Metropolitan

Metropolitan Stores / The Met was a national variety/discount department store chain in Canada. At one point they were a popular chain throughout most of Canada. However, they eventually fell behind because of competition from larger retailers like Kmart, Woolco/Walmart, and Zellers. By the turn of the century, Metropolitan was acquired by SAAN and most locations were converted to the SAAN banner, marking the end of this historical variety chain.
== History ==
=== F.H. Brewster ===
In 1908, F.H. Brewster founded the F.H. Brewster company. The first location was opened in Saint Thomas, Ontario. Soon after, several other locations were opened in other medium sized Ontario cities such as Chatham and London. Brewster had quite bad luck with his chain, as one of his locations collapsed before it even opened and one burned down only a couple years after opening. However, he pursued and continued to open new locations and replace the collapsed and burned down locations. 
In 1913, a new store opened in Brantford, Ontario. However, once again, this store burned down and collapsed shortly after opening. This happened while there were employees and customers inside the building.
=== Metropolitan Stores ===
On May 11th, 1920, Brewster reincorporated his store as Metropolitan Stores. The chain merged with the American Metropolitan Stores to create this new company. Because of the merger, Metropolitan now had over 130 locations across Eastern Canada and parts of the United States.
In March 1929, Metropolitan opened their new Canadian headquarters in London, Ontario.
Throughout the 1930s, Metropolitan was acquired by several different companies. By 1934, Metropolitan had ceased all operations in the United States, becoming a Canadian only chain.
Throughout the next couple decades, Metropolitan made major expansions all across Canada, and eventually expanded into the Western Canadian market. The Metropolitan name was in almost every province at this point. 
In October 1960, a major incident happened at a store in Windsor, Ontario when the whole back of the building collapsed after a furnace exploded. This incident ended up killing 10 people that were in the store. 
In 1961, H.L. Green sold Metropolitan to Richardson & Sons, which were a Winnipeg based company for $19 Million dollars. After the buyout, the company was once again reincorporated as Metropolitan Stores of Canada Limited. 
A few months later, General Distributers Limited purchased a major stake in Metropolitan. They focused on expanding the chain further. At this time, their headquarters were moved to Pointe-Claire, QC. By the end of the decade, Metropolitan had over 110 stores across all provinces except Newfoundland & Labrador. 
In the 1970s, Metropolitan continued to expand with more locations. They also operated stores under the Greenberg name. During this time, Metropolitan started opening larger locations in suburban shopping centres. 
=== The End of Metropolitan ===
In the 1980s, Metropolitan began to struggle because of competition from other discount chains. Because of this, many locations were liquidated and closed. Some locations were converted to SAAN.
In the 1990s, a new store concept called Met Mart was made. This was made to compete with Walmart, which had just entered the Canadian market. Unfortunately, this store concept was a failure, and more stores continued to close as the company was loosing money. 
On February 11th, 1997, Metropolitan filed for bankruptcy. The company was unable to stabilize, so all 169 Metropolitan and Greenberg were permanently closed. SAAN purchased 89 stores and they were rebranded as such. This marked the end of Metropolitan.
Category:Discount stores
Category:Canada
Category:USA
Category:North America
Category:Defunct
Category:Retailers
Category:Companies
Category:Brands
Category:Franchises
Category:1908 establishments
Category:Companies founded in Canada