Loblaws boycott: Costco and Walmart are Canadians’ top low-cost grocery store alternatives

I also have serious moral reservations about shopping at Walmart. We're trying to use Costco when we can, but for small things, we don't have a reasonable alternative. For the moment, we're using Walmart when we must just to help discourage Loblaws' bullshit, but I'd really like literally any other option.

Where do you live? In BC we have Safeway, save on, some minor stores attached to them, and the occasional whole foods. Some Asian grocery stores too like sungiven
- Oh, wtf - I thought Saveon was a Loblaws subsidiary... well, to Saveon I go then.

Costco > Walmart

Yeah, my Loblaws boycott is about three months old, but I've been boycotting Walmart for 20+ years

Walmart as a better alternative to buy anything is just fucking sad
Any business that was around during Walmarts rise learned from it and perfected competition-crushing aspects that it missed
People have been screaming that this business model will destroy quality of life for everyone given a long enough timeline, and it is now here

Lots of people saw this coming and the vast majority of people didn't want to acknowledge it. I don't know what else to say.

The vast majority of people couldn't do anything about it. Those who could do something about it profited from it, and therefore did nothing.
- Nobody had to shop at the place offering "the cheapest shit" while all the smaller businesses were forced out of the market. People literally had a choice to spend one extra dollar, or end up here.
  If you fall for the rhetoric that money is everything then yeah alright... Nobody could do anything about it I guess.

Walmart sells Classico pasta sauce for $2.97 in my area or 4/$10. Or I could go to zerhs and buy 1 for $7.99..

Ridiculous markup.

Oh look, two more publicly traded companies that are beholden to shareholders and single mindedly focused on profit.

Just because they're cheaper doesnt mean they aren't just as greedy as Loblaws

I fundamentally agree with you that publicly-traded corporations are inherently problematic due to the nature of their fiduciary duty to shareholders. That said, I think Costco is clearly the lesser of these particular evils. I have no doubt that given time they'll turn to shit, but thus far (to my understanding) they at least pay something resembling a living wage and have reasonably consumer-friendly policies.
Shopping local could (if even possible) be the more ethical option, but most people are struggling and small grocers simply don't have the margins to generally be affordable. I'm betting very few of them are able to pay their employees anything close to Costco either (if they even care to - plenty of small business owners are greedy in their own right).
Now if only I didn't have a panic attack every time I set foot in a Costco ...
- That said, I think Costco is clearly the lesser of these particular evils. I have no doubt that given time they'll turn to shit, but thus far (to my understanding) they at least pay something resembling a living wage and have reasonably consumer-friendly policies.
  You're absolutely right. Give credit where credit is due.
  But eventually when the line stops going up then all of those worker/customer friendly policies will go out the window.
- As far as I can tell, Costco isn't the lesser of two evils, but rather the one non evil choice of the pair. Their profit margin is something like 2%, which is just what they get from membership fees. But this is what I recall from memory, and it's data from many years ago, so if anyone has evidence to the contrary, do share.
Well to be fair with Costco the corporate side makes most of their profits on the membership fee so they’re incentivized to keep the customer happy

Walmart is predatory, arguably evil in their business practices. They're entrenched in North America, the damage they have inflicted is already done. In many cities they are the only game in town.

They do not deserve your business.

Walmart is not low cost. The cost of shopping at Walmart comes from cheap items that look like their branded equivalent but are specifically made for sale at Walmart's low pricing and only last 10% as long as the real thing, stolen wages from your community's citizens, small businesses run out of town, decreased property values, and so many other negatives. There's a valid reason why homeowners almost always fight against Walmart opening in their neighborhood. It's a trash store that costs a lot of the back-end. Costco on the other hand sells quality goods, treats their employees fairly, and has great warranty and return policies. Don't shop at Walmart, it is a threat to your community.

Over in the US I’ve been stoked to see the boycott. Also over in the US I’m now really sad that your only option is Walmart because that will fuck you in the end.

Costco is great if you need bulk or very specific but completely random items in the rotating stock. It is not a replacement for a grocery store unless you can reasonably buy a lot of one thing and use it before it’s bad.

Do y'all not have small business options? I buy 90% of my groceries from the corner shop across the street from my apartment building. They sell milk, bread, noodles, coffee, eggs, sauces, and a handful of different kinds of produce. I only need to shop at Loblaws once every few months to pick up the stuff I can't get across the street. I know the owner, he's a cool dude. He resists raising prices until the wholesalers raise their prices on him and he has no choice but to do it.

And where do you live? Because, no, most places don't have small corner shops that sell much more than smokes and chips.
And even most of those have been replaced by gas stations that are not just down the block.
- I live in Ottawa, specifically in the Centretown area near Little Italy
many people live in the suburbs which are not mixed zone areas; hence most stock up at supermarkets etc since getting there can be a 15-30 minute drive, let alone walking/biking.
- Yeah I'm well aware. Loblaws and the other big box places are the beneficiaries of the downfall of our cities and productive urban places (a downfall which was engineered by big oil). I'm just surprised that people who are desperate to boycott places they disagree with are only able to go to other evil corpos.

Some of the things that Costco sells is noticeably more expensive than Loblaw’s or elsewhere, but I still shop there because of how well they treat and pay their employees.

I avoid Wal-Mart at all costs.

Costco has never been low-cost from my experience. At least not for the food I buy.

ouch. no aldi over there?

No aldi :(

Another ready alternative is all the shopping that can be done online, shipped right to your door. It won't cover everything, but it's better than nothing.

Not the cheapest, but Public Goods comes to mind. They focus on providing a wide selection of eco-friendly-ish, nature-based home goods. They're very transparent about their products' origin, manufacturing/sourcing. Unfortunately, they curate their product reviews, so what you see is mostly praise & little criticism.