Dominion

Dominion was a Canadian grocery store chain, it was once one of the largest grocery store chains in Canada until it was bought out by several companies and eventually re-branded to various other chains. 
== History ==
In 1919, Robert Jackson and William J. Pentland opened the first Dominion grocery store in Toronto, Ontario. The two were businessman from America which had previously worked for A&P Supermarkets. In the same year, They opened a second brand-new store. On top of that, they bought 18 Loblaws stores and re-branded them into Dominion stores. 
By the next year, they already had 61 stores. In 1929, the owners attempted to partially buy-out Loblaws, but just as they wanted to go through with the deal, the great depression has started, because of this, they pulled out of the deal.
In the early 1930s, Robert Jackson went into bankruptcy and pulled out of the business. In 1933, William J. Pentland died in a car crash. Dominion didn't have a proper CEO for the company until 1939 when J. William Horsey became the new CEO. 
In the 1940s, Dominion was sold to the Argus Corporation. They closed many stores, Dominion's store count went from almost 600 down to just under 200. 
Throughout the 1950s, Dominion once again saw immense growth in the company, they expanded into Atlantic Canada, Western Canada, and Québec. By the end of the decade, they were operating in almost every province. During this time, they started opening larger, non-downtown locations with large parking lots in suburban areas.
In 1963, Dominion bought out the Newfoundland based Ayre's Supermarket chain, which meant they now operated in all 10 provinces. 
In the late 1970s, the Argus Corporation saw a management change. Argus cut back on spending for Dominion stores. 
In 1981, the Québec locations were sold off to Provigo
In 1985, Argus wanted to get rid of Dominion, so they sold the chain to the Canadian division of A&P supermarkets. In the same year, all of the Nova Scotian Dominion stores were sold to Oshawa Group and re-branded to their IGA banner. 
In 1987, A&P sold off the New Brunswick locations to The Food Group which subsequently re-branded the Dominion locations to Village Food Stores. 
In the 1990s, all A&P locations in the Greater Toronto Area were re-branded to Dominion, where as the non GTA locations were re-branded to Food Basics or A&P. 
In 1995, the Newfoundland locations were sold off to Loblaws. Instead of re-branding these stores, they kept the Dominion name and changed the logo to fit the Loblaws theme. Even today, these stores are still named Dominion, but the actual stores are just like Loblaws stores.
Also in the 1990s, all of the Western Canada locations were liquidated and closed. These stores weren't bought out by anyone in particular. 
By the 2000s, Dominion was now only operating in Ontario. 
== The End ==
In 2005, Metro bought the Canadian division of A&P, this meant they owned both A&P and Dominion stores in Canada. 
In 2008, Metro announced that they would be re-branding all A&P Canada and Dominion stores to Metro. This re-brand was complete by 2009, marking the end of Dominion grocery stores.
Category:Supermarkets
Category:Grocery stores
Category:Canada
Category:Defunct
Category:Retailers
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands
Category:Companies founded in Canada