food basics in the united states see food basics usa . food basics industry retail founded 1995 headquarters toronto ontario number of locations 115 1 products food general merchandise non food parent metro inc. slogan always more for less 1 website http www.foodbasics.ca food basics is a discount canadian supermarket chain owned by metro inc. the company operates over 115 stores throughout ontario . 1 food basics was created by a & p canada to compete with the successful no frills warehouse style supermarket operated by loblaw companies . it became part of the metro group when a & p canada was sold to metro in 2005 . food basics lowers its prices in a number of ways low maintenance no free plastic bags just free cardboard boxes store decor is kept to a minimum and fewer staff are employed mostly in part time positions . the chain operates by pushing higher volumes on a limited selection of products than metro stores allowing it to compete price wise with other grocery stores . there are 117 locations in ontario . 36 were franchise stores until metro inc. purchased all stores back by the end of 2008 . some food basics feature a pharmacy and are known as food & drug basics . some locations are former super fresh or a & p supermarkets dating from when both chains were operated by a & p 2 or formerly bore banners such as a & p owned dominion supermarket or m tro owned super c. in the past the owners names appeared on the banner e.g. john jane s food basics ; however all stores are now simply called food basics . concurrent with this change is a different slogan which was changed from best prices everyday to always more for less in fall 2006 metro inc. began to renovate food basics stores . the design and format of these new stores closely resemble metro s super c banner in quebec . new store signs feature broken lettering and a larger emphasis on yellow green and beige colours . in spring 2007 metro inc. initiated their new bdms inventory system into all of its warehouses . a food basics store in toronto . a food basics store in markham . contents 1 labour relations 2 controversy 3 locations 3.1 ontario 4 private label brands 4.1 previous private label brands 5 see also 6 references 7 sources 8 external links labour relations edit food basics is represented by the united food and commercial workers union . food basics mostly offers part time positions and each store has few full time positions . in 2015 overnight positions were discontinued by most stores because of budget reasons . controversy edit food basics eliminated giving out free cardboard boxes at the front end in which customers relied heavily on for their needs . boxes are still set aside for customers upon request but most are diverted to the compression unit in which the company receives a refund for recycled cardboard . food basics charges 0.05 per plastic bag but this has resulted in customers bringing in their own re usable shopping bags . since 2009 food basics stores started using coin operated shopping carts which requires a deposit of 0.25 at some stores in an attempt to reduce shopping cart removal . some stores were forced to discontinue coin operated shopping carts because of negative feedback from customers . locations edit ontario edit 124 locations ajax 2 ancaster barrie belleville blenheim bracebridge brampton 4 brantford 2 brockville burlington 3 cambridge 2 chatham cornwall 2 dunnville elmira etobicoke 3 georgetown goderich grimsby guelph 3 hamilton 6 hanmer hanover kanata kemptville keswick kingston 3 kitchener 4 leamington lindsay listowel london 5 markham midland milton mississauga 6 new liskeard newmarket niagara falls 2 north bay north york 2 oakville 2 orillia ottawa 6 owen sound pembroke port colborne port perry richmond hill 2 rockland sarnia sault ste. marie 2 scarborough 5 simcoe smiths falls st. catharines 2 stittsville stratford strathroy sudbury 3 timmins thornhill 3 toronto 7 waterloo welland windsor 2 woodstock private label brands edit food basics carries many products from metro s private label brands irresistibles premium quality products selection regular store brand products simply 1 2 3 low price health and beauty products citation needed simply kids baby products including diapers baby food and other baby products citation needed great basics finds ready to assemble furniture clothing housewares and other seasonal items that are specially priced available in limited quantities for a limited time citation needed previous private label brands edit master choice premium quality products . equality regular store brand products . basics for less large economy sized products . the baker s oven bakery products see also edit super c supermarket metro inc. list of canadian supermarkets food basics usa the now unrelated us based no frills supermarket chain currently controlled by a & p references edit a b c more about us . food basics . retrieved 2016 07 21 . http business.highbeam.com 4524 article 1g1 15975130 p canada begins store conversions a & p canada begins store conversions . great atlantic and pacific tea company inc. sources edit zwiebach elliot . a & p canada is forming franchise unit . supermarket news . november 27 1995 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to food basics . official website metro inc. v t e supermarket chains in canada loblaw companies atlantic superstore dominion extra foods fortinos freshmart loblaws maxi no frills provigo real canadian superstore saveeasy supervalu t & t valu mart wholesale club your independent grocer zehrs metro inc. food basics metro super c march adonis overwaitea food group overwaitea foods pricesmart foods save on foods urban fare sobeys foodland freshco iga except in british columbia price chopper safeway sobeys thrifty foods other national chains costco walmart regional chains calgary co op ab calgary area choices market bc vancouver kelowna co op atlantic maritimes qc farm boy on ottawa area kingston fairway markets bc victoria area foodex nl galati market fresh on toronto h mart bc & on highland farms on greater toronto area iga bc longo s on greater toronto area march frais qc ottawa northern northmart northern canada saskatoon co op sk saskatoon area spud bc alberta whole foods market bc & ontario defunct banners a & p ayre s supermarkets commisso s food markets dominion food city galati brothers h ritage knob hill farms loeb miracle food mart sav a centre steinberg s super centre target ultra food & drug village food stores zellers 2 stores still remain in ontario list of supermarket chains in canada v t e the great atlantic & pacific tea company inactive banners a & p fresh best cellars a & p wine & spirits food basics waldbaum s a & p canada a mart dominion family mart farmer jack food basics canada pantry pride richmond virginia futurestore kohl s food stores miracle food mart plus sav a center super fresh canada superplus food stores ultra food & drug warehouse economy outlet people evelyn adams emmett ashford richard f. colburn bill corbus michael j. cullen jimmy duncan e. lebron fairbanks george gilman edward v. hartford george huntington hartford george ludlum hartford huntington hartford john augustine hartford christian w.e. haub bill mcewan produce pete steve peters floyd james thompson products bokar coffee eight o clock coffee quaker maid red circle coffee former facilities a & p warehouse a & p food stores building great atlantic and pacific tea company warehouse related a & p the a & p gypsies bark pepsi 400 presented by farmer jack great atlantic & pacific tea co. v. supermarket equipment corp. john a. hartford foundation new community corporation supermarket superstar tengelmann group woman s day retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title food basics & oldid 737411770 categories 1995 establishments in ontariocompanies based in torontometro inc.discount stores of canadaretail companies established in 1995supermarkets of canadathe 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