Dear Editor:
There is no other way than to describe the despicable happenings here in New Westminster then to call the changes of the grocery stores as a takeover by Overwaitea, a.k.a. Save On Foods!
How can the so called Competition Bureau in far-off Gatineau, Que., dictate that a great store like Thrifty Foods in Sapperton close because there are too many stores owned by the Sobeys Group.
Let's see, before this asinine decision, we had three Safeway stores, one Save-On Foods store, and one Thrifty Foods.
After all the smoke has cleared, we are now going to have two Safeway stores, NO Thrifty's, and three Save-On Foods, plus another to come in short order at Columbia Square!
This is a complete farce.
Some bureaucrat in Ottawa decides that we must take a decision forced on us.
Where are the government representatives? Minister James Moore doesn't care. He doesn't shop in B.C. Oh, yes, he does represent Coquitlam, and there is a Thrifty Foods way out at the end of Austin.
Our own municipal politicians have been very silent through all of this.
My wife and I were at the old Safeway at Royal City Centre to pick up some prescriptions, and were very disappointed at what we saw in the meat section. We didn't bother to look farther.
Oh, yes, this is a store just less than two blocks from their original Save-On Foods at Sixth and Belmont! I would like to know who made the decision and what the rationale is for the final outcome as noted above.
It just doesn't seem fair, nor does it seem logical to me, a resident of New Westminster.
Life isn't always fair, but when it is dictated by someone down East, I have to question the fairness, and reason for the decision (s).
Larry White, by email
