Knob Hill Farms
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Knob Hill Farms was a supermarket chain for the Greater Toronto Area serving supermarkets with international delicacies. Knob Hill farms originally served about ten supermarkets including Cambridge, Markham, Oshawa, Toronto, the western suburbs and Weston.
Knob Hill Farms Era
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History
Knob Hill Farms first opened its headquarters in the 1950s and gradually expanded into Pickering and Markham. Unlike most supermarkets of their day, Stavro's stores were low frills, simply a warehouse like building with rickety metal carts and shevles.Big Box Retailing
Long before Home Depot and Costco arrived in Canada, Knob Hills Farms went big box with their flagship store in Weston, Ontario that was considered the largest supermarket in the Greater Toronto Area for nearly two decades. The 300,000 square foot supermarket was located on Weston Road and Oak Road just south of Highway 401 and is almost encircled by Knob Hill Drive. to the north and east which is named after the supermarket. The CN and the CP runs to the east and was once connected with the supermarket.Other features around the supermarket, other than trees, included a man-made waterfall with three structures to the northwest side which stopped running after its closing and was also featured at the end of its commercials. The area was about 250 to 300m (800 to 1,000ft) from south to north and about 50 m (150 ft) from west to east, with an extra 50m to the northern part featuring parking lots and another 50m with shipping sectors.
The supermarket featured tens of aisles with larger selections on left and right. The meat, cereals, dairy and the miscellaneous sections was in the left side, the cheese section to the north along with coffee and miscellaneous food products. Pasta, wheat products and other types of products were in the middle, the fruits and the vegetables section along with juice section to the northeast, and sweets, delicacies and snacks to the right side, and miscellaneous products in the left.
The south side featured several shops, rides and a photo shop near the west exit. A mural painted in the 1980s featured the History of the Earth from million years ago, to the 1000s and through 1950 and to 1985 encircled the wall. Another mural facing the south side featuring Southern Ontario from downtown Toronto, with a street written as Baloor instead of Bloor Street and the Don Valley Parkway, the western suburbs, the Hamilton Mountain, Niagara Falls and near Fort Erie. Parking lots were situated in the southern part and a parking garage in the east section of the building. A gas bar which was not operated by Knob Hill Farms lies to the southwest. The supermarket also featured two doorways in the east and the west sides. The walkway featured streetlights that looked liked a promenade or a walkway. Other supermarkets were various in size and did not featured the same features as its most used location and sections and aisles were rarely varied. The Crossroads shopping centre is situated north of Knob Hill Farms.
More supermarkets opened in the mid to late 20th century including one in Markham near Woodbine Avenue and Highway 7 (now Michael Angelo supermarket), Cambridge near Hespeler Road (now Sam's Club) and in Oshawa and in the western suburbs.
Knob Hill Farms Goes Online
Towards the end of the franchise, Knob Hills Farms established an internet address, knobhillfarms.com.
The Logo and the Slogan
The most popular slogan was "You Know You'll Get Good Value When You Shop ... at Knob Hill Farms" and used "The Food Terminal" which left on radio advertising until its closing. Its logo featured a black clover that was a v-shape on the bottom and a curved-shape at the top and featured a wheat grain with a Maple Leaf once shown at the top.
Advertisements for the store usually graced the last page of Toronto's dailies, namely a blue and back ad featuring weekly specials.
The closing of Knob Hill Farms
In the summer of 2000, the president Steve Stavro closed all of its Knob Hill Farms chains because more supermarkets opened and one of the buildings, its headquarters, a large building located near Unwin Street was located on a property which was the proposed site for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the bid for which Toronto lost in July 31, 2001. The site once featured several studios. Today's supermarket competitor was Highland Farms. Before the closing, Knob Hill farms featured its closing sale which lasted for a couple of days at all of its supermarkets and later, the supermarket closed. Other Knob Hill Farms already converted into other buildings and some were transformed into other supermarkets. The Cambridge supermarket was demolished, and other, smaller stores now stand in its place.
[Knob Hills Farms famous waterfall]
The building after Knob Hill Farms
After, the closed supermarket became the Close-Out King retailer for some time in the early-2000s and was later abandoned and was reserved for other uses for several years. The Knob Hill Farms located at Weston Rd and Oak St was recently demolished in early 2005, the only remains of the old building is the bolders and pine tress which once surrounded the parking lot. The black barb-wired fence located at the on Knob Hill Dr and Weston Rd was where transport delivery trucks once parked.
Currently the Weston Rd location is being developed for a new Real Canadian Superstore,[link] operated by Loblaws ltd., And will open summer of 2006.
Post Knob Hill Farms
There are considerable differences in the old Knob Hill store and the new Real Canadian Superstore on Weston Road and the 401.
The new Real Canadian Superstore (RCSS) is considerably smaller in size (approx 180,000 sq ft) where the old Knob Hill building was in excess of 300,000 sq ft. The new RCSS is an elevated store with underground and surface parking while the Knob Hill was an at grade building with a small underground parking area.
More importantly the old Knob Hill building was actually an industrial building dating back to the 1930's which was used for the construction and assembly of airplanes. Over the years it was retrofitted for various uses including its last use as a knob Hill food store.
The layout of the building, the lay-out of the site including parking, the age of the structure and support equipment (heating, electrical, roof structure , etc.... were all factors in deciding that it was more economical to demolish the building and create a new building that would service our customer in a better fashion. et is considerably smaller in size, being approximatly 180,000 square feet. The new RCSS is an elevated store with underground and surface parking while the Knob Hill was an at-grade building with a small underground parking area.
More importantly the old Knob Hill building was actually an industrial building dating back to the 1930s (hence the rail spur) which was used for the construction and assembly of aircraft. Over the years it was retrofitted for various uses including its last use as a knob Hill food store.
Overall site and store dynamics, including the age of the structure and support equipment (heating, electrical, roof structure , etc.... were all factors in deciding that it was more economical to demolish the building and create a new building that would service their customers in a better fashion.
Knob Hill Farms Still Standing Today
The Knob Hill Farms building at 500 Howard Street in Oshawa is still standing and no plans are being made to demolish it. Instead the Knob Hill Farms building will be used for other uses. While the building is currently vacant, we are currently completing an Official Plan Amendment and a Zoning Bylaw Amendment to allow industrial uses in the building for the purpose of manufacturing and warehousing adhesive tape and bubble wrap. Only a small portion of the building will be used for the production of these materials while the majority of the building will be used for warehousing.
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