1606 replies to this topic

[Matt R.]

Restaurants would also benefit from quantity discounts and supplier perks, like order 10kg of this brand of butter and we’ll supply 200 rolls free, that sort of thing.
Matt will have the skinny on that.

There are not many perks anymore. Used to be breweries were giving tv’s and keg fridges to anyone who asked, but that market is so fragmented, now you get coasters and tshirts.

Purchasers in restaurants are in pretty regular contact and compare pricing with each other all the time. No doubt someone like Cara Foods has a pretty solid prime vendor agreement, but even the smaller multi unit restaurants (think 4-5 outlets, 10+ million in sales) don’t get much of a break on food pricing compared to a little guy like me.

The small mom and pop shops can easily manage trips to Costco and the wholesale club and save a bundle, but for a business my size that would be very time consuming and expensive to manage. When we bought our place here, for the first eight months or so I would come to Victoria weekly to visit my family, and would often make a Costco run for non perishables like cases of pop. It was sort of convenient and saved a fair bit of money, but as we moved into the summer months I stopped doing that, it just wasn’t worth the time.

There are kick backs from vendors in the form of loyalty dollars, and of course the credit card points can add up if you go that route. There are also buying groups, like Entegra, that offer kickbacks based on purchases.

https://www.entegrap...es/ca/home.html

Matt.

[Redd42]

"and of course the credit card points can add up if you go that route."

 

All my vendors take credit cards. I don't deal with the few in my industry that don't. Don't buy as much "stuff" as I did in years past. Definitely got some great holidays from those points.  

[Matt R.]

Some vendors give you better pricing for cash. Some don’t.

Matt.

[Redd42]

I have one vendor that gives discounts for immediate payment, credit cards included. They are guaranteed their money and get it now, as opposed to possible payment in 90 days.

[Redd42]

To comment on my own comment, I'm also partial to payment now instead of later. I sell some what big ticket items. Some folks want to pay over time. I would much rather someone use their gold credit card now (which costs me even more - yup, I pay for someone else's points card) then pay over time. Due to the current situation, I have had folks back out of purchases and I refunded their initial payments.

[Victoria Watcher]

Like giant ice cream trucks, supermarkets on wheels get ready to roll into your neighbourhood this summer.

 

MORE: https://www.cbc.ca/n...ckner-1.5557710

 

sounds alright but surely it would need to restock continually.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 May 2020 - 06:40 AM.

[Mike K.]

In a climate emergency?

[Victoria Watcher]

i could actually see it being more popular in poor neighbourhoods where less people own cars.  in all the parts of canada that have winter.  run out to the pop and chips truck rather than walk 4 blocks to 7/11.

 

of course the key to it is the app.  and gambling that people are going to be happy with the continual pop-up notifications that it'll want to give you.  quite frankly if it came by every 1-2 hours i might check the app, see its due in 35 minutes and think "that's cool i can always pause netflix while i run out".   

 

of course i'd like to to have orange sherbet and green bananas.  others will want something different.  walk into any 7/11 and you'll find how depressing the lowest common denominator is when space is at a premium.  so this thing at 1/4 the size of the 7/11 not sure it'll work well.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 May 2020 - 06:48 AM.

[Mike K.]

Back in the 90s Victoria had just such a service. You’d know the truck arrived because you’d hear people clustering around outside.

It was quite the thing.

[Victoria Watcher]

seems to me cities would/will get all antsy about licensing.  they won't like a semi-truck just pulling up and doing business anywhere on public streets.  food trucks can't do that.  current ice cream trucks and carts are licensed and regulated.

 

 

 

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Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 May 2020 - 06:57 AM.

[Rob Randall]

Remember, idling bylaws don't apply if the engine is powering a generator. That's what Victoria loves, an idling semi on a residential street.

[Mike K.]

Oh yeah, this’ll be a logistical nightmare. Great ideas 9/10 are ideas without the negatives properly weighed.

[Victoria Watcher]

I guess the pizza delivery comes to your house and he’s not really licensee. maybe there is some grey area to exploit. Still seems like a logistics problem.

[Rob Randall]

Old timers still tell loving stories of the old Chinese guy and the horse-drawn vegetable cart roaming Victoria.

 

But Victorians hate semis. And they're very price conscious when buying groceries.

[Jackerbie]

Nevermind the logistics, how the hell are they going to maintain such immaculate shelves with all the potholes in the roads?It's gonna be a cleanup on aisle one all day every day.

[Rob Randall]

^"That's a Rich-burn!"

 

[Cue dancing Ruth Bader Ginsburg]

[Mike K.]

I think the trick is to hire the tennis ball getter kids to keep things organized as they fall or get rearranged by sinkholes. The other thing to keep in mind is if the semi is doing 70 it usually handles potholes really well.

They’ll get this figured out.

[Victoria Watcher]

Lorne Campbell acknowledges it’s not a bad time to be in the grocery game — even when you’re a little fish in a market dominated by national chains.

 

_________________________

 

“Business has been very good. There is great support from locals,” said Campbell, son of Thrifty Foods co-founders Alex and Jo Campbell and the chain’s former vice-president of grocery and later vice-president of business development.

 

_________________________

 

He opened the Old Farm Market on Cadboro Bay Road in Oak Bay in December, just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

 

Modelled after the market of the same name in Duncan, which Campbell acquired in 2017, the Oak Bay store specializes in produce and deli, and carries many other grocery items.

 

 

https://www.timescol...iche-1.24139980

 

 

The original Old Farm Market, one kilometre south of Duncan along the Trans-Canada Highway, had been operating for nearly 30 years when Campbell bought the 5,000-square-foot store and property.

 

It continues to sell locally grown and imported produce, groceries and deli items.

Campbell, who also owns Budget Blinds in Victoria and is involved in real estate development, kept all of the 50 staff members at Old Farm Market.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 May 2020 - 02:01 PM.

[todd]

I’ve been seeing the introduction of change trays in a lot of places so you don’t have to touch each other‘s hands this is the custom in some countries. I guess ideally you’d make a perfect drop in somebody’s hand but usually doesn’t work out and contact is made. I guess the change tray will need to be sanitized between users. Haven’t used cash in a while.

Edited by todd, 23 May 2020 - 05:17 PM.

[Kapten Kapsell]

A new grocery store called Urban Grocer will be coming to the South Jubilee neighbourhood:  https://vancouverisl...toria-1.4958901