Milk, eggs, bananas and T-shirts

March 22, 2006

Milk, eggs, bananas and T-shirts

By Roxana Olivera
lolivera@uwo.ca

Joe Gamboso's packed shopping cart is stationed at the Joe Fresh Style section at Loblaws.

Photo by Roxana Olivera

Joe Gamboso is looking for new clothes at Loblaws.

This is not the fresh food section. This is a brand new clothing department that food shoppers like Gamboso can now visit for the latest "fresh new look" in fashion design for men and women.

This is just the latest example of a continuing trend by giant retailers to provide a vast range of products and services under one roof.
Joe Fresh Style features affordable clothes ranging from casual men's polo T-shirts and jeans to women's T-shirts and capri pants with prices typically under $20.

Now that Gamboso, 36, has picked up all his groceries for the week, he's scanning the Loblaws Superstore for a new pair of pants."It's one-stop shopping for me," said Gamboso.

"I think this is an excellent move on the part of Loblaws to give customers this kind of flexibility."Mary, a 47 year-old nurse, who asked not to be identified by her last name, agrees.

"It's great because I can now pick up everything at one stop," she said. "I can find housewares, food, clothes and then go home."

"And this is good quality stuff. It's better than Wal-Mart's," Mary adds. "I just wish it were available 24 hours a day."

Jessica Russell, 19, is also pleased about the store's recent penetration into the clothing market.

"I used to work for Pizza Pizza, and I got sick of working with fast food," said Russell.
"And thanks to Loblaws, I now have my first retail job," she said as she rang in a sale.

How innovative is Loblaws' new clothing concept?

Gerry Macartney, general manager and CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce, is not surprised by Loblaws' food-fashion fusion.

Loblaws selling clothing is like Wal-Mart selling groceries, Marcartney said.

"The lines are so blurred now between what defines retailers and what product lines they carry that it is really hard to tell a grocery store from a hardware store from a clothing store," he adds.

Photo by Roxana Olivera

A customer checks out the quality of Loblaws' new merchandise.

As for the new clothing designs for the store, Macartney thinks it is just good merchandising on the part of Loblaws.

And how exclusive are Loblaws' clothing products?

"It doesn't surprise me that they're coming up with their own line, but I'd stop short of saying it is exclusive," Macartney said.

"I think they are carrying brands of products that are being labelled for them, much the same way that Sears and the Bay have merchandise crafted for them under their own brand. So there's nothing unique or new about that."

And how will this new retail trend affect redevelopment efforts for downtown London?

Not one bit, said Macartney.

"Anytime you take a large merchant and move them out on the periphery, you impact the core of any community. And that has already been happening for a number of years."

"We've seen a proliferation of residential outcroppings in the downtown core - particularly in the last couple of years. That will be the solution for downtown because the more that you populate an area, the more they'll start demanding services like retail."