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“I watch my prices,” he said. “Normally in Calgary, those would run from $3.49 to $4.99. So I went in, and there were no strawberries other than organic, and those were over $5. I asked a guy stocking shelves, and he said that his store didn’t even get any.”

Though he took to Facebook to vent, Wipf doesn’t believe Safeway — and Sobeys by extension — will be able to do much to dig itself out of its predicament. Many industry experts also believe the retailer’s problems go well beyond the issues that interrupted the steady flow of store stock. There was also the axing of a much-loved loyalty program and the discontinuation of Safeway house-branded items in favour of Sobeys’ branded goods.

“Empire keeps blaming price competition and oil woes for the disastrous losses of Safeway in Western Canada, but the reality is the Safeway stores are poorly managed by Sobeys,” said one consumer who spoke with the Financial Post and sent recent photos of empty shelves taken at an Edmonton Safeway store.

“Sobeys’ system is to only stock product three deep, whereas Safeway had much deeper inventory and would pay staff to keep shelves replenished. Long-time Safeway shoppers like me have been forced to move to Save-On or Superstore. We didn’t want to leave, but did so because of all the changes made to Safeway.”

The extent of the ongoing damage became devastatingly clear in the fourth quarter.

A lot of the stuff in the flyer you never have. Prices keep increasing. …I want to keep supporting Canadian companies, but you are sure making it difficult!

In the period ended May 7, same-store sales at Sobeys’ Western Canadian stores, excluding fuel, fell 3.6 per cent, helping to drag down overall same-store sales at Sobeys by 1.8 per cent. During roughly the same period, Loblaw Cos. Inc.’s same-store food sales rose 2.6 per cent, excluding gas, and Walmart Canada Corp.’s rose 6.7 per cent in the first quarter as the retailer grew its grocery market share.