1748 replies to this topic

[Holden West]

Whoever guesses the exact location of this new Market on _____ should win a pack of pens.

Guesses?

[jklymak]

Yes, the fresh fruit/veg, fish and meat are better than most but what's the justification for popping 20% and more on packaged items?

For the MoY, I pay the extra 20% for the convenience because I can walk to it. I *could* walk to Wellburns, but its an extra 15 minutes each way, the selection iffy, and time is money, etc etc. If I were driving and picking up food for a week, it may be different.

[VicHockeyFan]

For the MoY, I pay the extra 20% for the convenience because I can walk to it. I *could* walk to Wellburns, but its an extra 15 minutes each way, the selection iffy, and time is money, etc etc. If I were driving and picking up food for a week, it may be different.

15 minutes from MoY to Wellburns? Do you use a walker?

OK, my guess for the Market is Gordon Head. Specifically the little mall behind the 7-11, so facing the other grocery store.

[G-Man]

If they already have one place picked out and they sound like they do what would be stopping them from saying? Because of all that mystery I am going with:

The Market on Douglas in the now to be soon completed Hudson Building.

Second guess would be along Gorge road near Selkirk as the Market on Gorge.

[gumgum]

There's no way they'd open another one downtown. I say GH.
Too expensive for gorge area.

[spanky123]

I think that the new Walmart will add an interesting wrinkle. I have had a chance to visit one with an updated grocery section and it is very impressive. Think cleanliness and presentation of Thrifty Foods with Superstore pricing.

[AnonAnnie2]

The off-gasses are bad enough now wrinkles?

*gasp*

I love the Market on Yates and Millstream, I wish them luck in finding the ultimate locations.

[jklymak]

15 minutes from MoY to Wellburns? Do you use a walker?

Sometimes its icy out.

I'll bet in Vic West somewhere, maybe Dockside Green. Lots of people with walkers who are too lazy to walk an extra five blocks and don't feel like dealing with Save On.

[Pyroteknik]

The prices are a bit high at the Market On Yates.. and the produce selection is not up to Thrifty Foods standards. We could use another downtown grocery store in competition.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Speaking of Wal-mart, this is interesting (and I'm sure it'll make thinking difficult for people who like simple black and white categories...):

Wal-Mart's Environmental Game-Changer

11:47 AM Thursday July 16, 2009
Tags:Consumer goods, Corporate social responsibility, Green business

Wal-Mart has just changed the game with respect to environmental issues. Now it doesn't matter whether Congress' new cap-and-trade law meets all its promises, nor whether the G-8 leaders dithered rather than acted on environmental issues.

Wal-Mart's unilateral decision to put its purchasing and communication power behind going green also shows that a single company using its unique clout can accelerate public action to reduce greenhouse gases and reverse climate change. By rolling out an environmental labelling program disclosing to consumers the environmental costs of making products sold at Wal-Mart, the $401 billion retail behemoth has transformed green standards from nice-to-have to must-have.

Say au revoir, adios, auf Weidersehen, zai jian, and rest-in-peace to environmental skeptics and laggards; they are soon to be out of the picture. And it did not take legislation to neutralize them. It took a principled action by a self-interested company. That is values-based capitalism at its best.

This is one small step for Wal-Mart and one giant leap for Planet Earth. It is also one enormous demand on suppliers, among them many small companies that will feel crushed by the giant's new non-carbon footprint. But though Wal-Mart spent $200 billion buying from 56,000 U.S. suppliers in 2007, a high proportion of Wal-Mart's total annual purchases emanate from China where it's high time environmental standards are raised.

The beauty of the Wal-Mart innovation is that it doesn't ask anyone to change anything except the information that is provided and received. If polluters want to keep polluting, they are free to do so as long as they provide that data on their Wal-Mart labels. And if consumers choose to buy from polluters whose labels they can read, they are free to do so. In theory.

In practice, of course, we know that suppliers will change their practices to avoid embarrassing disclosures, and consumers will think twice about the choices they make. Consumer activists have been clamoring for information. At a recent conference discussing the company of the future, many seemingly informed people were astonished to learn how many gallons of water it took to make just one cup of Starbucks (or anyone's) take-out coffee - they had forgotten irrigation of coffee plants, fluids consumed by transportation of coffee and manufacturing of paper cups, and so forth.

We also know that the Wal-Mart concept is certain to be emulated by other retailers in their own ways. Who could possibly hold themselves up as Not-Green when over 130 million people visit a Wal-Mart store every week, according to company figures, and are made more conscious of environmental concerns? You can bet that a competition will ensue among retailers to out-do Wal-Mart in having the best green-oriented program. That might make "cheapest" the battle of the past and redefine "value" in the minds of consumers and the public.

Wal-Mart is not the first company to go green, nor even the first to reach deeply into its supply chain to require that suppliers meet particular standards. But it is the biggest, the most visible, and the least likely, given its past reputation. Its transformational action turns Wal-Mart into what I call a "SuperCorp" - a vanguard company that uses its power to improve an outcome for society, while knowing that its innovations will create profits as well as social benefits. In my new book, SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good (to be published in August by Crown), I identify a number of companies ahead of the pack in innovating for the good of society and raising standards, often in collaboration with public officials, while still keeping an eye on the bottom line, including Procter & Gamble, IBM, Cemex, and Cisco.

Wal-Mart had been the company that the left loved to hate, because it seemed to have too much power and to use it in non socially constructive ways, squeezing suppliers or keeping wages down. Today Wal-Mart reminds us that a new kind of capitalism is possible in which big companies can use their power constructively, for the good of society and to move on issues that are still largely unaddressed by government. Clearly self-interest still prevails; Wal-Mart would not be taken the labelling action, with all of its complications, if its decision-makers did not see a definite commercial market benefit.

We should applaud Wal-Mart for joining the vanguard and leading a new parade. First for the green program and all that might follow from it. Second for showing that a new model of principled, not just greedy, American capitalism can take shape.

More on the Wal-Mart announcement:
Daniel Goleman: Wal-Mart Exposes the De-Value Chain
Andrew Winston: How the Wal-Mart Eco-Ratings Will Save Money

[LJ]

There's also a grocery store on Beacon Ave across the street from The Pier.

Used to be Sidney Super Foods, now it is Fairway.

[Koru]

As I mentioned in another post somewhere else, I just moved out too the Sooke area, Otter Point more specifically. I obviously do a bulk of my shopping in Sooke now, there is TWO grocery stores, a Village Market and a Western Foods, personally I shop at Village Market, its a far cleaner and more appealing store to utilize. I've found their prices to be very reasonable, staff helpful and friendly etc. I really don't think Ernie Skinner has a strong market for his over priced "organic" items out here. There is no Safeway or Thrifties, although due to some of the items at Village Market, I believe they may be associated with Sobeys

[VicDuck]

Though the Wal-Mart story is old news, i'm glad someone finally posted it. I still however refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. I'm a HBC guy.

[Holden West]

I am almost beginning to think the Gordon Head hint is an attempt by Skinner to fake out competitors by throwing them off the scent of the real new location. But then again I love assuming moderately successful business people are actually diabolically crafty geniuses. Too many James Bond movies perhaps...

[spanky123]

I give credit to Ernie. I was a little surprised by some of the comments in the article but heck he runs decent operations so take credit where credit is due.

People are not eating out as often and most higher priced restaurants in town have seen a drop in business. Rather than move downstream to lower priced fare, a lot of these customers have chosen to eat in but go with higher quality foods. No doubt that Ernie's stores have benefitted from this as the locations and selection he has work well in that environment.

He needs to be careful though to differentiate between an economic shorter term shift vs a wholesale change in consumer behaviour. If the economy improves I think that many of his customers will start eating out more often again. If the economy gets worse then people may start shopping at lower priced outlets.

Sometimes in makes more sense in business to stick with what works but then again the rewards go to those who take risks!

[AnonAnnie2]

[quote name='Ms. B. Havin']Speaking of Wal-mart, this is interesting (and I'm sure it'll make thinking difficult for people who like simple black and white categories...):

Wal-Mart's Environmental Game-Changer

Great! now if they can capture the off-gasses in their stores and use it to fuel the container ships that deliver their stuff, well wowwheee! just like being an environmental game-changer - a very neat trick!

[Holden West]

It's been a year, what happened to Skinner's search for a third Market and his dream of a fourth?

[Holden West]

Ported over from the Hudson vs. Chinatown grocer discussion:

^ I have been finding a lot of "past due" items on shelves at thrifty's recently that I need to point out to staff.

People grumble about Thrifty prices and fears it's losing it's local hands-on character and quality. People still shop there loyally because of the quality, particularly their meats and seafood. If quality were to drop there, shoppers would abandon them in a hurry. I know people who buy perishables at Thrifty but shop elsewhere for everything else.

[Dan]

It's true, and probably a result of new middle management or something similar. Is thrifty's a public company? Might explain a lot.. If you go and look at 2-bite brownies, every single package always contains dried-up brownies, unless you are lucky enough to get ones shipped in within the passed few days.

Certainly something they need to work on.

[Bob Fugger]

People grumble about Thrifty prices and fears it's losing it's local hands-on character and quality. People still shop there loyally because of the quality, particularly their meats and seafood. If quality were to drop there, shoppers would abandon them in a hurry. I know people who buy perishables at Thrifty but shop elsewhere for everything else.

I know that I used to grumble about the prices but now the selection is just awful, too. I was really looking for an item, so I left the Thrifty's at Fairfiel Plaza after I couldn't find it and drove over to the Fairways in Quadra Vilalge. WOW! Not only did they have what I wanted, but a few different brands of it, to boot!

I'm done with Thrifty's. From now on, it's Oxford, Fairways, Wal-Mart and Costco.