We asked Canadians which grocery stores they avoid and Loblaws wasn't the top choice

These are the retailers people don't shop at. 🛒

aisles with shelves in sobeys grocery store. right: exterior of loblaws store

Grocery store shelves. Right: Loblaws store.

Senior Writer

There are a lot of grocery stores in Canada, and it turns out Canadians avoid shopping at quite a few retailers.

But if you thought Loblaws was the store people avoid the most, that doesn't seem to be the case!

Recently, Narcity posted on Facebook and asked, "What grocery stores in Canada do you avoid shopping at?"

Almost 200 comments have been shared, with many people giving more than one store they don't go to.

These are the top three grocery stores that Canadians avoid shopping at:

  1. Walmart
  2. Loblaws
  3. Superstore

Someone said they "despise" Walmart and avoid it as much as possible, but some of the prices are so good that they end up shopping there a few times a year anyway.

Another person commented that doing an entire grocery shop on a budget isn't "feasible" at Loblaws.

"Loblaws is overpriced," someone said.

After that, these are the stores that Canadians avoid the most: Sobeys, No Frills, Metro, Safeway, and Save on Foods.

People noted that even though they like Sobeys and Metro, the stores are too expensive, and they "hate the prices."

These are the grocery stores in Canada that only a few people said they avoid shopping at:

  • Costco
  • IGA
  • Foodland
  • FreshCo
  • Food Basics
  • Whole Foods
  • Zehrs
  • Longo's
  • Co-op
  • Fortinos
  • T&T

Someone commented that they don't shop anywhere except for discount grocery stores.

"So everyone is complaining about every chain... Got it," another person said.

A few people said they avoid shopping at all grocery stores in Canada, but others said the opposite.

"I just avoid U.S. products, not the entire store," someone commented.

"I don't avoid any of them," another person said.

"I shop everywhere," someone said. "That's how you actually get the best bang for the buck."

Narcity also recently asked Canadians what the best cheap grocery stores in Canada are and what their favourite grocery stores are.

A few of the retailers that people avoid shopping at are also the stores people like the most and think are the best for cheap prices!

That includes No Frills, Walmart, Costco and FreshCo.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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