Assignment task:
Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw") in 2014 announced that it had completed its acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation ("Shoppers Drug Mart"), which is now a unique and separate operating division of Loblaw. "The most successful partnerships are grounded in strengths that complement each other." said Galen G. Weston, Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Limited. "Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart are perfect partners. We will drive growth and profitability through our unmatched mix of store formats, products and offerings. This is truly a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts." This model has been a successful one for Lowblaw Companies Limited. Loblaw's gross profit in the first half of 2022 beat its previous best results by $180 million - equivalent to about an extra million dollars a day, according to a report last fall by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. Galen Weston, the billionaire chairman and president of Loblaw, testifying before a Parliamentary committee said the company has made bigger profits off financial services and apparel and pharmacy sales. which he said represents more than half of its business The CEOs and presidents of Loblaw Cos Ltd Metro Inc and Empire Co. Ltd. - which operates chains including Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo - appeared Wednesday in front of a parliamentary committee that is studying inflated grocery prices
1. Based on the report, identify the type of diversification Lowblaw pursued in 2014 and discuss any notable advantages of this type of strategy to the company
2. Using the tripod of strategy, elaborate some key considerations that would have led to Lowblaw pursuing this diversification strategy
3. Assume you are a consultant. What would your advice be to a large, successful German supermarket interested in entering the Canadian market?
4. What type of entry strategy would you advise should this German supermarket decide to enter the Canadian market? Why?