought too. But I wasn't able to find it at Superstore. Maybe I didn't read the fine print

Nevertheless I suspect that even if you find the heaviest brick in the pile, the price per kilo will still be greater than the same item that's priced in the conventional way.

starchoice wrote: ↑ Safeway is a dead brand in Canada. It’s a U.S. retailer so the name under Sobey’s meant nothing. The Safeway stores are often old and not updated. Having the same prices and deals at both stores do not benefit Sobey’s.

Just went to a grand opening in Edmonton of a converted Safeway. It is very nice, bright and spacious. They had a coupon offer for $5 off $35 and were also giving out the green plastic totes.

It does promote more competition by having that extra store brand there with different prices, not a Sobey’s/Safeway combined price.

They also price match which is I what I did with a Walmart flyer and no issues.

As a side note, I bought a bunch of bananas. Don’t know what happened, the price/kg. on the receipt was correct but my total was $0.01.

TravellingChris wrote: ↑ Sobeys is busily converting full-service Safeway (and to a lesser extent, Sobeys) supermarkets in Western Canada to its FreshCo brand. The problem is that when they convert the store, they are removing the main reasons that consumers choose one of the Sobeys group supermarkets over a competitor: the full-service departments and Air Miles. I've always liked Safeway's bakery: that's gone when FreshCo takes over a Safeway. Our family avidly collects Air Miles: FreshCo doesn't participate.

What I fail to understand is what is supposed to bring me to FreshCo? What am I getting there that I can't get anywhere else? No Frills is the dominant retailer in the hard discount format. If I'm already shopping at No Frills (which already covers Western Canada pretty well) why would I switch? And if I'm a Safeway shopper at a store that is becoming FreshCo, why would I stay a customer of that location when all the reasons I shopped there are now removed?

What I really don't understand is FreshCo's refusal to participate in Air Miles. I understand it in terms of cost to the retailer, but in the absence of being able to earn or redeem AM at FreshCo, why would I go there as a shopper? I can earn PC Optimum points at No Frills (on featured products) as well as redeem them, so that's a factor in helping me to choose that store. So why would anyone choose FreshCo?

I'm also puzzled by the corporate strategy: many of the Safeways being converted are near Save-on-Foods. This means that anyone who still wants a store with an on-site bakery, deli, etc. is simply going to go down the street to Save-on when FreshCo takes over.

sunnysidesolutions wrote: ↑ I agree with you OP.
On top of all the other things that suck about FreshCo, they also do not take AMEX.

XtremeModder wrote: ↑ Sobey's owns Farm Boy? I had no idea...

I haven't shopped at a sobeys or freshco in a long long time. I always hear people say Loblaws is very expensive, but I usually always found that the sobeys closest to me was far more expensive than Loblaws. Only thing I go to farmboy for is sausages and vegetables. Everything else is Costco or loblaws for the most part.

Dealmaker1945 wrote: ↑
I don't know about the Western Freshco's but here in the GTA the stores are big on ETHNIC dry goods and produce such as Caribbean, Indian and Middle East. They do better with this than the other discount brands here. And I think I saw a report that some of the Freshco's her are being rebranded to appeal more directly to certain ethnic communities.

jacnel wrote: ↑ Not sure if you’re in Western Canada, but here in Ontario FreshCo has begun to take AMEX. This includes CHALO FreshCo. If you find that a cashier says that they don’t take AMEX it’s probably because they just don’t know they do. I’ve also had cashiers not understand that AMEX means American Express, which is what their computer states as a payment option, so make sure to specify American Express.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ Haven’t seen a CHALO FreshCo yet … definitely curious
Website says they are primarily a GTA and Western Canada Big City thing right now
(Nothing EAST of Brampton )
https://chalofreshco.com/store-locator/

As to AMEX … Sobeys Group & Metro Inc Stores both take it … as they & AMEX are all part of the AirMiles Program

Annoys me to no end that PC+ Loblaws Group does not

jacnel wrote: ↑
Not sure if you’re in Western Canada, but here in Ontario FreshCo has begun to take AMEX. This includes CHALO FreshCo. If you find that a cashier says that they don’t take AMEX it’s probably because they just don’t know they do. I’ve also had cashiers not understand that AMEX means American Express, which is what their computer states as a payment option, so make sure to specify American Express.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ As to AMEX … Sobeys Group & Metro Inc Stores both take it … as they & AMEX are all part of the AirMiles Program

"What payment methods do you accept?
We accept VISA, MasterCard, Interac, and Cash at all of our stores."