Editor:
What’s your opinion about the prices at our local Buy Low which is own by the Jimmy Patterson Group. This is not directed to the individual store in Houston as I know prices are a corporate decision.
Let’s go back to when we had no grocery store and you had to go to either Burns Lake or Smithers to do our shopping. I’m sure we were all elated when we heard Buy Low was coming to Houston. Their prices were compatible to both the other stores in the area.
It’s 2020 and along comes Covid, they never closed their doors. Sometimes the shelves were pretty bare and the paper products prices skyrocketed but we all knew why.
But as of September 2022, we all noticed the prices started to go up, slightly at first, and then all hell broke loose and their prices skyrocketed and they haven’t stopped. Ask yourself how much longer can this go on before you’re going out of town again to do your shopping?
When you go down town one week and the beef rolls of dog food are $9.98 and the very next week they have gone up to $14.99. The cauliflower hasn’t gone below $6.99 unless it’s on sale for $5.00 yet at B.V. Wholesale in Smithers a while back they were priced at $3.29 and I could list at least 25 other items or more that are totally out of whack price wise. Your produce, deli meats and pies.(e.g. at No Frills Mall a 10”Farmers Market Pie is sold for $7) compared to your pies 6” t0 8” selling for $8.99 to $9.99. Condiments, rice, juice (e.g. the large jug of apple juice went from $9.99 to $11.99) also your flour, sugar and dairy are just some of the out of whack prices.
I spoke to our store manager Amber and she tried diligently with the head office to have some the exorbitant prices changed but nothing that I noticed changed except for coconut cream pie that went from $14.99 to $12.99. Whoop-de-doo because all three stores in Smithers sell them for $10.99.
It’s also time to give credit for the wonderful things Buy Low has done like helping with school lunches and cram the cruiser at Christmas.
The staff here are incredible, they are friendly helpful and their service is top notch.
You can’t blame this all on the cost of freight as all the shopping centers west of us have cheaper prices on almost everything then you have to offer Houston customers.
That’s not all, your flyer sucks and your sale prices of $1 or $1.50 are a joke. But every once in a while, you knock our socks off by selling your sirloin burgers for $8.99 reg. cost $17.98 and the Chapmans ice cream 2 liters for $4.98 reg. $8.98.
So instead of doing that why can’t you bring your prices down so we can enjoy going shopping here once more before we all go broke.
I’ve lived here for 52 years and have never seen the prices between the towns so far apart.
Open your eyes and hearts, that’s if you have one and bring your prices so they are compatible with Burns Lake and Smithers.
Your prices are plain greed Jimmy Paterson Group and your profits have to be outrageous as most if not all of your employees are part-time, which means you don’t have the opportunity for benefits. So then, what is the reason your prices are so darn high. Bring them down for god sakes. We will be watching if anything changes.
Sincerely,
Georgina Dotto