The story
Founded by John William Sobey in 1907, in Stellarton.1
History
Sobeys was founded in Stellarton, Nova Scotia by John W. Sobey, a former carpenter, in 1907 as a meat delivery business.
In 1921, Sobey's son, Frank, became a partner of the company and added six new grocery stores serving the Pictou County and Antigonish County regions. In 1946, Sobey's opened its first supermarket in New Glasgow after purchasing the operations to Barker Store. By this time, Frank was the first president of J. W. Sobey Stores Limited. By late 1977, Sobeys had 65 store locations.
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, Quebec grocer Provigo (which owned California grocer Petrini's), and US wholesaler Nash Finch Company 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 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.
In 2005, Sobeys lost a bidding war with Quebec-based Metro to acquire A&P Canada, operator of several Ontario supermarket chains. The all-cash offer made by Sobeys was reportedly the highest bid for the chain, but the U.S. parent, The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, ultimately accepted Metro's $1.7 billion cash-and-stock offer. It is also 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, it was the third place chain in most of the provinces outside the Atlantic region, and the successful purchase of A&P Canada would have helped to bolster its position in Ontario.
In 2007, Sobeys announced a $253 million takeover offer for the Thrifty Foods chain in British Columbia.
In September 2011, Sobeys' wholesale division signed a long-term distribution agreement with American retailer Target for the supply of select food and grocery products to its Canadian stores. In March 2012, Sobeys acquired 236 Shell gas station locations in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
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In June 2013, Sobeys announced the purchase of Safeway's Canadian operations for $5.8 billion, subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition added Safeway's 214 locations, primarily located in Western Canada, to its portfolio. As a condition of the deal imposed by the Competition Bureau in October 2013, Sobeys was required to sell 23 of its retail locations to other companies. Sobeys sold 29 of its locations, which included 18 Safeway stores. Fifteen were sold to Overwaitea Food Group (particularly in British Columbia and Alberta), and fourteen were sold to affiliates of Federated Co-operatives (particularly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) for $430 million in total. In June 2014, Sobeys announced that it would, in the wake of the Safeway purchase, close 50 of its "underperforming" locations. The stores affected were primarily in Western Canada, although some in Ontario and the Atlantic region were also affected. In 2015, Sobeys acquired certain assets and select liabilities of Co-op Atlantic.
In July 2016, Empire Company CEO Marc Poulin abruptly left the company after Sobeys reported a $942.6 million loss, which was credited to difficulties in integrating the Safeway chain into Sobeys overall operations. The Financial Post also reported that changes made by Sobeys, including the discontinuation of its popular loyalty program, the replacement of Safeway's house brands with Sobeys' brands, reports of poorly stocked inventories at Safeway locations, had impacted the chain's customer loyalty.
In January 2018, Sobeys announced an agreement with Ocado to open an e-commerce grocery fulfilment centre in Toronto during late 2020. In contrast, Sobeys-owned Thrifty Foods and IGA use their stores as fulfilment centres for online orders.
In late January 2018, Sobeys announced that it would, in the wake of the Safeway purchase, close an additional 10 of its "underperforming" locations. The stores affected were in the Fraser Valley Area of British Columbia in Western Canada, and were closed on May 5 with the exception of one of the ten stores that were closed on July 28. Some of the stores affected would reopen as FreshCo. As part of the FreshCo expansion in Western Canada, 22 locations have been confirmed, including the first two Chalo! FreshCo stores out West in Surrey, B.C.
In July 2019, Sobeys announced it will be switching from plastic to paper grocery bags in all its stores by the end of 2020.
In September 2023, David Sobey, former chief executive and chair of the Sobeys Inc. grocery store chain, died at the age of 92.
Air Miles (2015–2022)
In early 2015, Sobeys announced that the Air Miles loyalty program would be extended into Ontario on March 27, 2015, replacing the Club Sobeys loyalty program. This was a result of a new agreement between Air Miles and Metro, which extended Metro's partnership but gave up its exclusivity in the grocery category in Ontario.
When Sobeys became an Air Miles partner, its partnership was restricted to Quebec and Atlantic Canada—the same territory rights held by Oshawa Group prior to its acquisition by Sobeys in 1998. Air Miles had partnered with Safeway for all of its locations across western Canada and northwestern Ontario, while A&P Canada (later Metro) had the rights in the rest of Ontario. In June 2014, shortly after its acquisition of Safeway Canada (Air Miles' original grocery partner), Sobeys announced plans to expand its Air Miles participation to Sobeys, IGA, Foodland and Thrifty Foods stores in Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario on September 12, 2014, replacing Club Sobeys and Club Thrifty Foods in those areas.
In 2022, 95 accrued reward miles (with each mile earned for every $20 spent) could be redeemed for $10 off of purchases.
Scene+ (2022–present)
In June 2022, Empire Company announced that it would end its participation in Air Miles and switch to the Cineplex Entertainment and Scotiabank-owned Scene+ program at its grocery and pharmacy chains. Empire will also hold an ownership stake in the company. The transition began with Atlantic Canada on August 11, 2022, to be followed by a nationwide rollout to Quebec (IGA), Ontario and Western Canada through late 2022 to early 2023.
From Wikipedia’s article on Sobeys, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5