Metropolitan Stores
 |
|
| Variety store chain | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Filed for bankruptcy in 1997, acquired by SAAN Stores |
| Successor | SAAN Stores |
| Founded | 1908 (as F.H. Brewster & Co.) 1920 (as Metropolitan Stores) |
| Founder | F.H. Brewster |
| Defunct | February 1997 |
| Headquarters | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
|
Key people
|
Albert D. Cohen (CEO) Morley M. Cohen Samuel N. Cohen Charles F. Cohen |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, food and snacks, toys, appliances, housewares, tools, electronics |
| Owner | Independent (until 1997) |
| Parent | Gendis Inc. |
| Subsidiaries |
SAAN Stores Greenberg Stores Red Apple Stores |
Metropolitan Stores of Canada Ltd. (often referred to as The Met, Met Stores or Metropolitan) was a former Canadian chain of variety stores based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Metropolitan Stores chain was founded in 1920 and also operated junior department and clothing stores under the SAAN, Greenberg and Red Apple banners. At its peak, Metropolitan was one of the four largest variety chain store organizations in Canada with 180 stores in all the provinces and territories. In French, the chain was known as le Met and Metropolitaine.
The chain's headquarters was located at 1370 Sony Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba and its warehouse distribution centre was situated at 3075 Trans-Canada Highway in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. Albert D. Cohen served as CEO/Chairman of Metropolitan Stores of Canada Ltd. from 1961 to 1997; Verne M. Bovie, E.W. Livingston, Harold L. Green, Ralph C. Wallar, Joseph H. Unger, Samuel N. Cohen, Morley M. Cohen, William J. Young, Charles F. Cohen and Ted Johnston all served as President of the Canadian division between 1920 and 1997.
The chain originated in 1908 when F.H. Brewster, the founder, opened his first five-and-ten cent store eponymously named F.H. Brewster & Company at 483-485 Talbot Street in St. Thomas, Ontario. Other stores subsequently were opened under the name of "F.H. Brewster & Company" in London, Ingersoll, Chatham and other Ontario cities. Unfortunately, Brewster lost his first two stores in London, Ontario: one before it even opened when the neighboring crockery store "Reid's Crystal Hall" collapsed into it during a renovation to the building on July 16, 1907, as two salesgirls were sorting out stock for the grand opening later that week; the other store was lost in a Dundas Street fire only a year or two after operation on the night of November 3, 1911. Brewster's new store, which appeared the following year, was built and designed for the owner Sir George Gibbons by London architects Watt & Blackwell.
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Wikipedia