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Friday, April 12 was the grand opening of the newly renovated Zehrs grocery store in Orillia.
I and numerous customers in the week leading up to this event were told that the doors would be open at 7 a.m. (as is normally the case), and the sign in the store window says 7 a.m.
I arrived shortly after 7 a.m. in the pouring rain and joined a line of about 22 people at the entrance, waiting to get in. The reason for our eagerness was because the first 200 customers would receive a gift certificate worth $5 to $500, in celebration of the grand opening.
But sadly (contrary to what the sign said, and what we were previously told), when we arrived, we were advised that the store would not open until 8 a.m. I and several others, being unable or unwilling to wait that long, departed in anger and disappointment.
As a result of this, I will be doing my food shopping elsewhere as much as possible.
I am appalled by the fact that (according to the Globe and Mail) the CEO of Loblaw Companies Ltd., Galen Weston, makes an annual salary that is over 340 times that of a front-line grocery worker. So, I encourage the people of Orillia to shop locally as much as possible and support our robust farming community, such as CampHouse Farm, Hewitts and others who sell their farm-fresh produce at our excellent Saturday markets.
Jim Thompson
Orillia
