improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message sobeys inc. type subsidiary industry retail grocery 1 founded stellarton nova scotia 1907 headquarters stellarton nova scotia key people francois vimard interim president & ceo products grocery number of employees 125 000 2014 parent empire company subsidiaries big 8 beverages safeway canada freshco foodland price chopper needs convenience lawtons thrifty foods slogan better food for all . website www.sobeyscorporate.com www.sobeys.com retail site sobeys inc. is the second largest food retailer in canada with over 260 supermarkets operating in canada and around 1500 under a variety of banners . headquartered in stellarton nova scotia it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than 16 billion cad in 2012 . it is part of the conglomerate empire company . contents 1 history 2 private label brands 3 banners 3.1 iga 3.2 safeway 3.3 price chopper 3.4 sobeys urban fresh 3.5 sobeys extra 3.6 former grocery banners 3.7 other sobeys owned enterprises 4 loyalty programs 4.1 club sobeys 5 locations 5.1 alberta 5.2 british columbia 5.3 manitoba 5.4 new brunswick 5.5 newfoundland and labrador 5.6 nova scotia 5.7 ontario 5.8 prince edward island 5.9 saskatchewan 6 empire company 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit this section contains embedded lists that may be better presented using prose . you can help by converting the list or lists to prose if appropriate . editing help is available . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message sobeys corporate office stellarton ns sobeys was founded in stellarton nova scotia by john w. sobey in 1907 as a meat delivery business . in 1924 his son frank h. sobey convinced him to expand into a full grocery business serving the industrial pictou county region . from that point until his death frank was the driving force behind the business . sobeys opened its first self serve supermarket in 1949 . the chain eventually expanded throughout atlantic canada . during most of the second half of the 20th century it was the region s dominant grocer . in the 1980s sobeys expanded into southern ontario challenging loblaws on its home turf thereby igniting what came to be a nationwide battle for market supremacy . sobeys had significant stakes in new england grocer hannaford and quebec grocer provigo until the 1990s . in 1998 sobeys became the second largest grocer in the country after purchasing the oshawa group owners of the iga franchise across canada along with several regional chains in ontario in addition to various food service and wholesale companies . in 2001 sobeys abandoned a two year 90 million investment in an enterprise resource planning system because of failed project management . in 2002 sobeys undertook major changes in its store design and customer service policies with the introduction of ready to serve . this initiative was reportedly an attempt to emulate the successful moves of the publix supermarket chain in the southern united states . 1 in 2005 sobeys lost a bidding war with quebec based metro to acquire a & p canada operator of several ontario supermarket chains . the all cash offer made by sobeys was reportedly the highest bid for the chain but the u.s. parent the great atlantic and pacific tea company ultimately accepted metro s 1.7 billion cash and stock offer . it is also suggested that the sobey family was unwilling to cede any control to the tengelmann group the ultimate parent company of a & p at the time . 2 though sobeys remained the second largest grocery chain in canada it was the third place chain in most of the provinces outside the atlantic and the successful purchase of a & p canada would have helped to bolster its position in ontario . in 2007 sobeys announced a 260 million takeover offer for the thrifty foods chain in british columbia . 3 in september 2011 sobeys wholesale division signed a long term distribution agreement with american retailer target for the supply of select food and grocery products to its canadian stores . 4 in march 2012 sobeys acquired 236 shell gas station locations in quebec and atlantic canada . 5 in june 2013 sobeys announced the purchase of safeway s canadian operations for 5.8 billion subject to regulatory approval . the acquisition added safeway s 214 locations primarily located in western canada to its portfolio . 6 as a condition of the deal imposed by the competition bureau in october 2013 sobeys was required to sell 23 of its retail locations to other companies . sobeys sold 29 of its locations which included 18 safeway stores . fifteen were sold to overwaitea food group particularly in british columbia and alberta and fourteen were sold to affiliates of federated co operatives particularly in alberta saskatchewan and manitoba for 430 million in total . 7 8 9 in june 2014 sobeys announced that it would in the wake of the safeway purchase close 60 of its underperforming locations . the stores affected were primarily in western canada although some in ontario and the atlantic region were also affected . 10 11 in 2015 sobeys acquired the store and gas units of co op atlantic . 12 in july 2016 empire company ceo marc poulin abruptly left the company after sobeys reported a 942.6 million loss which was credited to difficulties in integrating the safeway chain into sobey s overall operations . the financial post also reported that changes made by sobeys including the discontinuation of its popular loyalty program the replacement of safeway s house brands with sobeys brands reports of poorly stocked inventories at safeway locations had impacted the chain s customer loyalty . 13 exterior of a typical sobeys store pre ready to serve private label brands edit the sobeys private label lineup has carried several names . its private label products were introduced under the sobeys name ; by the mid 1990s they had been renamed our best . after its purchase of oshawa group sobeys dropped our best in favour of oshawa s our compliments brand . in 2005 sobeys shortened the name to compliments . at the same time it expanded the brand s product lineup to make it more comparable to competing private labels such as loblaw s president s choice brand . from 2007 to 2010 sobeys offered compliments junior products aimed at children and co branded with the walt disney company . in late 2009 lower price store brand products were transitioned from compliments value to the signal brand which had been used by sobeys in the 1990s for a similar range of products . after the oshawa group merger sobeys had dropped that name for to oshawa s smart choice label and later for compliments value . 14 private label soft drinks are branded big 8 in atlantic canada . elsewhere soft drinks bear the compliments brand . banners edit needs convenience sobeys gas bar in addition to the flagship sobeys banner the company operates supermarkets under a number of other banners iga edit iga and iga extra are the main banners in the province of quebec . there are also 88 iga stores in western canada and 105 in ontario . however sobeys has announced that it plans to convert most of the remaining iga stores in ontario to the price chopper now freshco foodland or sobeys banners . 15 an iga store is also located in mainly french speaking edmundston new brunswick and an iga extra in caraquet new brunswick ; it is a rebranded sobeys location . marketplace iga stores in british columbia are independently owned by h.y. louie 16 parent of london drugs . these stores also carry compliments products . sobeys has reportedly made unsuccessful attempts to purchase the marketplace chain . 3 at the time of the sobeys takeover of the oshawa group all iga locations in atlantic canada were purchased separately by loblaws for competition reasons . loblaws converted these iga locations to one of their own banners . safeway edit main article safeway canada in june 2013 sobeys announced its intent to acquire the canadian locations of safeway for 5.8 billion . 6 price chopper edit sobeys operates the smaller discount grocery store price chopper which has 118 locations in nine provinces and the northwest territories . the company also operates the foodland chain that is located mainly in rural areas of newfoundland and labrador nova scotia new brunswick and ontario . other smaller grocery stores are operated under the tradition markets banner in quebec and the food town banner in western canada . sobeys operates thrifty foods a chain of 29 grocery stores and an online grocery service based in victoria british columbia . 17 in 2010 sobeys launched freshco a discount banner . the pilot stores are rebranded price chopper outlets in southern ontario . 18 sobeys urban fresh edit in 2008 edmonton got a new urban format sobeys in its downtown core with street access and a unique building . other edmonton locations are being proposed such as college heights and cloverdale as well as locations in calgary and vancouver . these urban locations are catered to the crowd of the area and sometimes have different types of food compared to suburban versions . citation needed the sobeys urban format in downtown edmonton closed in the summer of 2014 . according to a sobeys representative it just wasn t financially viable for us to operate . 19 sobeys extra edit in november 2013 sobeys unveiled its first sobeys extra store in burlington ontario . the newly refurbished 58 000 sq. ft. store is the first one launched under the sobeys extra banner in canada . 20 former grocery banners edit commisso s food markets in ontario were rebranded as sobeys and price chopper . food city from the oshawa group in ontario were mainly rebranded as price chopper . garden market iga stores in western canada were rebranded as sobeys . dutch boy a chain in the kitchener waterloo area of ontario was rebranded as sobeys . knechtel a small market grocery store chain under oshawa group was rebranded as foodland . lofood a small discount grocery store was rebranded as price chopper . calbeck s an independent chain acquired in 1990 was rebranded as sobeys price chopper and foodland other sobeys owned enterprises edit the company owns the needs sobeys express and bonichoix convenience store chains and the lawtons drug store chain in atlantic canada . sobeys also owns the wholesale food distribution company tra atlantic . the company delivers products to retail outlets such as convenience stores and gas stations throughout atlantic canada . tra also operates the kwik way and clover farm convenience store chains . at some sobeys locations tobacco products are sold in a separate sobeys owned store called griffins . these outlets are a part of the sobeys store but are only accessible from the outside due to provincial laws prohibiting stores with pharmacies from selling tobacco products . a number of sobeys and needs stores in nova scotia and new brunswick have a gas bar branded sobeys fast fuel . sobeys express known as iga express in quebec stores feature produce and take out meals alongside items commonly found in a convenience store . some of its locations are operated as the convenience