Loblaw testing small-format No Frills as boycott continues

Loblaw is testing smaller-format discount stores across the country this year as shoppers increasingly look for ways to save on their grocery bill. 

Loblaw is testing smaller-format discount stores across the country this year as shoppers increasingly look for ways to save on their grocery bill.

The company has a handful of smaller discount stores already, but plans to “lean in” to the strategy as a way of reaching more customers, said Melanie Singh, who leads Loblaw’s discount division that includes No Frills and Maxi.

“We’re able to offer an entire shop within the space of 10,000 square feet in a pocket of downtown Toronto that we don’t have a hard discount presence in,” she said in an interview at the grand opening of the first store in the rollout. “So we’re super proud of that.”

That store opened on Thursday, one of several slated to open between now and Thanksgiving, said Singh. It’s about one-third of the size of the average No Frills store.

The location used to be a City Market, another banner owned by Loblaw. Four weeks ago, the company closed it down, said Singh, converting it to the No Frills store, which is owned by a franchisee who lives in the area.

These smaller stores will cater to the local neighbourhood, Singh said. For example, this store at the corner of King and Shaw Sts. in Liberty Village has grab-and-go options like fresh-baked pastries, which many discount stores don’t have.

Singh said that’s because the company kept many of the products that were popular in the former City Market, like rotisserie chicken.

“We heard from the neighbourhood that ready-made food was super important. Especially for lunch, especially for the end of the day, for the transient traffic that comes in the afternoon,” she said. “So we kept those programs.”