Sept. 13, 2024 "Grocery prices Canada: Item from Dollarama ends up on Superstore shelf — with much lower price": Today I found this article by Elianna Lev on Yahoo:
A photo posted to Reddit that shows a pack of paper towel rolls with a Dollarama sticker and price being sold at a Real Canadian Super Superstore has people online wondering how that could have happened.
The image, which was posted to the subreddit Loblaws Is Out of Control, shows a six-pack of paper towel rolls, with a green Dollarama price tag of $4.50. It was placed on a shelf with paper towels being sold for $9.99.
“Can someone tell me why this paper towel has a $4.50 Dollarama price tag but is on the shelves at Superstore for $9.99,” the original poster SurreptitiousSquash asked.
Loblaws: 'Appears to be' a customer service error
A representative from Loblaws told Yahoo Canada that it looks like the Dollarama paper towel ended up at the Superstore as a result of human error.
“It appears to be an error where a customer service representative incorrectly accepted a return for an item not purchased at our store,” they said in an email.
A spokesperson for Dollarama said they couldn’t speculate on what could have happened but confirmed that “Dollarama’s products are intended for end users and not for resale.”
Prices at Dollarama vs. big-box stores like Superstore, Loblaws
The post, which garnered more than 3,000 upvotes and 500 comments, also raised questions about the discrepancy in pricing between the two retailers.
In light of inflation and the steady incline in grocery prices, many online have compared the price differences between Loblaws and Dollarama.
In May, Toronto vlogger Johnny Strides compared the prices of 13 products at Dollarama and Loblaws, including Lay’s ketchup chips, salt and Pepsi. He found that out of the 13 items, Loblaws only had one that was cheaper in comparison to Dollarama — garbage bags.
When a Reddit post went viral in June showcasing a 166-millilitre bottle of Aveeno baby cream being sold for $5 at Dollarama compared to $18.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart, food pricing expert Sylvain Charlebois explained why.
“The product selection at Dollarama is curated to focus on
high turnover items and essentials,
often in smaller package sizes,
with few options,”
he told Yahoo Canada at the time.
“This helps reduce waste
and keep prices low.
They also stock overstock
or close-out items from other stores,
which can be bought at a discount
and sold cheaply.
While Dollarama does offer many essential items at low prices,
their inventory can be inconsistent.”
Canada reacts: Eagle-eyed commenters spot difference in product
Many in the 500 comments speculated on what could have happened for a paper towel package with a Dollarama sticker and price to end up on a Superstore shelf. Some wondered if the mixup was the result of the manufacturer, while others suspected it was a mistaken return.
“Customers may have returned it and staff overlooked,” “Magicphobic wrote. “I had someone return (Walmart brand) Great Value chips once. I approved it. When I went to put it on the shelf, I realized I work at Sobeys. People make mistakes.”
Another commenter pointed out that the Dollarama paper towels were for six regular rolls, while the price advertised by Superstore was for six jumbo rolls, which means they were not the same product.
“The $9.99 price tag is for 6 jumbo rolls,” commenter AJnbca wrote. "But the Dollarama one says 6 regular size rolls in a green circle, with a Dollarama price tag. So the barcode wouldn’t be the same so I doubt it would ring up as $9.99."
Aug. 27, 2025 "Dollarama customers both ‘resilient’ and ‘fragile’ as tariff tensions continue: CEO": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:
Canadian consumers are proving to be a headscratcher for Dollarama Inc.
The discount chain’s chief financial officer said Wednesday that consumer behaviour continued to be unpredictable in his company’s second quarter and he expects that trend to continue into the back half of the year.
“At some moments, it seems resilient, at others it seems fragile, so it’s really hard at this point to draw any trends on the health of the Canadian consumer,” Patrick Bui told analysts on a conference call.
His remarks come as tariff tensions are still flaring between Canada and the U.S.,
putting pressure on companies that thrive on cross-border manufacturing and sales.
Some are coping with the situation by hiking prices
while others are suspending sales from customers south of the border.
Meanwhile, the customer response is much more “inconsistent,” Bui said. Lately, some shoppers have been bucking the economic headwinds with strong purchasing patterns, while others are being cautious.
That mix has meant Dollarama has seen little sales growth in some categories.
“For example, if we look at our seasonal assortment, I mean, summer is not over, but the performance was essentially flat,” Bui said.
However, lack of growth in the seasonal category did not put a damper on
Dollarama’s second-quarter profit of $321.5 million,
which was up from $285.9 million a year earlier.
The retailer said Wednesday that its profit amounted to $1.16 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended Aug. 3, up from $1.02 per diluted share a year earlier.
Despite the rise, Dollarama’s share price fell by about three per cent to $185.90 in mid-morning trading on the TSX.
Sales for the quarter totalled $1.72 billion, up from $1.56 billion in the same period last year.
The increase was primarily driven by growth in the total number of stores over the past 12 months, to 2,060 earlier this month
from 1,583 a year ago.
CEO Neil Rossy said his goal is to open 70 to 80 net new stores this fiscal year, which is “exceptionally higher” than in previous years.
The number he’s opened so far pushed up several metrics. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 4.9 per cent, including a 3.9 per cent increase in the number of transactions and a 0.9 per cent increase in average transaction size.
Dollarama spent much of the quarter consumed by the tariff discussion Rossy had expected to be “relatively short lived, like we were hoping two years or less.”
It’s prompted thoughts about
looking to other countries for supplies
but importing goods from anywhere other than the U.S.
or Canada is a three-to-six-month project
and not desirable for every item Dollarama stocks.
“National brands can’t be replaced with private label imports. It’s just not the nature of those products,” Rossy said.
“So when you’re talking about Pepsi and Frito-Lay and Nestlé and Hershey, you know that it is what it is.”
Items made from plastic moulds are a different story. Dollarama has transferred production of them to other countries, namely Canada, because of tariffs.
Other than Canada-U.S. trade challenges, international expansion was a focus in the quarter.
Dollarama completed its acquisition of Australian discount retailer the Reject Shop Ltd.
and opened Dollarcity’s first store in Mexico.
Dollarama will spend the next few years deploying its business model at the Reject Shop. It plans to phase in Dollarama products at the new acquisition through the end of fiscal 2027 and simplify its price points while lowering the current ceiling.
Reject Shop stores will also be converted to new layouts Rossy said are more “convenient and consistent.”
His long-term goal is to revitalize the business and have 700 stores under the banner in Australia by 2034.
The brand currently has 395.
“There’s going to be ups and downs,” Rossy acknowledged. “But I’m sure as a business we will only get better as time goes on.”
---
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
The other 2 blog posts of the week:
"Black Friday sales are designed to give you FOMO. Don't let them"/ "Retailers bank on Black Friday to energize bargain-hungry holiday shoppers"
http://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/11/black-friday-sales-are-designed-to-give.html
"Simons opens its 1st Toronto store at Yorkdale mall"/ "What does the expansion of Simons in Canada mean for the department store?"
http://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/11/simons-opens-its-1st-toronto-store-at.html
$200 to $500 29.30% (1154)
$50 to $200 28.24% (1112)
More than $500 20.80% (819)
I don’t plan on giving gifts 14.09% (555)
Less than $50 7.57% (298)
Rachel R, Ancaster, Ontario, would like to know:
Do you use coupons when shopping?
Yes, sometimes 41.84% (1878)
Rarely 29.76% (1336)
Never 17.02% (764)
Yes, always 11.38% (511)
The rising cost of living is expected to put a chill on holiday spending this year.
A new survey from insolvency firm Harris & Partners shows most respondents are preparing for a more modest Christmas.
Almost 72 per cent of the 1,820 Canadians surveyed say they will cut back on Christmas spending this year.
About 62 per cent add that they do not feel financially prepared for the holidays
and 53 per cent have anxiety about affording it.
Joshua Harris, whose firm is behind the survey, says the numbers show Canadians have less financial flexibility as they work through the higher cost of living.
He says Canadians are not avoiding spending because they are unwilling but because they simply do not have the room in their budgets to set aside cash for the holiday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2025.
Nadia B, Carignan, Quebec, would like to know:
How often do you have social interactions with your neighbours?
Only when necessary 31.74% (1370)
A few times a month 25.35% (1094)
At least once a week 18.91% (816)
I don’t interact at all 12.21% (527)
Several times a week 11.79% (509)
“Time itself cannot be made,
but if time is a medium,
what can be made present with it?
Can it be stretched and compressed like clay?
Can it be turned like wood,
carved like stone,
bent like glass,
or woven like twine?
If we use time to make new forms,
perhaps those forms can help us tell stories that have previously gone untold.”
—Alicia Eggert
Sculptor Alicia Eggert creates immersive experiences of time. This neon billboard casts a brilliant pink light throughout the Renwick’s Octagon Room, prompting us to become more present in this very moment. Eggert illuminates a quote by revolutionary futurist Stewart Brand, from his book The Clock of the Long Now (1999), a manifesto for living intentionally with a ten-thousand-year-old clock in mind. The pink is a call out to the Me Too movement of 2017, a once unimaginable social reckoning that empowered people to share past stories of sexual harassment and assault, demand accountability, and make possible safer conditions for all.
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