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The value of competition

I’m all for paying a bit more to support local businesses, but…

Looking to replace a failed Keurig coffee maker, I found just the device in a coffee maker brought to the office by a colleague. Sleeker than our outgoing (outgone?) model and with five streams of water flowing through the pod, it does an excellent job.

Coffee purists might scoff at the use of a Keurig, but it works, it’s convenient and I really don’t care if anyone doesn’t like it. So, I went looking.

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I found the exact model on the Keurig Canada website, $119.99. (Or $94.99 if you sign up for a coffee-pod auto-refill subscription.) At Walmart Canada, $119.98. Whoa, one whole discontinued penny!

This same Keurig coffee maker is $189.99 at Canadian Tire. (Screenshot from Amazon.ca)

This same Keurig coffee maker is $189.99 at Canadian Tire. (Screenshot from Amazon.ca)

At Amazon.ca, $99.98. Same price at Best Buy.

At Canadian Tire, with the same model number… $189.99.

Sorry, CT, but my elbows don’t quite go that far up.

In Canadian Tire’s defence, the $189.99 is the same price as shown on the Keurig site, but Keurig has it on sale, no doubt in response to its competitors’ prices but elevated slightly to make the discount for subscribing seem bigger.

If Canadian Tire’s price was even the same as Keurig’s or Walmart’s, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop the link to Amazon and head over to my local store. Canadian Tire remains a Canadian company thanks to the tireless efforts of founding family scion Martha Billes.

Thanks to co-founder J.W. Billes’s will, which bequeathed his shares to 23 Canadian charities on death in 1956, the company has done its part philanthropically, as well.

But a $90 premium on a $99.99 coffee maker is a little much, don’t you think?

 

Kelly Taylor, Reporter

 

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The week ahead

Wednesday and Thursday, the James W. Burns Executive Education Centre hosts Project Management, a two-day program. Details here.


Friday, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce hosts a membership luncheon, Catalysts for Change: The Role of Business in Advancing Human Rights. Details here.

Upcoming events

On June 9, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce host an MBiz Breakfast featuring Premier Wab Kinew. Details here.


On June 16, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce hosts a Winkler Economic Development Tour. Details here.


On June 17, World Trade Centre Winnipeg hosts WTC Talks featuring Paul Soubry, former CEO NFI Group. Details here.


On July 6, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce hosts a Churchill Economic Development Tour. Details here.

 
 

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That's a wrap. Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines. Get the newsletter sent every weekday evening.
 

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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press:

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Morgan Modjeski:

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Scott Billeck:

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Carol Sanders:

PCs slam contracts signed with U.S.-based SpaceX

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Conrad Sweatman:

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