Sobeys
Sobeys is a Canadian supermarket chain based in Stellarton, Nova Scotia.
History
The company was founded by Frank Sobey in 1907 as a meat delivery business in Stellarton. In 1924 he expanded into a full grocery business, serving the industrial Pictou County region. Sobeys opened its first self-serve supermarket in 1949. The chain expanded throughout Atlantic Canada during the second half of the 20th century, where it became the region's dominant grocer.
Sobeys also had significant stakes in New England grocer Hannaford and Quebec grocer Provigo until the 1990s. During the 1990s, Sobeys expanded into southern Ontario, challenging Loblaws on its "home turf", thereby igniting what came to be a nationwide supermarket battle for market supremacy.
In 1998, Sobeys became the second-largest grocer in the country after purchasing bought the Oshawa Group, owners of the IGA franchise across Canada, along with several regional chains in Ontario, in addition to various food service and wholesale companies.
Company
Sobeys maintains several in-store brands: Our Compliments, Big 8 and Smart Choice.
In addition to the Sobeys label, Sobeys Inc. also operates supermarkets under the following banners:
- IGA (except in Atlantic Canada)
- Garden Market and Garden Market IGA in Western Canada -- most of these have already been rebranded as Sobeys.
- Price Chopper (no relation to the chain of the same name in the United States)
- Foodland (small markets, primarily in the Maritimes
The Sobey conglomerate is grouped under the family-controlled Empire Corporation, which also owns the Needs, BoniChoix and Knechtel convenience store chains. They are also the owners of the Lawton's Drugs chain in Atlantic Canada along with Empire Theatres, as well as being major commercial retail property owners through subsidiaries Atlantic Shopping Centres and Crombie Properties.