Real Canadian Superstore

Business History:

The business’s industry and sector

Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of hypermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to RCSS or Superstore.

Their mission

Loblaw’s mission is to be Canada’s best food, health and home retailer by exceeding

Customer’s expectations through innovative products at great prices.

How they started

The first Real Canadian Superstore location opened in March 1979 in a former Loblaws location in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan under the name SuperValu. Numerous other SuperValu locations opened across Western Canada before most slowly expanded into Superstore sites; the SuperValu name is still in use in British Columbia and the Maritimes, the latter branded as Atlantic SuperValu.

Superstore marks the comeback of Loblaw's superstore format in the Greater Toronto Area after the fruitless launch of the Super Centre format in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early 21st century, Loblaw brought the Superstore banner to Ontario as a response to the opening of large grocery sections in most Canadian Wal-Mart stores and other department stores, as well as a preventive strike against any plans by Wal-Mart to bring its "Supercenter" format to Canada.

When they started

They started in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

How they have grown over the years

The stores take a variety of goods like Fred Meyer or Wal-Mart Supercentres, but the huge majority of space is dedicated to groceries and about a third of each store is set aside for electronics, housewares, and clothing. Items in the latter two categories are mainly from Loblaw's private labels, such as President's Choice, Life at Home, or Joe Fresh. As with many Loblaw stores, they offer services such as PhotoLab photo finishing and DrugStore pharmacies. Many outlets also possess a GoodLife Fitness club, drive-through pharmacies, gas bars, photo studios, community rooms, as well as walk-in medical clinics managed by Primacy Medical.

Who runs their business

Galen Weston             Chairman

Allan Leighton            Deputy Chairman and President

Sarah Davis                 CFO

Their main product(s) or service(s)

Bakery, beer, charcuterie, clothing, dairy, deli, frozen foods, gardening centre, gasoline, general grocery, general merchandise, liquor , meat & poultry, pharmacy, photo lab, produce, seafood, snacks, wine.

The main market they target

All Canadians are the target market of Canadian Tire.

The supply and demand of one product

Food banks rely on the Winter Food Drive to provide up to three months worth of supplies.  Though, there is some worry in the food bank community that, food supplies will require to exceed those of previous years in order to make sure they are able to meet demand through the winter.

An overview of their productivity

New Ontario locations began to open under the name Loblaw Superstore in late 2007. Since December 2008, Ontario stores have used ordinary flyers displaying a combined "Superstore: Loblaw / Real Canadian" logo. Nevertheless, Loblaw has not yet said whether one banner will finally replace the other.

The pricing for main products and services

Their prices are extremely cheap for all products.

Significant fixed and variable costs

Fixed Costs= Wages, rent, insurance, and lease payments

Variable Costs= Materials, utilities, and supplies

Company profits and profit margins

In 2010 profits was $335 million and their profit margin is 7.14 %.

Their strongest competitors

Walmart, Canada Safeway, Metro, and Sobeys are some of their strongest competitors.

Their competitive advantage

Enjoy shopping in Real Canadian Superstore because it is a great location and good pricing. Their competitive prices are the advantage.

Comment on reasons the companies have succeeded

Real Canadian Superstore have succeeded because of the loyal customers, supply chain, reputation management, unique productions, brand name, indecisive customers and offer banking services.

Comment on possible weaknesses

No online presence, not innovative, not diversified and poor supply chain are The Real Canadian Superstore weaknesses.

Provide an overall summary of the business

With its products already being displayed in two of Western Canada’s popular retail grocery stores, The Original Cakerie is interested in securing the Real Canadian Superstore as a key account. RCSS is owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd., Canada’s largest food distributor. The company presently commands the industry with an surprising 35% control of the Canadian retail grocery market.