Canadians shocked at price of deodorant at Shoppers Drug Mart: 'I swear they were all $3 a few years ago'
Yahoo Canada wants to hear from you: Do you have a grocery store horror story to share? Email us: canadatips@yahoonews.com
A deodorant stick selling for $18.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart has Canadian shoppers seeing red — again — and lambasting Loblaw and its affiliated stores for their exorbitant pricing amid a boycott of the chain, and a cost of living affordability crisis.
The photo of the product — a 74-gram stick of Dove Vitamincare deodorant that is also aluminium-free — was posted to the Reddit group “Loblaws Is Out of Control,” which boasts more than 92,000 members. The photo has garnered strong reactions, including more than 150 comments. The original poster spotted the $18.49 deodorant at a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Edmonton, Alta.
One user joked, “We’re now living in a world where taking out an ingredient actually costs more.”
“Who actually pays this,” another pondered, while one user wondered what’s happening to deodorant prices across the board: “I swear they were all like $3 a few years ago.”
Canadians by the thousands, emboldened by a Reddit group called “Loblaws Is Out of Control,” have vowed to boycott Loblaw, including stores under its umbrella like Shoppers Drug Mart, Zehrs, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Provigo and Pharmaprix. Anger toward the grocery giant has built over the years due to its enormous national reach and its growing profits amid rocketing inflation on everyday goods.
Do you have a grocery store story to share — about pricing, accessibility, experience, or product availability and quality? Yahoo Canada wants to hear from you. Email us at: canadatips@yahoonews.com.
In the last year, the team at Yahoo Canada has published several such stories, ranging from abysmal customer-service experiences, to eye-popping pricing, to some of the abuse suffered by grocery store workers.
Not the first time deodorant price shocks customers at Shoppers Drug Mart
The 75-gram stick had a price tag of $20.99, prompting some users to claim it is “not worth the price” at all, even though the premium stick is “natural,” so it contains no aluminum or parabens.
“Native is just an extremely expensive brand overall,” one user wrote, while another Redditor said it was the only stick that doesn’t give them a rash.
Prices at Dollarama a fraction of Loblaws', Shoppers' on many items
In June, Yahoo Canada covered a story about Redditors who highlighted the shocking price difference on identical Aveeno baby cream containers at Dollarama, where it was selling for $5, and Shoppers Drug Mart, where it was selling for more than three times the price at $18.49.
This wasn’t the first time Dollarama came out victorious in the low-price war. A video by a Toronto vlogger in May highlighted this exact phenomenon, with many staples like salt, Pepsi brand cola, and Lay’s ketchup chips selling for up to 50 per cent less at Dollarama versus Loblaw. That video has garnered more than 69,000 views in just two months.
Out-of-season watermelons are priciest at Loblaw-owned Real Canadian Superstore
Yahoo Canada spoke to an expert who confirmed these prices aren’t so outrageous. After all, watermelons aren’t exactly locally grown in Canadian winters, so “they’re not bringing in as many units so they price it higher for those people who really want it.”
Still, our eagle-eyed shoppers found watermelons at other retailers that week going for way less, like $11.99 at a Save-On Foods store and $8.99 at Sobeys.
'Buyer beware': Even the morning-after pill is overpriced at Shoppers Drug Mart
In May, a shopper warned “buyer beware” when they highlighted the steep price difference for the morning-after pill at Shoppers Drug Mart vs. Walmart.
The Loblaw-owned pharmacy chain sold Contingency One, commonly known as Plan B, for $36.15, while Walmart sold it for less than half that price — $16.08.
Grocery store workers describe abuse by customers
Customers at grocery stores are growing increasingly irate — and taking it out on helpless, minimum-wage workers who have little recourse for protection, as Yahoo Canada reported in May.
We spoke to an employee who told us they have been called “stupid” and “sheep” for wearing a mask after pandemic mandates were lifted. Yet not so long ago, they were heralded as “heroes.” So, what gives?
A bad experience made worse: Anti-theft locking carts draw ire of Canadian shoppers
Shoppers have also lambasted Loblaw for its latest anti-theft tactic: Locking shopping carts. One Reddit user posted about his wife’s ordeal last month, when her cart suddenly locked mid-aisle — “aisle 12,” he recalls — and she had to wait for a clerk to come and unlock her cart, and other shoppers’ in the aisle. One expert told Yahoo Canada that locking shopping carts are an increasingly popular trend in retail intended to curb theft, but it's unclear whether this tactic will stick, given how unpopular it is.
Loblaw boycott inspires Canadians in creative ways
But Canadians aren’t taking price gouging sitting down. While some are still boycotting, extending their May-long shunning of Loblaw and its affiliated stores indefinitely, others are getting creative.
A guerrilla artist in Calgary has struck twice, creating parody ads on No Name products, like a “let them eat cake” cake mix that suggests the baker “eat the rich.”
In Toronto, a T-shirt designer is selling anti-Loblaws merchandise like T-shirts that have garnered the attention of Canadian celebrity Alyson Court, the actress best known for her work on The Big Comfy Couch.
Do you have a grocery store story to share — about pricing, accessibility, experience, or product availability and quality? Yahoo Canada wants to hear from you. Email us at: canadatips@yahoonews.com.
