A NoFrills located along one of Vancouver's most crime-ridden streets has hidden certain varieties of parmesan cheese in an effort to deter thieves.To access the products, which have been removed from the shelves entirely, customers must ask a staff member to retrieve it from the refrigerated back room..The practice was first brought to light by a user in the r/loblawsisoutofcontrol sub-Reddit on Friday, who posted a picture of the cheese section at Mike's NoFrills on East Hastings St. and McLean Dr. where 250g wedges of President's Choice Spledido Grana Padano and Spledido Parmigiano Reggiano should have been instead sat a piece of paper that read, "Please see an associate for assistance with this item. Thank you!""Yeah, I won't be doing that…" the original poster wrote.The move was lambasted by other users, one of whom slammed the Loblaws subsidiary for inconveniencing customers instead of simply hiring more security."Suddenly no one buys the product," another quipped. "100% success anti-theft measure."Many drew attention to what appeared to be a dead fly on the paper, with one user joking that he was the associate."He's exhausted from fetching cheese all day and they don't pay him enough not to take unscheduled breaks," they added.In a statement to Daily Hive, a Loblaws spokesperson noted that as it was a franchised location, it was able to decide which products to keep behind closed doors. In this case, they explained, the manager "implemented the policy to address theft at their store.""Theft is an ongoing issue across the retail sector, having a significant effect on colleagues and customers — impacting prices for everyone," the spokesperson lamented..As of Tuesday, while the paper appears to have been removed, an employee confirmed to the Western Standard that the policy was still in place and that it had been implemented in response to increasing theft. .A number of more expensive cheeses nearby were still out in the open. When asked why the varieties in question had been singled out, the employee said they appeared to be what thieves preferred. Western Standard has reached out to the manager for comment.
A NoFrills located along one of Vancouver's most crime-ridden streets has hidden certain varieties of parmesan cheese in an effort to deter thieves.To access the products, which have been removed from the shelves entirely, customers must ask a staff member to retrieve it from the refrigerated back room..The practice was first brought to light by a user in the r/loblawsisoutofcontrol sub-Reddit on Friday, who posted a picture of the cheese section at Mike's NoFrills on East Hastings St. and McLean Dr. where 250g wedges of President's Choice Spledido Grana Padano and Spledido Parmigiano Reggiano should have been instead sat a piece of paper that read, "Please see an associate for assistance with this item. Thank you!""Yeah, I won't be doing that…" the original poster wrote.The move was lambasted by other users, one of whom slammed the Loblaws subsidiary for inconveniencing customers instead of simply hiring more security."Suddenly no one buys the product," another quipped. "100% success anti-theft measure."Many drew attention to what appeared to be a dead fly on the paper, with one user joking that he was the associate."He's exhausted from fetching cheese all day and they don't pay him enough not to take unscheduled breaks," they added.In a statement to Daily Hive, a Loblaws spokesperson noted that as it was a franchised location, it was able to decide which products to keep behind closed doors. In this case, they explained, the manager "implemented the policy to address theft at their store.""Theft is an ongoing issue across the retail sector, having a significant effect on colleagues and customers — impacting prices for everyone," the spokesperson lamented..As of Tuesday, while the paper appears to have been removed, an employee confirmed to the Western Standard that the policy was still in place and that it had been implemented in response to increasing theft. .A number of more expensive cheeses nearby were still out in the open. When asked why the varieties in question had been singled out, the employee said they appeared to be what thieves preferred. Western Standard has reached out to the manager for comment.
