Most of Canada’s major grocers are thinking smaller – and cheaper – in their plans. 

They claim better opportunities for smaller stores with less product variety to help consumers manage their household food expenses. 

Loblaw announced plans in February for 31 new stores under the No Frills or Maxi name. Metro has confirmed plans to open 12 new discount Food Basics and Super C stores, and has identified its discount-store brands as the main source of market share gains. Empire (Sobeys and Safeway) has partially completed a plan to convert about a quarter of its Western Canadian full-service stores to the discount FreshCo banner. 

Discount stores typically offer fewer products to consumers. They are often smaller stores, quicker for consumers to navigate and offering lower-priced products. The ‘best deals’ are said to come from the retailer’s selection of what to put on the shelves, not from the consumer’s selection among similar products sold under multiple competing brandnames.

Though the retail experience is entirely different, on the dimension of product choice, the grocers are emulating the Costco approach. Costco has much larger stores, but also a very limited choice of products, and a minimalist ‘warehouse’ approach to retail presentation. 

In the United States, the fastest-growing grocery chain is Aldi, which is somewhat similar to the No Frills model used in Canada by Loblaw. Aldi stores have smaller floor plans, minimalist store displays, reduced choices and the ‘no frills’ approach which symbolizes lower costs. 

The annual Canadian food price projections from Dalhousie University noted that the movement towards discount channels in 2026 will help consumers’ food budgets, but will largely be a new battleground for the same old competitors. 

“Most of the discount stores still fall under the banners of major grocery chains, leading to ongoing concerns of a lack of competition in the retail market as control over pricing negotiations is still mainly in the hands of only a few companies,” said the 2026 report. 

Loblaw’s focus on the discount marketplace comes as it has closed two of its three experimental ‘ultra-discount’ No Name stores. The No Name stores promised even lower prices, smaller stores, very limited product choice and only ‘shelf-stable’ products, so no produce, dairy or fresh meat. Those product absences meant most consumers had to make at least one other shopping trip to meet their needs, and the absence of promotional deals and flyers meant consumers were not entirely persuaded that the No Name prices were exceptionally low.