Loblaw Companies

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Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: [L]) is the largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,690 supermarkets operating under a variety of names including:

Atlantic Superstore,
Atlantic Cash & Carry,
Atlantic SuperValu
SaveEasy,
Dominion Stores (Newfoundland and Labrador),
Extra Foods,
Maxi,
Provigo,
Fortinos,
Loblaws,
No Frills,
Real Canadian Superstore,
Valu-Mart,
Your Independent Grocer, and
Zehrs.

These banners are largely regional in nature, for example, Fortinos operates in several Ontario communities, such as Hamilton, and a few Toronto suburbs such as Brampton. Zehrs is mostly found in Western Ontario. No Frills stores is found across Ontario as the downmarket banner.

Loblaw owns the private label brands President's Choice and No Name, with more than 5,000 products. The President's Choice, or PC brand, is innovative as it was amongst the first private labels to be marketed as a higher-quality product, as opposed to other stores' generic brands. Frequent print and television advertising is used to pitch new PC products.

The company provides financial services under the PC Financial name.

Loblaw, headquartered in Brampton, is also Canada's largest retailer with sales of more than $23 billion Canadian in 2002. The company is one of the largest employers in Canada with more than 130,000 full- and part-time employees. Employees at Loblaw, excluding management, are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers labor union. Loblaw encompasses 1,100 corporate and franchised stores, 800 associate stores and 9,000 independent stores.

Loblaw has started to bring its Real Canadian Superstore banner to Ontario. The 13,000 m2 (140,000 ft2) stores are well known in Western Canada, with food and general merchandise offerings. Many of these new stores were originally going to be large Loblaws Market or Zehrs Market stores but now will instead be The Real Canadian Superstore. Analysts say that Loblaw made this decision in reaction to the threat of Wal-Mart potentially opening supercentres in Canada. While several locations are now open, the most high-profile Real Canadian Superstore location will be in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

The first Valu-Mart was in Clinton, Ontario and still exists today.

History

Loblaw was started in 1919 by Theodore P. Loblaw and Justin Cork at the beginning of the "supermarket" revolution. During the 1930s, it grew to become a chain of more than 80 stores.

In 1947, George Weston Limited acquired a controlling interest in the company, which became Canada's largest grocery retailer and the third largest in North America.

Loblaw Companies Limited was incorporated in 1956, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it introduced its private label brands.

From 1961 to 1971, it operated a discount department store, Sayvette.

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Loblaw Companies Limited are: John Cassaday, Camilla Dalglish, Robert Dart, Anthony Fell, Anne Fraser, Anthony Graham, John Lederer, Pierre Michaud, Thomas O'Neill, G. Joseph Reddington, T. Iain Ronald, Galen Weston (chairman), and Joseph Wright.

External links

[Loblaw Companies Limited]

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