Having taken over Shoppers Drug Mart months ago, Loblaw Companies appears to be replacing high-end and health conscious labels that this Canadian drug store icon had developed with very low end Non-Name products with some relatively poorer quality President's Choice products. It appears that Loblaw Co is beginning to make the similar kind of shortsighted decisions that plagued Nortel during its former expansion and then ultimate demise.
Nortel's big mistake was to destroy the innovation and creativity of the companies it took over. Great potential assets of human ingenuity during Nortel's expansion were reduced to empty shells. In contrast, when a comparitively smart corporation like Ford had originally took-over Volvo years ago, rather than destroying Volvo's identity, they recognized the creativity and innovation of that company by extracting forward-thinking car safety technology for its own Ford models.
Ford maintained the integrity Volvo product line along with its research and development components rather than destroy it. Similarly, there does not seem to be an intent by Burger King's taking-over of Tim Horton to replace coffee and doughnuts with the Whopper burger at Tim Horton's locations.
Loblaw Co could have similarly respected the profitable unique products and even have imported those profitable products into Loblaws Supermarkets, but instead has appearenly opted to destroy Shoppers Drung Mart product lines that are superior in quality.
Loblaw Co seems to think that Shoppers Drug Mart consumers are so “stupid” that they will blindly buy low-end Non-Name products that are likely much cheaper-produced/made than the higher quality and health and nutrition conscious former Shoppers Product lines.
The Toronto Star reported on 28 December 2014 that Loblaw’s revenue jumped 35.9 per cent compared with a year earlier. Excluding revenue from Shoppers, Loblaw would only be up about two per cent. However, that report was made before Loblaws executives are proceeding with apparent conversion of Shoppers Drug Mart into some kind of No Frills Discount Chain incarnation.
Loblaw Companies shareholders should expect commercial profits not to be un-affected by alienating loyal Shoppers Drug Mart “consumers” that have gone accustomed to the quality product labels that Loblaws Co is arrogantly destroying as part of its own apparent misguided vanity.
Shoppers Drug Mart's success that made that company highly profitable and allegedly sought after by pharmacy giant Wallgreens in the U.S. before Loblaws pursued its own take-over critically relied on the creativity and innovation that Shoppers Drug Mart has demonstrated through unique product lines. These include Nativia Organics, Simply Foods and Everyday Market. These high end Shoppers Drug Mart
When Loblaws had decided to “steal” Shoppers Drug Mart from a rumored take-over by American pharmacy giant Wallgreens, I had been glad. I envisioned that they two Canadian companies would work synergistically. Syngergy is the principle to two entities coming together to form a great whole than the sum of its parts. However, I was utterly shocked a couple days ago while making a casual trip to a Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto to buy my favourite butter that I use for baking to have seen that that the 'Everyday Market' brand was replaced by Loblaws No-Name butter. Instead of all the great-tasting Shoppers Drug Mart products that had boasted antioxidant and other health-supporting foci, I was confronted with a sea of yellow low-end "shitty" No-Name products with no presented health benefits (photo attached).
Well, I didn't want to prejudge that this would not be a good butter. After all, my favourite sour cream and cream cheese are both No-Name products. But to my chagrin, the same cannot be said of the Loblaws No-Name Butter. If you ever wanted to know what Vaseline / Petroleum Jelly and Lard might taste like together, you may wish to consider trying out Loblaws No-Name butter.
Loblaw Co's No-Name Butter might very well be the worst product ever to grace a supermarket. If you don't believe such an opinion, try it yourself. Loblaws No-Name butter is arguably horrible. This product is in sharp contrast with Shoppers Drug Market now destroyed Everyday Market butter which in my view was the best butter I have every had, and the only butter that I use for and with baking... and I speak as a "foodie".
And did you know that Loblaws is charging more money for this No-Name Butter in Shoppers Drug Mart than the much better quality Everyday Market Butter? Perhaps, Loblaws is seeking to emulate Nortel and Blackberry?
I'm not sure if No-Name butter even qualifies as “food”. I would prefer to use it as a temporary paper weight or perhaps for an industrial use that I have not thought of yet.
What kind of company destroys innovation and creativity and instead promotes “the bad”? When a corporation like Loblaws (unlike Ford and Burger King in relation to Tim Horton's) begins to replace / destory great innovative products that could be further marketed / supported as a commercial profit-centre with sub-standard products, such a company is arguably on the cusp of destroying itself.
Loblaw Co will arguably destroy Shoppers Drug Mart as a "cash cow" if it renders that company into a dumping ground of low-end products. Shoppers Drug Mart customers are educated and health-conscious and will not settle for Loblaws' relatively low-end No-Name and products which include very harmful additives.
It appears that the No-name products that are being offered through Shoppers Drug Mart are all low-end. And don't be fooled by the “President's Choice” label.
When President's Choice was first launched, Loblaws seemed to be focused on quality control. But ever since it seems, Walmart came into Canada, it appears that Loblaws is willing to slap the “President's Choice” label on all sorts of products. The most notable example of the watering down of the President's Choice label is its “Strawberry Ice Cream”.
Did you know that there is no strawberries identified on this ice cream's ingredient list (photo of ingredient list accompanies this article)? The President's Choice Strawberry Ice Cream is ENTIRELY an artificial product with such unheathly ingredients as “Polysorbate 80”. Polysorbate 80 is a surfactant and emulsifier used in cleaners and personal care products that has been linked to human health problems when put in food.
Maybe if Shoppers Drug Mart patrons are “lucky” Loblaw Co will include some of their questionable “ice cream products” along with their shortening-vaseline-lard tasting No-name “butter” at Shoppers?
Further Background
Corporate take-over - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/loblaw-closes-deal-to-buy-shoppers-drug-mart/article17723887/
Profits reported before product “cleansing” which began to take place just a few days ago - http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/11/12/shoppers_drug_mart_helps_pump_up_loblaw_revenues.html
Article Source : http://agoracosmopolitan.com/news/headline_news/2014/12/30/9007.html
