The story
On December 2, 1981, Collette and Jean-Louis Bellemare opened the first Farm Boy on Cumberland Street in Cornwall, Ontario. At that time, the modest 300 sq. ft. store sold only produce. The original store was moved in 1984 by Jean-Louis and his brother Normand Bellemare. The move to their 5,000 sq. ft. (460 m2) Sydney Street location allowed them to expand their products beyond produce with dairy, deli, cheese, and meat product lines. An in-store bakery and bulk food were later added.
Expansion
By 1992, the business had expanded into Ottawa. By 2007, Farm Boy operated eight additional stores in Ottawa, beginning on Centrum Boulevard in Orleans. Store openings included Nepean on Merivale Road (1996), Hillside Plaza on Montreal Road (1997), Kanata (1997), Blossom Park (2003), and a second Orleans location (2004). The Ottawa expansion continued with new stores in Barrhaven (2006), Blue Heron Mall on Bank Street (2006), and the Kanata Signature Centre (2007). Ottawa continued gaining Farm Boy locations at Britannia Plaza (2011), Stittsville (2011), Place d'Orleans (2012), which was the first store to offer an in-store eating area.
In the fall of 2003, the Bellemares created a board of directors to oversee the company's overall direction and appointed Jeff York as the new President of Farm Boy in 2009. In 2012, Normand and Daniel Bellemare stepped down as the Boston-based investment group Berkshire Partners invested in the company.
Farm Boy expanded to Kingston, Ontario in 2012 and London, Ontario in 2014. Citing success in its first London location at Wellington Road just north of Bradley Ave, the company announced two more locations would open in the spring of 2015. The first is located near CF Masonville Place in the city's north end, and the region's largest store is located at Wonderland and Beaverbrook, just west of Western University. The Wonderland and Beaverbrook location also has the company's regional offices. In the summer of 2015, Farm Boy furthered its expansion with its first location in Kitchener and Whitby. In the summer of 2016, another store was opened in the Westboro neighbourhood of Ottawa. This store was meant as an experiment for the company to have a more central location with a greater focus on in-store dining with a larger eating area and "Farm Boy Kitchen" prepared food area. In July 2017, it was announced that Farm Boy would be taking over part of the former food court location at CF Rideau Centre in downtown Ottawa, which opened mid-December 2017. On March 1, 2018, Farm Boy opened their first store in Toronto, in the district of Etobicoke at Alderwood Plaza. On March 22, 2018, the company opened their 26th location in Hamilton at Harvard Square Plaza.
Acquisition by Empire Company Limited
On September 24, 2018, Empire Company Limited, parent of the Sobeys chain of supermarkets, announced that it had signed an agreement to purchase Farm Boy from Berkshire Partners and Farm Boy's management shareholders in a deal worth CA$800 million. Regulatory approval was required for the purchase.
Farm Boy founder Jean-Louis Bellemare, his co-CEO Jeff York, and other members of the senior executives were planned to stay on and reinvest to own a 12% share in the new company, which would operate as a separate entity. The new ownership would account for Farm Boy to expand into south-western Ontario, and in particular the Toronto region.
Farm Boy products were planned for inclusion in the Ocado-based Empire e-commerce business, Sobeys, in 2020, but as a separate entity from other Empire chains.
Further expansion
By September 2018, the chain had 26 stores and annual sales of CA$500 million. The Financial Post summarized the store's appeal as, "It’s known for its fresh products, pre-made food, smaller stores and private label products". The company announced that its focus for future expansion will be on both urban and suburban locations around Ontario.
From Wikipedia’s article on Farm Boy, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4