Sobeys
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail (Grocery) [1] |
| Founded | Stellarton, Nova Scotia (1907) |
| Headquarters |
Stellarton, Nova Scotia Mississauga, Ontario |
|
Key people
|
Michael Medline, President & CEO |
| Products | Grocery |
|
Number of employees
|
125,000 (2014) |
| Parent | Empire Company |
| Subsidiaries |
Big 8 Beverages Safeway Canada FreshCo Foodland Price Chopper Needs Convenience Lawtons Thrifty Foods |
| Website |
www.sobeyscorporate.com www.sobeys.com (Retail site) |
Sobeys Inc. is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 260 supermarkets operating in Canada and around 1500 under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than $16 billion CAD in 2012. It is part of the conglomerate Empire Company.
Sobeys was founded in Stellarton, Nova Scotia by John W. Sobey in 1907 as a meat delivery business. In 1924 his son Frank H. Sobey convinced him to expand into a full grocery business, serving the industrial Pictou County region. From that point until his death, Frank was the driving force behind the business. Sobeys opened its first self-serve supermarket in 1949.
The chain eventually expanded throughout Atlantic Canada. During most of the second half of the 20th century it was the region's dominant grocer. In the 1980s, Sobeys expanded into southern Ontario, challenging Loblaws on its "home turf", thereby igniting what came to be a nationwide battle for market supremacy.
Sobeys had significant stakes in New England grocer Hannaford and Quebec grocer Provigo until the 1990s.
In 1998, Sobeys became the second-largest grocer in the country after purchasing 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.
In 2001, Sobeys abandoned a two-year $90 million investment in an Enterprise Resource Planning system because of failed project management.
In 2002, Sobeys undertook major changes in its store design and customer service policies with the introduction of "Ready to serve". This initiative was reportedly an attempt to emulate the successful moves of the Publix supermarket chain in the southern United States.
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Wikipedia