Metro

The company was founded in 1947 in Verdun, Quebec, by Rolland Jeanneau. Many independent grocery stores joined the company to form Magasins Lasalle Stores Ltée. In 1952, Magasins Lasalles Stores Ltée change its name to Épiceries Lasalle Groceteria. The company had 43 affiliated grocery stores at the time. In 1955, there were 50 franchised stores and the company had a revenue of $2 million. The company gained fame in 1956 through an advertisement in La Presse for turkeys at 39 cents. That year, Mayor Jean Drapeau was already talking about implementing in Montreal a rapid transit system to be called the Montreal Metro, which inspired the company to create a division called Metro. Other grocery stores joined the company bringing its number of stores to 73 in 1957 with revenue of $10 million.

Because of the success of the Metro division, the company renamed itself Metro-Lasalle in 1963. In 1972, Metro-Lasalle changed its name to Metro-Ltée. Metro merged with the Marché Richelieu grocery chain in 1975 to become Groupe Metro-Richelieu Inc in 1976.

In the early 1980s, Metro went through harder times because of fierce competition from Provigo and the ongoing recession. Metro merged with Epiciers Unis Inc. and took on the name Metro-Richelieu Inc. (dropping the "Groupe" from its name). During the rest of the 1980s, it fared better and entered the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1986.

Metro suffered from the early 1990s recession. A restructuring plan was established and changes were brought in the management team. Metro acquired 48 of 112 Steinberg supermarkets when that company went bankrupt in 1992. Metro entered the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1993. It acquired Loeb Stores from Loblaws in 1999. The Metro Plus banner was established in the early 2000s. Some of the stores were converted to Super C, and others continued to operate as Loeb. The Super C stores in Ontario were converted to Food Basics. In 2009, the company converted all Loeb stores to Metro.

Mergers and acquisitions

On July 19, 2005, after beating out Sobeys in a bidding war, Metro announced that it had reached an agreement with The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company to acquire A&P Canada, for an acquisition price of $1.7 billion, consisting of $1.2 billion in cash and $500 million in the form of treasury shares of Metro. While the all-cash offer made by Sobeys was reportedly a higher bid than Metro's, it was suggested that the Sobey family was unwilling to cede any control to the Tengelmann Group, the ultimate parent company of A&P at the time. Though Sobeys remained the second largest grocery chain in Canada overall, it was a distant third place in most of the provinces outside the Atlantic region, particularly Ontario, where it was looking to bolster its weak position. Since A&P Canada was the second-largest grocery chain in Ontario after Loblaws, Metro's takeover effectively vaulted it to a strong market position there, where it previously had no presence. The acquisition of A&P Canada was completed on August 15, 2005, with Metro having a network in Quebec and Ontario of 573 full-service and discount food supermarkets, and 256 pharmacies.

On August 7, 2008, Metro announced that it would invest $200 million consolidating the company's conventional food stores under the Metro banner. Over a period of 15 months, all Dominion, A&P, Loeb, the Barn, and Ultra Food & Drug banners were converted to the Metro name. Food Basics stores were not affected as it competes in the discount food segment. Metro now holds the second largest market share in the food distribution and retailing business in Quebec and Ontario with nearly $11 billion in sales and more than 65,000 employees. Its stores operate under the banners Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Marché Ami, Les 5 Saisons and Marché Adonis. Its pharmacies operate under the banners Brunet, The Pharmacy, Clini-Plus, and Drug Basics.

In 2017, Metro acquired the Canadian meal kit service Miss Fresh.

In May 2018, Metro closed a $4.5 billion (CAD) acquisition of the Quebec drug chain Jean Coutu Group, making it one of Canada’s largest retailers and distributors of food and drugs.