Real Canadian Superstore

Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of hypermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to RCSS or Superstore.

Originating in Western Canada in the early 1990s, the banner expanded into Ontario in the early 2000s as Loblaw attempts to fend off competition from department stores including U.S.-based Wal-Mart.

Although some locations in Ontario have recently opened as Loblaw Superstore, other stores using this name in the past have dropped the word "Loblaw" from their name, and there is no clear indication that the company intends to change all stores to one name or the other.

Overview

The stores carry a variety of goods; like Fred Meyer or Wal-Mart Supercentres, but the vast majority of space is devoted to groceries and about a third of each store is set aside for electronics, housewares, and clothing. Items in the latter two categories are mainly from Loblaw's private labels, such as President's Choice, Life at Home, or Joe Fresh. As with many Loblaw stores, they offer corporate-branded services such as PhotoLab photo finishing and DrugStore pharmacies. Many outlets also boast a GoodLife Fitness club, drive-through pharmacies, gas bars, photo studios, community rooms, as well as walk-in medical clinics managed by Primacy Medical.

Loblaws is working to cut costs and compete effectively with this multi-format store. Each store has a similar layout, useful for both cost efficiency and shopper ease. Also, in an effort to cater to individual customer segments, Superstore buys specific products for different regions. Superstore locations now top 210,000 square feet.

In the west, Superstores are operated by Loblaw subsidiary Westfair Foods Ltd. Ontario stores are operated as part of Loblaw's other banners, including Loblaws and Zehrs, although Superstore is considered a separate chain, and prices at one chain may not apply at the other. Loblaw as a whole is in the process of centralizing their head office operations, which includes the relocation of the General Merchandise personnel from Calgary, Alberta to Brampton, Ontario to consolidate Loblaw's operations.

In Alberta, where private liquor retailing is permitted, a chain of 30 Real Canadian Liquorstores operate, mostly near Real Canadian Superstores in that province.

Employees of Loblaws and the Real Canadian Superstore are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union.

History

The first Real Canadian Superstore location opened in March 1979 in a former Loblaws location in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan under the name SuperValu. Numerous other SuperValu locations opened across Western Canada before most gradually expanded into Superstore sites; the SuperValu name had all but disappeared by the mid-1990s, although the name is still in use on four Atlantic SuperValu locations in the Maritimes. Today there are more than 66 Superstore locations in Western Canada with a total of 72 by the end of 2006.

In the early 21st century, Loblaw announced it would bring the Superstore banner to Ontario as a response to the introduction of large grocery sections in most Canadian Wal-Mart stores and other department stores, as well as a pre-emptive strike against any plans by Wal-Mart to bring its "Supercenter" format to Canada. Originally, Ontario stores were co-branded with the local Loblaw banner (i.e. "Loblaws - The Real Canadian Superstore"), but this was quickly shortened to reduce confusion and allow separate weekly specials for each chain. Superstore marks the return of Loblaw's superstore format in the Greater Toronto Area after the unsuccessful launch of the the SuperCentre format in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2003, Loblaws purchased Maple Leaf Gardens, the former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and announced plans to convert it into a Real Canadian Superstore, despite heavy criticism from historical groups such as [http://www.friendsofmapleleafgardens.ca Friends of Maple Leaf Gardens] . Construction is currently on hold, and there is no signage on the site advertising a future Superstore location.

Relationship with other Loblaw banners

There are currently no Superstore locations as such in Atlantic Canada or Quebec. However, in recent years, and particularly since 2008, Atlantic Superstore in the Maritimes and Dominion in Newfoundland and Labrador have adopted similar store formats and a similar marketing approach to RCSS, including the "Prices you can trust" slogan. In Quebec, Maxi and Co. and some larger Loblaws locations fill this void. It is not clear whether Loblaw intends to eventually rebrand these stores to create a national "Superstore" chain.

As well, there are a handful of large-format Loblaws and Zehrs stores in Ontario – examples include Markham, Ottawa, and Kitchener – which closely replicate the selection of food and general merchandise available at Superstores. Most of these locations were built around the same time as the first Ontario Superstores, but nevertheless chose to use older brand names.

Locations

As of 2008, the Superstore website lists 105 locations. [http://www.superstore.ca/ Store locator at official website] ]

Alberta

26 locations:

Ontario

31 Real Canadian Superstores:

Yukon Territory

One location:

External links

* [http://www.superstore.ca/ Real Canadian Superstore official website]
* [http://www.ufcw.ca/ United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union]

References