As you’ll surely have noticed, I have written a few posts about our visits to the local Food Basics grocery store here in Cornwall. According to my counter statistics, my entries have brought visitors to my site who are actually looking to find out who owns Food Basics. So, I did a little research and here is what I’ve found:
Food Basics, as both corporate and franchisee stores, is a division of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company of Canada Limited (”A&P”). A&P Drug Mart Limited Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary that operates pharmacies in some of those stores.
So there you have it. I hope that helps. But now that you’re here and I’ve been ever so helpful, why not have a look around. See if I’ve written anything else worth reading. No? Didn’t think so…
January 17th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Here is a great reason NOT to shop at Food Basics. After an “investigation”, I was of course told there was nothing they could do about my claim. This is from a letter I wrote to Metro management:
January 17th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Dear Sir/Madame,
I want to bring to your attention an incident that occurred on January 9, 2009 at the Food Basics store at 555 Essa Road in Barrie, Ontario. I have reported this incident to your Customer Relations department, but I thought it important that you hear what happened as well.
My mother and I went into the Food Basics store on Essa Road as we normally do a few times a week to check out the sales. We hadn’t picked up the flyer. We brought 6 containers of Fruitopia to the cash register, with other groceries (approx $100 worth). The cashier advised us there was a limit on Fruitopia of 4. We advised that we were 2 separate parties shopping together, and would be making 2 separate transactions. The cashier advised that we were together in the store so we count as 1 purchase. I thought this ridiculous as I simply got a ride with my mother to get groceries as I always do. I asked for the manager to discuss the issue.
Dan Hartley approached our line and advised us there was a limit of 4 per customer. We advised that we were making 2 transactions. He became visibly agitated and said he finds it strange that all 6 are on the conveyor belt. He had a very condescending tone at that point and his anger was visibly escalating. We once again explained to him what our intentions were. I said I thought that he was being quite ignorant with his attitude towards us. He then told the cashier that we would not be able to purchase the other 2 containers at all.
I advised him that due to his ignorance, we wouldn’t be purchasing our other groceries at the store, and myself and my mother began to leave the store. I requested the phone number for Customer Relations from him at that time. He walked to another cash lane and began to write the number down.
Halfway through writing the number down, he began to say something. At that point I told him I just wanted the number and didn’t want to speak to him anymore. He said “how about I throw you out of the store”. I told him I couldn’t believe how “fucking ignorant” he was towards customers. I had had enough, and while I should not have used that word, he had NO right to do what he did next.
We proceeded to the door of the store. He shouted in front of a number of customers that I was banned from the store, and not to come back. At that point, Mr. Hartley proceeded to dash in behind me, my mother placed our shopping card in front of him to prevent him from grabbing me. He lifted the cart up and shoved it into her stomach, causing her to falter backwards.
He followed on my heels out of the store to in front of the exit door outside. At which point he said “oh your such a big man”. He then said “how about you hit me, and I’ll show you what an assault really is you little shit”. I couldn’t believe the behavior I was hearing from this now fuming, volatile man. My mother and I left the parking lot and called metro customer relations to report both the assault on my mother (who has high blood pressure and experienced chest pains for hours after we left), and for the blatant disregard for the service he was hired to give, to both myself, my mother, and others customers in the store who could do nothing but stand at the lanes and shake their heads at this “manager”.
I was told by a customer in the parking lot that she could not believe how I was just treated, and that it went to the point of an assault on a woman. She advised me that she will be contacting the store and customer relations to indicate her displeasure with the reckless behavior of Mr. Hartley.
If nothing is done regarding this man’s career path due to this incident, I will again never shop at any of Metro’s group of stores. I will also make sure I make everyone I know aware of this situation and recommend they follow suit with me in choosing other non-Metro shopping destinations.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
You have written about this ad naseum in every forum possible. After reading the other forums and the responses, I really have to wonder who is at fault. If such an assault occurred, anyone with half a mind would have called the police.
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 pm
As we also live in Barrie, and frequent the same Food Basics location, I wanted to comment. Our experiences have been nothing but pleasant at that store. Over the years I have learned that no matter what store chain you go to, food or regular retail, the people skills of the manager makes all the difference - their attitude usually filters down throughout the store employees. Same with bank branches. Never met this store manager, or don’t know if I would recognize whoever it is. As mentioned by another poster, if the cart was pushed and hit somebody then that should be a police matter (as a matter of record) and it would have been if it was me. As this is all hearsay all I can do is comment on a supposed situation.
I would suggest, if ever shopping “together” again that you check out through 2 different cashiers. I have been in that similar situation with family members before and we take the path of caution to prevent what appears to be a confrontation that you say you experienced.