Loblaw is taking steps to regain the trust of its customers in New Brunswick after facing criticism last week over a lawsuit it had filed for damages in the 2008 highway crash that killed seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the coach's wife.

Atlantic Wholesalers Ltd. and Loblaws Inc. had filed a statement of claim on Dec. 22 against coach Wayne Lord, who was driving the 15-passenger van that collided with their transport truck on Jan. 12, 2008, alleging Lord had been negligent.

But within hours of CBCNews.ca reporting on the lawsuit, more than 400 comments had been posted, expressing outrage at the suit and calling for a boycott of Loblaws stores.

Allan Leighton, president and deputy chairman of the Ontario-based parent company Loblaw Companies Ltd., promptly issued a statement, withdrawing the suit and apologizing. He also called Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet.

"That was a very, very good thing for the president to do and he also offered to do something to try to compensate for what they did in the community," Brunet said.

"So I gave him a few suggestions and he said 'Please get back to me with what you think is appropriate.'" Brunet plans to discuss the offer with council.

The community is planning a permanent "Boys in Red" memorial for the crash victims.

In an email statement Tuesday afternoon, Loblaw senior vice-president Inge van den Berg reiterated the company's apology and described its actions as a "significant misjudgment."

The company has been a part of the Bathurst community for more than 25 years and officials are in the process of determining an appropriate course of action to regain the community's trust, she said. Meanwhile, the community marked the second anniversary of the collision on Tuesday.

"We were hoping to go through this anniversary quietly," said the mayor, who placed a rose at each of the victims' graves.

The lawsuit and subsequent retraction "sort of brought it all back to the forefront again," he said. "It was a mistake."