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Loblaw Companies Limited () is the largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,690 supermarkets operating under a variety of regional banners, including the namesake Loblaws. Headquartered in Brampton, it is Canada's largest retailer with sales of more than $23 billion Canadian in 2002. The company is also one of the largest employers in Canada with more than 130,000 full- and part-time employees. Employees at Loblaw, excluding management, are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers labor union. Loblaw encompasses 1,100 corporate and franchised stores, 800 associate stores and 9,000 independent stores. Loblaw owns the private label brands President's Choice and No Name, with more than 5,000 products. The President's Choice, or PC brand, is innovative as it was amongst the first private labels to be marketed as a higher-quality product, as opposed to other stores' generic brands. Frequent print and television advertising is used to pitch new PC products. The company provides financial services under the PC Financial name. Loblaw's regional divisions include Westfair Foods Ltd. (Western Canada and Northern Ontario), National Grocers (Ontario), Provigo Inc. (Quebec) and Atlantic Wholesalers Ltd. (Atlantic Canada).
Banners Loblaw operates under a number of different regional banners throughout Canada, including the following. While most of these banners are not likely to be abandoned in the near future, the company's current focus is on developing the large-format Real Canadian Superstore banner - which is gradually replacing some Loblaws and Zehrs locations in Ontario - as a national rival to Wal-Mart. Additionally, as part of a recent agreement with unionized employees in Ontario, Loblaw is expected to introduce a new, food-centric supermarket format tentatively called "Great Canadian Food Store" for locations not converted to the Superstore format. The name is subject to change; converted locations may simply use their existing banners. In total, 44 existing Ontario stores are to be converted to either the Superstore or Food Store format between 2006 and 2010, in addition to new constructions and existing Superstores. * History Loblaw was started in 1919 by Theodore P. Loblaw and Justin Cork at the beginning of the "supermarket" revolution. During the 1930s, it grew to become a chain of more than 80 stores. In 1947, George Weston Limited acquired a controlling interest in the company, which became Canada's largest grocery retailer and the third largest in North America. Loblaw Companies Limited was incorporated in 1956, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it introduced its private label brands. From 1961 to 1971, it operated a discount department store, Sayvette. Loblaws was known in the United States primarily for its National Supermarkets chain that operated in Missouri, Illinois and Louisiana. Originally purchased from the National Tea Company, National Supermarkets were a major supermarket chain in the St. Louis, Missouri area until the 1995 sellout to Schnucks Markets. Loblaw has started to bring its Real Canadian Superstore banner to Ontario. The 13,000 m² (140,000 ft²) stores are well known in Western Canada, with food and general merchandise offerings. Many of these new stores were originally going to be large Loblaws Market or Zehrs Market stores but now will instead be branded as Superstores. Analysts say that Loblaw made this decision in reaction to Wal-Mart's announcement to open three Supercentres in Canada by the end of 2006. While several of Loblaw's Superstore locations are now open, the most high-profile Real Canadian Superstore location will be in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The first Valu-mart was in Clinton, Ontario and still exists today. Corporate governance Current members of the board of directors of Loblaw Companies Limited are: John Cassaday, Camilla Dalglish, Robert Dart, Anthony Fell, Mark Foote, Anne Fraser, Anthony Graham, Pierre Michaud, Thomas O'Neill, G. Joseph Reddington, T. Iain Ronald, Galen G Weston (chairman), and Joseph Wright. | ||||||||
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