No Name Store opens in Windsor area with a promise of big savings

A grocery chain with big profits is promising big savings at a new pilot store. People got their first glimpse of the new No Name Store at the Windsor Crossing Premium Outlets in LaSalle, Ont., on Thursday.

Brian Wearne, who lives close to the store's location, was among shoppers on the first day.

He believes "the concept [is] good," but regrets there are no eggs, a deli or frozen items in the No Name Store, saying "you can spend more in gas just going from store to store."

Wearne told CBC News he decided he would "check out" the store from the time he learned it was coming to the area.

"I wanted to see what the new space was like, how large, what they have," he said. "So far, so good. It looks good."

Last month Loblaw said it was piloting a new ultra-discount grocery store in Ontario that promises to deliver even lower prices by stripping away even more frills.

The three stores opened today are the first ones in the pilot, capitalizing on Loblaw's existing discount brand known for its simplified, bright-yellow packaging and marketing.

'A great addition' to the community

Crystal Meloche, mayor for the Town of LaSalle, also visited the store, which she describes as "a great addition" to the community.

"It's not only going to service the residents of the Town of LaSalle, but it's also going to service the residents of Windsor and especially the college area where we have a lot of international students as well."

After touring the store Meloche said she was "really impressed with what they offer and how many products that they actually offer here."

Melanie Singh, president of Loblaw's hard discount division, said bringing the store to the Windsor area was in response to the need of customers.

"Our customers were telling us they want affordable groceries … and we wanted places where we can go where rents were cheaper, where the need was greater and where we could pass all the costs through reduced pricing to our customers, so we picked [the Windsor area], St. Catharines and Brockville," she said.

Singh said while a typical grocery store has 20,000 items, the No Name Store carries 1,300 individual products, making it less complicated to run.

Additionally, she said the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., another way it plans to reduce costs.

"There's no refrigeration in the store. That also takes out cost. So, when you line up all the things that we could possibly reduce costs on, [we can] then turn that back into reduced pricing for customers," Singh said.

Windsorites will likely gain: Charlebois

Sylvain Charlebois, director of Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says he believes the people in the Windsor area will likely "gain" as a result of the store opening here. 

"As soon as you see a new player in town, it tends to force other players to readjust prices along the way," he told CBC News. 

"But this is a pilot, so it's temporary, so, I'm not sure whether or not other grocers will actually commit to price changes at all. But if they say, listen, we're here to stay, this is working, then you may actually see some adjustments elsewhere, not just at that store."