The food giant had 103 Super C stores in Quebec soil at the end of its financial year in 2023.
He now counts 116.
On July 17, Super C inaugurated its 115th store on Chemin Sainte-Foy in Quebec. At the same time, we cut the ribbon of a brand new branch in Sherbrooke resulting from an investment of 12.3 million.
Of the 13 openings having been used in two years, six result from the conversion of a Metro grocery store into Super C.
“Each market is analyzed [au cas par cas] In Quebec to allow the acceleration of the Super C banner, but in the right model and the right neighborhood, ”explains Loïc Cloutier, main vice-president of Super C, in an interview with The sun.
“We don’t have a conversion plan if we compare to our competitor,” he added, referring to the turn borrowed by Loblaw in recent years.
In three years, the latter has converted 60 Provigo markets into Maxi, only 29 in 2024. There are only twenty of Provigo in activity, mainly in the large Montreal region.
At Metro, each transition to the low -cost brand is validated by a market study.
“There are consumers for the conventional, there are consumers for discount. There are some who do both. We really meet different needs, ”he says, satisfies the cohabitation of Super C and Metro stores throughout the territory.
“A favorable wind”
Loïc Cloutier admits, however, that a “favorable wind” has been blowing on the banners at a discount for many years.
In its 2024 annual report, Metro CEO, Éric La Flèche, did not hesitate to attribute the success of its last financial year to the popularity of Super C in Quebec as well as Food Basics in Ontario.
The turnover of the food retailer then reached 21.2 billion, which represents an increase of 2.4 % compared to the results of 2023.
A change in the way the consumer is shopping is at the origin of this movement.
“What are called smart shoppers: Customers are aware of the value and are looking for value to maximize their investments in food, ”dissects Mr. Cloutier.
And this craze for discount grocery stores is not about to leave us, is of the opinion, hence the accelerated deployment of the Super C banner, both through conversions and through the opening of new sites.
And at Metro?
At the same time, the Metro and Metro banners more slightly lose ground in Quebec. If 197 stores were active in 2023, there are today 185.
Even if the growth is “stronger” at Super C, Metro branches are not in slow motion, argues Mr. Cloutier.
“It is certain that we do not have the same investment plans. There are not as many new sites. But existing stores are doing very well, ”he says.
According to his observations, the offer in low -cost grocery stores has delayed developing on the Quebec market, while traditional banners flourished.
A catch -up was in order. “The Quebec market was, if you like, overdeveloped in terms of conventional if you compare yourself to the rest of Canada. We expect to swing a little more like what we see in Ontario and in the rest of Canada, ”he anticipates.
Three questions at V.-P. Super C
Question after the conversion of a metro into Super C, customers remain faithful to their address?
Answer Since we have this strength in fresh products, that we have butcher experts in store and that we work high to get the assortment, we manage to maintain a large part of the Metro clientele.
Q Over the openings, Super C stores seem to be geographically closer to consumers. Is this the case?
R This is one of the changes that we see in the past few years. The acceleration of Super C, it brings us closer to consumers definitively. […]
Historically speaking, discount stores – if we go back to 10 or 15 years – it was necessary to make a certain distance to get there. They were destination stores. We still have this ability to attract customers from further away, because we want to move to take advantage of the value for money. But at the same time, to get closer to the population in the neighborhoods, it gives an additional advantage to consumers.
Q In addition to new sites, enlargements and conversions at Super C, you also relocate some of your stores. For what?
R Urban sprawl is what it does. The populations are starting to grow in these small regions [comme à Lavaltrie, dans la région de Lanaudière]. Small stores – this is a beautiful problem -, they must be relocated and give a site that is suitable for the amount of population that we find there now.
Metro and Bref
- Since 1947
- More than 21 billion turnover in 2024
- Headquarters in Montreal
- Has Metro, Super C, Adonis, first harvest, Jean Coutu and Brunet
- 97,000 employees across Canada
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