New Westminster has made quite an impression on the Competition Bureau – but that’s not enough to stop the closure of Thrifty Foods in Sapperton.
During a recent visit to Ottawa, Coun. Lorrie Williams met with three members of the Competition Bureau about its decision to order Sobeys to sell 23 grocery stores in Western Canada, including the local Thrifty Foods, as part of the company’s purchase of Canada Safeway Limited. She said the Competition Bureau has determined Sobeys owns too many grocery stores in New Westminster and must sell the Thrifty Foods, as well as more than 20 other grocery stores in Western Canada.
“Why that store?” she asked. “They would not share with me the negotiations that would go on.”
Members of the Competition Bureau expressed surprise at the response they’d received from New Westminster regarding the closure of Thrifty Foods in the Brewery District. Williams presented the bureau with a petition signed by people objecting to the closure.
“They said in all the time the Competition Bureau has been operating, they have never had so many responses, emails, plus my visit, the petition,” she said. “They were quite impressed. They thought that must be one special town.”
The Competition Bureau, an independent agency that aims to ensure Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive marketplace, believes that competition in the grocery industry is essential to ensuring Canadian consumers benefit from low prices, a high quality and wide selection of grocery products and service levels. In a letter to the city, the Competition Bureau said its decision was made after doing a “thorough review to determine the competitive effects of the merger” and included evidence gathered, interviews with stakeholder, site visits and more.
Williams said Sobeys has to sell Thrifty Foods to another grocery store, but no timeline was provided. If it’s not sold within a certain amount of time, she said it goes to an independent seller, and if it still doesn’t sell, more negotiations take place.
“They can operative till it’s sold,” she said. “That’s a good thing. Let’s hope no buyer comes forward.”
Williams said she is holding out hope that something “magical” will happen and Thrifty Foods will continue to operate in New Westminster.
