Retailer Profiles : Sobeys
Profile Pages such as this one on the site will be dedicated to providing specific information on individual companies that are leaders in the food retailing industry.( As a reminder, this is a personal website with no direct affiliation to any company )
Sobeys :
◊ 62% owned by the Sobeys Family Empire Companies Limited they are the 2nd largest food distributor in Canada behind Loblaw Companies Limited and are headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia.
◊ Their purchase of the Oshawa Group's business in 1998 gave them their base for expanding beyond Eastern Canada but Competition Bureau rulings prevented them from buying the assets in Atlantic Canada for the most part.
◊ To name only a few, operating under the Sobeys, Garden Market IGA, and Price Chopper banners in Canada they have over 1300 corporate and franchised stores along with the Needs convenience store chain , Empire Theaters, Lawtons Drug Stores and assorted shopping centres. Together with Empire, Links to their operations are :
Empire Companies Limited IGA Quebec Crombie Properties - Atlantic Shopping Centres
Sobeys Corporate Site Sobeys Consumer Site Lawtons Drug Stores
TRA Atlantic Empire Theaters IGA Commisso's Food Markets
◊ Employing over 75,000 people, the sales for Sobeys operations last year was $ 10.4 Billion Canadian which is 98% of Empires total revenue of $ 10.6 Billion with net earnings for Sobeys being $ 179 Million. Their fiscal year runs from May to May making comparisons to other companies a little more difficult to interpret.
◊ The figures shown above do not include those of the Commisso's Food Markets operations in Ontario which were bought in December 2003 for approximately $ 65 Million and includes 15 stores, Cash & Carry outlets as well as their distribution centre.
Did You Know ?
◊ There have been consistent rumors about the sale of Sobeys to Wal-mart but other interested parties over the years unofficially have been the Delhaize Group from Belgium and Tesco from Britain.
◊ Prior to joining Sobeys their current CEO Bill McEwan worked with A&P as the head of their U.S. Atlantic Region.
◊ Up until 1999 Sobeys owned shares in the Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain in the U.S. state of Maine which was sold to Delhaize America from the Delhaize Group. Part of the transaction converted Hannaford shares over to the Delhaize company. ( I have not heard of them selling these shares and assume they still own a piece of that company ? )
◊ Through searching the Industry Canada Intellectual Property Office ( CIPO ) you can find trademark information for any Canadian company including Sobeys that includes product lines, store formats etc. that were never used or developed. For example, the Pavillon Trademark was registered and abandoned as a store banner years ago and the Pharmacy logo shown was initially contested by Zellers / Hudson's Bay Company then because of the images shown within the trademark. They later withdrew opposition.
