Sobeys

Sobeys Inc. is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,500 supermarkets operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than $25 billion CAD in 2019. It is part of the conglomerate Empire Company.
== History ==
Sobeys was founded in 1917 by John Sobey as a grocery store. The first store opened in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Eventually, his son joined the company, and they opened several new stores throughout Nova Scotia. In a time before Loblaws entered the Atlantic Canadian market, Sobeys quickly became one of the most popular grocery stores in the region. 
Throughout the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, Sobeys expanded throughout all of Atlantic Canada. By the 1970s, Sobeys had 65 locations. At this time, Dominion was their biggest competitor. 
In the 1980s, Loblaws became a competitor when Loblaws opened Atlantic Superstore locations throughout Atlantic Canada. During this time, Sobeys expanded outside of Atlantic Canada and into Ontario. 
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Sobeys opened many more locations, and expanded to Western Canada.
In 1998, Sobeys bought out the Oshawa Group, which were the owners of the Canadian division of IGA Stores, they also owned Price Chopper (Not affiliated with the American chain) and Pharma plus drug stores, which were since bought out by Rexall Pharmacy. Because of the buy out, some smaller Sobeys turned into IGA, and some IGA stores turned into Sobeys. This also let Sobeys expand into Quebec with IGA stores. 
In 2002, Sobeys did a large renovation and expansion of many of their stores, their tagline was "Ready to serve" which was shown on buildings with the renovation. In 2007, Sobeys bought the Thrifty Foods chain for 253 Million dollars, this helped expand Sobeys into Western Canada.
In 2011, Sobeys bought 236 Shell Gas Stations in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Also in 2011, Sobeys made a distribution agreement with Target Canada to supply groceries to sell in their stores. 
In 2013, Sobeys bought out all of Safeway's Canadian stores, as part of the deal, the Canadian government made Sobeys sell some of their stores to other grocery stores to avoid Sobeys becoming a conglomerate and getting too big.
Throughout the 2010s, Sobeys closed 60 stores, this was due to troubles integrating Safeway Canada into Sobeys. Some of these stores turned into Freshco, a grocery store owned by Sobeys. 
In 2020, Sobeys stopped having Plastic Bags at their stores. You now have to buy a reusable bag which are available for purchase at checkout.
== Store Concepts ==
This only covers Sobeys branded stores, and not other stores owned by Empire/Sobeys. 
=== Sobeys ===
* A normal Sobeys store, they are usually 30 000 to 35 000 square feet. They sell normal grocery store items. Normal Sobeys usually have Sobeys Pharmacies in them, and some have garden centres. 
=== Sobeys Extra ===
* Sobeys Extra stores are larger than normal stores, at around 50 000 to 56 000 square feet. They offer more selection and departments than a typical store. Some Sobeys Extra stores have Starbucks in them. In recent years, Sobeys Extra has started to be phased out, and some locations have been turned into normal Sobeys locations
=== Sobeys Urban Fresh ===
* In 2008, Sobeys started opening some Sobeys Urban Fresh locations, these are smaller than usual Sobeys locations and are located in Urban areas such as Toronto. 
=== Sobeys Fast Fuel/Sobeys Express ===
* Some Sobeys in Atlantic Canada have Sobeys Fast Fuel gas bars within the parking lot or near the Sobeys. These gas bars usually have Needs Convenience or Sobeys Express stores attached to them. 
== See Also ==
* Sobeys Website: https://www.sobeys.com/en/
* Price Chopper (Canada) 
* IGA
* Safeway
Category:Supermarkets
Category:Grocery stores
Category:Canada
Category:North America
Category:Empire Company
Category:Retailers
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands
Category:Companies founded in Canada