Know Thy Customer

What does it say about the part of my city that I live in that the end-caps at my local Zehrs grocery store are stacked eight feet high with 20kg (~50lb) boxes of cat litter? Other Zehrs stores have things like Nabob Dark Roast, French's Mustard, maybe some President's Choice potato chips - and our Zehrs gives the best seat in the house to gravel that cats use as a toilet.


Is it possible that the main thing drawing people to the Preston Zehrs store is actually not even a food product? It is probably not the ambience.

I have wondered for some time if the store management has ever given thought to the idea of modernizing the store. With some effort, surely this location could experience a renaissance of sales and customer loyalty. It seems that sometimes people shop at this store because they have to, rather than it being their first choice. Personally, I would rather shop close to home, but find myself often put-off by lack of selection and quality of goods, especially produce. If I was a single guy who didn't eat vegetables, and lived out of the microwave this wouldn't be such a frustrating situation..


Some of the low-lights of this location I have observed:

• myriad neglected, hand-me-down carts, complete with lack of manoeuvrability and original-looking paint




• expiry dates on many goods are drastically sooner than other locations (do they ship perishables from other locations as the foods approach spoilage)?




• higher prices for certain produce than other locations (even though this location is not in a swank part of town some of us still enjoy the odd salad or citrus fruit)

I understand that the other stores likely do exponentially more volume than the Preston location. The recent economic climate could actually benefit Zehrs with stock analysts pointing to Loblaw's becoming more profitable as people elect to eat at home more often. There is no desire on my behalf to see "self-check-out" stations added. With Waterloo Region already experiencing an abysmal 7.7% unemployment rate, I can wait in line for 5 minutes for a human to process my purchase. I don't think I'm asking for the moon here; just a nice clean interface where I can find the foods that my family needs to make it through the week.

Come on Zehrs, I'm rooting for ya'.