The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, March 13, edition that Empire posted increased sales in the third quarter, but still had a net loss. The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes that Empire had previously disclosed that it would take a writedown this quarter on its Voila e-commerce business, which amounted to $746-million. Empire announced in January that it would shut down its Voila facilities in Alberta, and instead expand its on-line services through partnerships with third-party delivery providers. A new partnership with DoorDash is now live. In the third quarter e-commerce sales grew by 10 per cent, partly driven by those third-party partnerships. The closure of facilities in Calgary and Edmonton led to severance and decommissioning costs, along with one-time cash payments for contract terminations. Construction on a facility in Vancouver was paused in 2024 and is still on hold. Empire is mum on when a decision would be made about the future of the Vancouver facility. Owing to the impairment charge, Empire reported a net loss of $385-million or $1.68 a share in the third quarter, compared with net earnings of $146-million or 62 cents a share in the same period last year.