No more No Frills: Elmira store ordered sold to become Food Basics

CTV Kitchener: No more No Frills Elmira residents are worried a forced switch of grocery store brands will hit them square in the pocketbook. Nadia Stewart explains.

An Elmira grocery store that was ordered to be sold, angering many of the town’s residents, has found a buyer.

In March, the Competition Bureau ordered that as a condition of Loblaws’ purchase of Shoppers Drug Mart, it would have to divest itself of eight stores across the country, including the No Frills location in Elmira.

The bureau’s logic was that by owning both stores, Loblaws would have two pharmacies in the relatively small town.

Residents were angered by the move, with 2,800 signing a petition against the forced sale.

In the end, the sale went through – with Quebec-based supermarket chain Metro as the buyer.

Officials with Metro have said they plan to turn the Elmira store into a Food Basics outlet and retain all current employees.

That news wasn’t enough for Paul Dotzert, who was shopping at No Frills on Tuesday.

“It’s going to really hit a lot of people,” he said.

“The government has to get involved and stop this from happening.”

Dotzert claimed his grocery bill would increase by 20 per cent due to the Competition Bureau’s ruling.

Woolwich Township Mayor Todd Cowan called the switch a “good news, bad news” announcement for the town.

“The good news is, we are getting another grocery store and the employees are still going to retain the jobs – but residents are still pretty upset,” he said.

Cowan questioned why Loblaws couldn’t have placated the bureau by closing the No Frills pharmacy but retaining the grocery store.

“We at the township made a huge plea to say ‘Wait a minute, before you accept this agreement let’s look at the demographics here, let’s look at the growth here,” he said.

“That didn’t seem to make a lot of difference. They never really wavered on their decision.”

The Competition Bureau’s ruling does not prevent Loblaws from opening a new store elsewhere in Elmira.