Grocers Boxed by Y2K Fears

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http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryBusiness/cs.cs-03-24-0062.html

Friday, March 24, 2000

Grocers boxed by Y2K fears

TORONTO -- Don't tell Canada's grocers Y2K was harmless.

They got hammered by all the paranoia.

Food sales in January plummeted 3.7% compared with a year earlier, thanks to nervous shoppers filling their pantries in December in case of a computer meltdown.

The good news is the drop should be a one-time blip, with food sales rebounding once people start digging into their stockpiles.

Overall, retail sales continued to post strong gains in January, increasing to $18.55 billion, up 5.1% from January 1999, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.

Total retail sales last year grew 5.8%.

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), March 24, 2000

Answers

What am I missing? Why should food sales rebound once I start digging into my stockpiles? I will not buy any beans, rice or canned goods for years to come.

-- tc (tc@webtv.net), March 24, 2000.

Rice and beans are not big dollar items for groceries. Look at the frozen prepared foods, fresh produce, fresh meat, dairy, and all those miscellaneous high margin "convenience" items.

-- John (littmannj@aol.com), March 24, 2000.

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