M&M Meat Shops
Encyclopedia : M : MM : MMM : M&M Meat Shops
M&M Meat Shops (Les aliments M&M in Quebec) is the largest specialty frozen food store chain in Canada. It has locations in all ten provinces and the Yukon Territory.
Origin
M&M was founded by Mac Voisin and Mark Nowak in Kitchener, Ontario in 1980. Voisin and Nowak's original business model was to provide good quality meat at lower prices. The partners discovered that flash frozen meats retained their freshness, but because they could be stored over a longer term, could be sold at a price comparable to supermarket meats.
M&M locations are generally small outlets in strip malls, consisting of several freezers, a counter, a conspicuous price list, and a cashier. M&M claims to have higher sales per square meter than businesses in comparable locations, and lower overhead costs than other speciality food retailers.
Growth
M&M opened its first new franchise in nearby Cambridge, Ontario in 1982. Mac's brother and co-owner, Greg Voisin, became director of franchising in the mid-1980s. Since then, it has expanded to over 375 stores across Canada. M&M entered Quebec in 1992 and in 1997, it entered the western provinces by acquiring the business of Jeffrey's Food, based in Calgary, Alberta. Mac and Greg's brother, Guy Voisin, as well as sister, Janie Simpson also work for the company.
Athough it originally focused on cuts of meat, it has expanded its offerings to appetizers, pizza, pasta, seafood, desserts and single serving dinners. Recently, it has added a line of specialty ice cream.
A world record
M&M Meat Shops has twice held the world record for longest sausage: first in 1983 and again in May 1995 with a 46.3 km (29 mile) sausage produced in conjunction with J.M. Schneider, its biggest supplier.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.