Giant Tiger will shutter its Pembina Highway store in late February, taking away a low-cost shopping option for Winnipeg customers, according to CBC News.
At least two other Giant Tiger stores — in downtown Winnipeg and The Pas — are also slated to close.
Here's what to know
According to a notice posted on the front door, the Pembina Highway Giant Tiger is expected to shut down in February.
This follows the chain's closures of its Winnipeg stores on McPhillips Street and Main Street. With Pembina now slated to close, affordable retail choices across the city will shrink further.
Rob Reimer, who lives near the Pembina store, said buying the same products at other retailers would likely cost him 20% to 30% more.
"It's just another cheap option down the drain," Reimer lamented to CBC News.
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Another shopper, Jamol Wilson, who moved from Toronto to Winnipeg, said that people across income levels are being forced to watch every dollar.
"Whether you make $100,000 … or 20,000 dollars a year, we gotta stretch every dollar these days," Wilson said.
More background
Winnipeg shopper Anna Kolodka was shocked by the news.
"I think it's going to really affect the community. I do see it busy, the parking lot is usually full, so I know a lot of people shop here," she remarked to CBC News.
Her children got their first jobs at the Giant Tiger location, and she said the location had also been useful when she only needed a few smaller items.
"These guys are pretty decent when it comes to prices, so I don't know what it means for many of the people who can't afford the higher prices," Kolodka added.
Giant Tiger did not respond to CBC News or publicly explain the closure.
What can be done?
Discount chains can help keep everyday goods within reach for shoppers across income brackets.
For people trying to access lower prices, traveling farther may be the only way to do so. But some people can't afford the additional transportation costs or can't even get transportation to those other stores.
For others, the closure may mean paying more at nearby competitors.
Wilson warned that with one fewer discount option in the area, prices could rise and customers would have little recourse.
"All the other competition, they can jack prices up and there's nothing we can do about it at the end of the day, so it's all kind of boohoo," he told CBC News.
"Anytime they close something like this, it hurts," Reimer said. "It changes my budget for the month for sure."
Where can I learn more?
Extra plastic packaging can also raise the price of goods. While it can help disabled people access fresh food when they otherwise can't, there are many examples of just plain wasteful business practices.
• At Wegmans, individually wrapped potatoes sparked shopper frustration over unnecessary plastic in produce aisles.
• H-E-B curbside orders left people in Texas questioning piles of extra plastic packaging.
• Woolworths Metro stores in Sydney, Australia, won praise for visible sustainability changes in aisles.
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