Loblaw pricing practices under fire

BRAMPTON, Ont. — The Globe and Mail has obtained a five-page memo from Loblaw to suppliers outlining in detail rules for pricing, including price-matching. Issued last year, the document requires vendors to pay the difference if when products are marked down for customers who have found a better deal elsewhere. Some of the practices recommended in the memo have drawn the ire of suppliers and the censure of the Competition Bureau, which has issued court orders on behalf of a number of suppliers. A Loblaw spokesperson said a revised version of the memo, issued in June, softened some of the language and removed some of the harsher penalties against recalcitrant vendors.