Safeway's Sweet AirMiles Deals

[operabob]

Safeway, of course, has been competing with incredible AirMiles offers:

Breaking News from The Globe and Mail
Price wars


Marina Strauss
Monday, August 10, 2009

It's a “pricing paradise” for Canadian grocers that hasn't happened in almost two decades: They've been able to keep prices high.
Supermarkets have benefited from relatively little price competition this year, while a weaker dollar helped boost prices and revenue. Cash-strapped shoppers have continued to head to the grocer, sometimes spending extra on takeout rather than splurging on a restaurant outing.
But that's changing.
Inflation is unwinding and, according to the country's largest grocer, sales volumes in the sector are starting to decline. Now <!-- company companyid="162392" -->Loblaw Cos. Ltd.<!-- /company --> has signalled it's ready to drop prices on thousands of products to keep customers coming to its stores. Its rivals vow to remain competitive, which could spark a price war.
Last week, Loblaw slashed prices by between 10 and 25 per cent on about 3,000 products in its stores in Atlantic Canada.
This week, Loblaw followed suit at its Zehrs stores in the hard-hit region of southwestern Ontario, while also providing a 10-per-cent break to unemployed people shopping at those outlets. If shoppers are receiving federal employment insurance benefits, they can get up to $15 off a $150 purchase until Nov. 15.
“We're not prepared to lose market share,” Dalton Philips, chief operating officer at Loblaw, said in an interview Monday. “You've got to keep current and you've got to be prepared to fight to keep strong. We have no intention of backing down and not retaining our No. 1 place.”
Even as profit at many retailers has suffered in the recession, major grocers have managed to generate healthy gains. Their profit margins stayed relatively high as they passed on higher costs to consumers.
It created a “pricing paradise almost unparalleled in the last 20 years,” Perry Caicco, an analyst at CIBC, said in a report. “This soft pricing is padding gross margins for everyone in the business, causing company after company to exceed earnings estimates.”
And while just two years earlier the grocers were engaged in a price war as discount giant Wal-Mart Canada Corp. rapidly expanded into food, this year they faced “an easy pricing environment,” he said.
But now that Loblaw has made the first move, others will be forced to do the same, other industry observers said.
“To say that competitive intensity will increase is an understatement,” predicted Pierre Lavallee, a Toronto-based partner with consultancy Bain & Co. “More consumers are price-sensitive ... The optimism that has grasped the financial markets in the last couple of weeks is a long, long way from grabbing the average consumer.”
Anne Choy is one of those consumers. She said she has noticed that prices of fruits, vegetables and packaged snacks appear to keep rising, making it harder to fit them into her budget. “I've always used coupons but now you have to stretch your dollar even further.”
The mother of two said she's especially price-sensitive given she has been laid off twice in two years.
“I usually buy stuff on sale,” said Ms. Choy, an airline customer service representative. “You have to be more price-conscious.”
She usually shops at a Metro because it's the closest grocery store to her Toronto home. But she said she would be willing to travel to another store if the prices there were significantly lower.
Mr. Philips said Loblaw has noticed lower sales volume across the industry over the past several weeks, and no signs of the trend reversing.
The company decided to begin its price cutting in areas of the country that have been hardest hit by the recession. The reductions affect a wide array of products that consumers buy frequently, such as fruit, milk, cereal, canned soup and meat. “In these key items of milk, butter, eggs and bread, we're now going toe-to-toe with Wal-Mart,” he added. “We're not going to give an inch away on this stuff.”
He wouldn't comment on specific plans for the coming months, but said Loblaw believes that the second half of the year will be tough for all grocers. Unemployment rates are high, and consumers are “concerned about what they spend,” he said. “If you've got a market that's tough you've got to be aggressive.”
Still, <!-- company companyid="168367" -->Metro Inc.,<!-- /company --> the country's third-largest chain, hasn't noticed any recent sales downturn, Eric La Fleche, its CEO, said last week. “We will remain competitive,” a spokeswoman added Monday, without commenting on Loblaw's latest price markdowns.
Bill McEwan, chief executive officer of Sobeys Inc., Canada's second-ranked grocer, said: “We will continue with our very competitive pricing and promotional programs and we expect to continue to grow volume as a result of consistent quality and in stock positions, irrespective of how others are trying to regain their volume losses.”
Keith Howlett, retail analyst at Desjardins Securities, said Loblaw's price cutting will inevitably have an effect on rivals because it is the market leader and price setter. As well, “consumers appear to be closing their wallets and tightening their belts.”
But he cautioned that the price-slashing strategy failed for Loblaw in the fall of 2007, when it touched off price wars during a restructuring, but ended up bruising its own bottom line.
With files from Jennifer MacMillan
<!-- /frag.../copyright begins --> © The Globe and Mail

[TechW]

Funnily, Safeway actually just raised the price yet again on their 4L milk jugs

[Kay2371]

Yes I noticed that 4L homo milk is now $5.03 at my Safeway the other day. My store just keeps raising prices!

[operabob]

Noticed there are new Kashi Cereal Bar ($50) and Simple Pleasure Bar ($0.75) coupons out there. Could augment any future AM promos.

[victoriastuff]

I got my Kelloggs A.M. today yippeeee

[operabob]

Me too! 15,115

Still missing 2 x 20 AMs for Coke purchases though. They advertised a B3G40 but only awarded 20. Happened to a lot of people at so email and complain if it happened to you.

[victoriastuff]

I bought 18 yesturday from Safeway and each of them had a 1000 icoke pin on them. So 18 cost $24.12 and I recieved 150 Airmiles (making them $.16 each) plus I earned 18,000 icoke points (enough for a years magazine subscription which is 14,100 points or $10 in McDonalds Gift Cards which is 15,000 points). So if you factor in the Gift cards/Magazine subscription you are ahead.

[poppleton]

Victoria, what items do the icoke pins come on (LOL - coke products, right? Is it certain sizes, flavours, etc? I've never really paid attention to them before, but it looks from your post like it might be worthwhile!! Thanks!!

I bought 18 yesturday from Safeway and each of them had a 1000 icoke pin on them. So 18 cost $24.12 and I recieved 150 Airmiles (making them $.16 each) plus I earned 18,000 icoke points (enough for a years magazine subscription which is 14,100 points or $10 in McDonalds Gift Cards which is 15,000 points). So if you factor in the Gift cards/Magazine subscription you are ahead.

[victoriastuff]

They come on powerade (710 ml), and 2l and smaller bottles of coke and sprite.

[sniperc151]

Me too! 15,115

Still missing 2 x 20 AMs for Coke purchases though. They advertised a B3G40 but only awarded 20. Happened to a lot of people at so email and complain if it happened to you.

I got 40 for 1 set, and 20 for another... very odd I must say.

[sniperc151]

just called safeway they put in a report for me about the 20 airmiles, i noticed that the same thing happened to me last week as well...

[Giving-Small]

Our newspaper had an extra coupon flyer - B100G100 air miles. August 12-15

[poppleton]

Hey Sniper!! Do you just call the Safeway at which you made your purchases? Or do you contact the head office? Thanks!!

just called safeway they put in a report for me about the 20 airmiles, i noticed that the same thing happened to me last week as well...

[operabob]

SUPER SUPER ALERT!

OK, travelling on business today so will try to get everything up later this evening.

However!

There's an outstanding offer this week especially if you collected the SAVE.CA Herbal Essence free coupons (assuming still usable).

HERBAL ESSENCE B3G80 @ $2.99 each!!!!

Total (before tax) $8.97 and get $11.20 in AMs

If you've got 3 coupons it's free and you get $11.20 in AMs!!!

[operabob]

All right. Getting Started:

August 16-22

In the following first number is sale price. Second number is effective value based on $0.14/AM). If there is a multiple offer, ie, B3G15 & B6G45 a third number corresponds to the value of the extra offer.

With effective valuing you can compare the relative prices of a product after accounting for the AirMiles against the same product in another store. For example,

If Coca-Cola is $2.00 with 10 Airmiles it has an effective value of $0.60 [$2 - (10 x $0.14)]. If another store is selling the same product for $1 you know the effect of the AirMiles beats that price.

Print off a copy of the following to take comparison shopping.

Lots of meat deals this week and a few potential other winners after valuing compared to what might be available at other stores.

P.2

Johnsonville Sausage 375-500g B3G25 $3.99/2.82

Butcher's Cut Beef Burgers 4.54kg B1G30 $23.60/19.40 (Note: This is an example of one that doesn't earn AMs quickly but using valuing might show it to be a good buy vs. other store)

Reser's Side Dishes B3G25 $3.99/$2.82

Tony Roma Ribs B2G20 $14.99/13.59

Schneider's bacon 500g B2G10 $4.99/4.29

Schneiders Juicy Jumbo Weiners B2G15 $3.99/2.94

Olivieri Filled Pastas B2G10 $7.99/$7.29

Lilydale Starter Sausage 375g B3G15 $3.79/3.09

Schneiders Weiners B2G10 $3.49/$2.79

Schnieder Smokies B2G15 7.99/6.94

Freybe Weiners B2G25 5.29/3.54

Freybe Ham Sticks B2G25 7.49/5.74

Freybe Sliced Meats B2G25 $3.99/2.24

Freybe Mennonite Sausage B2G25 $6.99/5.24

Bluewater Fillets B2G15 5.99/4.94

eating Right Salmon Burgers B2G20 5.99/4.24

Mitchells Smokies B2G10 $4.49/$3.79

Schneiders Fat Free Sliced Meats 200g B2G10 4.49/3.79

Wild Salmon Filets 793g B2G20 7.99/6.59

Ready to Eat Prawns 454g B220 7.99/6.59

More to follow (off for dinner!)
<!-- / message --> <!-- thread tags --> <!-- / thread tags --> <!-- sig --> __________________