Loblaw Companies Ltd. is winding down its No Name discount grocery store project, with two of the three test locations in Ontario already closed or scheduled to shut down just over a year after opening.
The stores, launched in September 2024, promised even lower prices than Loblaw’s other discount chains, like No Frills. To keep costs down, the stores had shorter hours, fewer deliveries, no fridges, limited advertising, and carried fewer products overall. Customers could save up to 20 per cent on everyday items, but many still had to shop elsewhere for basics like milk, cheese, and meat.
Each No Name store stocked about 1,300 items—much less than the 7,000 products offered at smaller No Frills locations. Loblaw launched the project during a period of public anger over high food prices, accusations of shrinkflation, and a growing boycott of the company.
The three pilot stores opened in St. Catharines, Brockville, and LaSalle, near Windsor. The St. Catharines store closed in July, and the LaSalle location will shut down on October 25. Only the Brockville store will remain open while Loblaw reviews the future of the concept.
At the same time, Loblaw is preparing to close one of its long-time Toronto stores at RioCan Empress on Yonge Street. The location is expected to reopen as a T&T Supermarket, an Asian grocery chain Loblaw bought in 2009.
These closures come after several Loblaw stores were converted into No Frills locations last year, including one at Broadview and Danforth, as the company faced growing criticism.
Still, Loblaw isn’t slowing down entirely. Just months ago, the company announced it would invest $2.2 billion to open 80 new grocery and pharmacy stores across Canada, about 50 of them smaller-format discount stores.
