We met at 11am on St. Clair Ave. West in Toronto with pamphlets, laptop, and green portable picnic table in tow, to ready ourselves for our little education campaign at the Forest Hill Loblaws grocery store.
It was high noon as we approached the store, and wanting to be polite (and not cold!) we entered the store and asked to speak to the store manager to see if we could set up our little info booth behind the rows of cash registers. According to the 'Assistant Manager' of the store, this was not possible because the Manager was not on duty on Sundays, and such inquiries had to be directed to this particular person only. So out into the cold we went. Eric stationed himself near the upper parking bridge entrance, and Alexis and I ventured forth to the lower parking area entrance. We set up the picnic table, donned our stickers and t-shirts, and smilingly went to work. Alexis created a slideshow of Greenpeace Kleercut images on his laptop for all to see, and we set this up on the table, with stickers and brochures and shoppers’ guides, oh my!
To quote Alexis: “Tough Crowd.”
You'd think that being in an area called "Forest Hill," maybe people would have some affinity for the forest? Yeah, right. People arrived to buy their groceries in full length fur coats (I kid you not), and generally turned up their noses at us, despite various non-confrontational addresses:
* “Would you like some free information about how to shop Eco-Friendly?”,
* “We’re not asking for donations, just offering an Eco-shoppers’ Guide for your information *smile*,”
*(to a child) “hey would you like a sticker?”
Store manager gets annoyed
It came as a surprise to me personally that so many young people (especially the 30-45 set, and parents toting kids!) would shirk and sneer, even laugh about what we were trying to do. The best response came from the elder folk, who took time to listen and learn, and thanked us for what we were doing. Around 1:17pm, security and the Manager (hmm wasn’t he off on Sundays?!) confronted Alexis at the table: we had to go because of ‘customer complaints.’ We politely packed it up, and, set off to see how Eric was getting on.
And getting on he was! Soaking in the sunshine, Kleercut sticker on his cap, Eric had been distributing brochures left right and centre, undetected by store security. We regrouped, and decided that, after a bathroom break, Alexis and I would position ourselves, the table, and laptop on the sidewalk in front of Loblaws…public property right? And Eric would keep workin’ his magic on the parking bridge entrance.
Bathroom targeted
The bathroom break could not have been better timed! Walking in, it was completely empty and, lo and behold, the toilet paper dispensers in the stalls and the paper towel holders by the sinks were all embossed with “Kimberly-Clark.” Ho ho ho…it was like Christmas!
I stuck a Kleercut brochure in every stall, directly above the KC logos, and even hid a pamphlet in the towel dispensing machine so when a person goes to dry their hands….ta da!
Eric and Alexis couldn’t believe our luck. The Men’s room was afforded similar treatment directly. Giddy after the bathroom discovery, Alexis and I hit the pavement in front of Loblaw. People were much more receptive to the information we were offering there, stopping to look at the brochures fanned out upon the table, and our spirits lifted.
"Call the cops"
Then Eric appeared, followed by a pair of security officers (sorry “loss prevention agents”) and one very ticked-off Assistant Manager, who ranted that “this was the third time we were being asked to leave, and that he’d tried to be nice, etc, etc.” We politely and collectively rebuked that the sidewalk was public property, and that we had relocated there so as not to be trespassing in his store. Assistant Manager was not pleased, responding with “We own this part of the sidewalk by the doors,” as he directed security to “call the cops.”
Who's next?
Eric, Alexis, and I left Loblaws with frozen fingers, lightened backpacks, and a plan to ‘adopt’ a Sobeys grocery store in the near future. High fives were all around.
P.S. Props to Amber for arriving earlier and leaving Greenpeace material in the Loblaws magazine racks for shoppers.
Emily - for the Loblaws Store crew.
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