The recent move by Canada’s Competition Bureau to investigate the parent companies of grocery giants Loblaws and Sobeys marks a significant step in addressing anticompetitive behaviour in the retail grocery sector.
This investigation, initiated on March 1, focuses on the alleged use of property controls by these firms, which purportedly restrict competition through their lease agreements and control over land vacancies. With these two companies holding a combined market share of over 50% in the Canadian food retailing market, the potential implications are substantial.
I posted the CBC’s take on the investigation earlier and it drew criticism suggesting restrictive covenants are a fit and proper commercial activity designed to protect tenants from loss of income. But why do we see retail clusters as in clothing stores or automobiles where competitors sit cheek by jowl?
Charlebois’s take is a bit more informative on the degree to which such covenants may be distorting the retail grocery market in Canada.
The use of foodbanks has skyrocketed under Trudeau and I do not trust his friend Galen the bread thief to do the right thing.
