Grocery Stores

[ookpik]

Interestingly in Barrie (where Loblaws has also traditionally used the Zehrs banner for full-line grocery stores)...

Yes, very interesting. I recall that when Loblaws bought Zehrs they kept the name because of its deep roots in this region.

Barrie of course is a bit further afield as are Owen Sound and Windsor where there are also Zehrs stores. Presumably Loblaws either rebranded or opened these stores after they bought the name, i.e. they weren't part of the chain when the Zehrs family owned it.

But as I said before, I'm making assumptions here based on personal observations. I don't have any direct insight into the Weston-owned grocery chain's marketing strategy.

Perhaps they're trying to create yet another market segmentation of stores. I find these distinctions quite interesting and telling. Besides store size and selection of products, the weekly flyers from Superstore, Zehrs and ValuMart have both commonalities and differences. The products on sale vary. But where the same product is on sale at more than one brand, the sale price may be substantially different, e.g. a jar of PC peanut butter that's on sale for $3.99 at ValuMart may be $2.99 at Superstore or fresh salmon while on sale may still be several dollars a kilo more expensive at VM than SS.