A new dad has questioned a supermarket giant’s priorities, after the store replaced parent/child and disabled parking spots with express pick-up places.
Dan Keil has shopped at Real Canadian Superstore on No. 3 Road for more than a decade and patronized the national grocery chain, owned by Loblaws, all his life.
But he was shocked last week when he arrived at the store - with his wife Arleigh and newborn baby girl Maren – to find all the wider, parent/child spots near the front door gone.
In their place were six, shiny new signs for “express” customers, who order their groceries online and have them hand-delivered to the parking spot.
Keil said he immediately expressed his disgust and disbelief to the duty and operations manager, only to be given confirmation that the store had halved the family spots and moved a handicap spot, in favour of express customers.
According to Keil, one of the managers told him they’d received other complaints but that it was a Loblaws decision, not his.
“Since Maren was born, we’ve used the (parent/child) spots here several times,” Keil told the Richmond News.
“But then a whole row of family spots were simply deleted and, as far as I can tell, the disabled spots were moved further away. None of this was disputed by the managers when I asked them why.
“This parking area has some challenges all of its own; it’s very narrow and very dark and there’s a lot of congestion.
“I get it, they don’t have an obligation to provide these spots, but to see a business removing them to prioritize online customers, that doesn’t sit well with me.”
Keil said he was “seriously questioning” where he wants to support in terms of groceries.”
“It shows a lack of empathy and understanding for young families,” he added.
However, when contacted by the News, Karen Gumbs, a Loblaws spokesperson, claimed that the parent/child and disabled parking spots were removed by mistake by a contractor.
“We’re reversing that (error) now,” she said.
“It should be fixed in the next few days.”
The News pointed out that, if indeed it was a contractor error, why did the store managers indicate to Keil they were fully aware of the changes?
Upon hearing the news, Keil also doubted it was a contractor error, considering the store managers seemed “fully informed” and “unabashed” at the time.
But he was, nevertheless, delighted and said he’ll continue his life-long habit of frequenting Superstore, adding that he appreciates the company for “addressing this issue.”
