TORONTO • Loblaw has axed a test pilot of a health and wellness store format set to compete with Whole Foods before it opened its first location.
Potential conflicts with any future small-store concepts the grocery giant may be planning with its new subsidiary Shoppers Drug Mart were responsible for putting Nutshell on hold, according to sources familiar with the situation.
“Opening Nutshell was an ambition, we scoped the concept and we learned a lot,” said Loblaw spokesman Kevin Groh. “However, with the purchase of Shoppers, our attention is simply elsewhere. At this point we have no planned Nutshell openings, including at the King Street location where we initially laid out the format. However, it remains in our roster of format options.”
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