IGA (Canada)

Last updated
IGA, Inc.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Retail
FoundersIndependent retailer owners
Area served
Canada (primarily Quebec)
Parent Sobeys
Website iga.net
IGA store (left) on Dundas Street in Toronto, September 1957. IGA in Toronto-Dundas Street West, looking north from Glenlake Avenue.jpg
IGA store (left) on Dundas Street in Toronto, September 1957.

IGA is a group of independent grocers in Canada supplied by Sobeys, which franchises the name from IGA, Inc. Acquired by Sobeys as part of its purchase of the Oshawa Group Ltd., it now operates primarily in Quebec.

Contents

The IGA operations in Atlantic Canada were sold to Loblaw Companies Limited (except for Edmundston, Shediac and Dieppe which runs as IGA-Co-op, previously acquired by Sobeys New Brunswick) and were restructured under its existing brands. The company-owned stores west of Quebec now mainly operate under the Sobeys banner. In Ontario, IGA stores have been converted to the Foodland banner.[ citation needed ] There are, however, many IGA stores still operating in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, with one opening in Emerald Park, Saskatchewan in 2016. [1] [2]

IGA Extra locations are larger and carry a wider variety of general merchandise, more akin to the hypermarket model. They include a pharmacy, large bakery, a bank, a bistro, a post office, and a larger selection of food items. IGA Extra launched in the early 2000s to take the place of Sobeys locations in the Quebec City and Montreal areas. In 2015, several Co-op Atlantic stores became IGA stores supplied by Sobeys Quebec after Co-Op decided to exit the grocery store business.

In Quebec, IGA also operates smaller supermarkets. These include Bonichoix and Tradition (a brand introduced in 1999).

In British Columbia, except for the towns of Fort Nelson, Chetwynd and Golden, IGA stores (previously Marketplace IGA) are, for the most part, independently owned and are operated by Georgia Main Food Group. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro Inc.</span> Canadian supermarket company

Metro Inc. is a Canadian food retailer operating in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The company is based in Montreal, Quebec, with head office at 11011 Boulevard Maurice-Duplessis. Metro is the third largest grocer in Canada, after Loblaw Companies Limited and Sobeys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loblaw Companies</span> Canadian retail company

Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners, as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private label program that includes grocery and household items, clothing, baby products, pharmaceuticals, cellular phones, general merchandise and financial services. Loblaw is the largest Canadian food retailer, and its brands include President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh. It is controlled by George Weston Limited, a holding company controlled by the Weston family; Galen G. Weston is the chair of the Loblaw board of directors, as well as chair of the board of directors and CEO of Canada-based holding company George Weston.

Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 billion in the fiscal 2019 operating year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, a Canadian business conglomerate.

Dominion was a national chain of supermarkets in Canada, which was known as the Dominion of Canada when the chain was founded. The chain was founded in 1919 in Ontario and was later acquired by the Argus Corporation. It was later sold to The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which restricted the chain to the Greater Toronto Area. Stores outside Ontario were converted to the A&P banner or sold to third parties. A&P's Canadian division was later acquired by Metro Inc., which rebranded the remaining Dominion stores to its namesake banner in 2008.

Empire Company Limited is a Canadian conglomerate engaged mostly in food retail and corporate investments. Founded in 1963, the company is headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia and owns the Sobeys supermarket chain. In total, the company owns, affiliates or franchises more than 1,500 stores; in addition to Sobeys, brands include Safeway, IGA, Foodland, Farm Boy, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods and Lawtons Drug.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IGA, Inc.</span> American multinational supermarket chain franchise

IGA, Inc. is a voluntary chain of grocery stores that operates in more than 41 countries. Unlike the chain store business model, IGA operates as a franchise through stores that are owned separately from the brand. Many of these stores operate in small-town markets and belong to families that manage them. It was founded in the United States as the Independent Grocers Alliance in 1926. The headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois.

SuperValu, Inc., was an American wholesaler and retailer of grocery products. The company was formerly headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota; it had been in business since 1926. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Natural Foods (UNFI).

Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of supermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to Superstore, or, less commonly, RCSS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food Basics</span> Canadian supermarket chain

Food Basics Ltd. is a Canadian supermarket chain owned by Metro Inc. The company operates 142 stores throughout Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinberg's (supermarket)</span> Defunct Canadian supermarket chain

Steinberg's was a large family-owned Canadian grocery store chain that mainly operated in the province of Quebec and later Ontario. In addition to its flagship supermarket chain, the company operated several subsidiaries across the country. The company went bankrupt in 1992, three years after being sold to private interests, after 75 years in business.

Thrifty Foods is a chain of supermarkets located in British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FreshCo</span> Canadian discount supermarket chain owned by Empire Company Limited

FreshCo Ltd. is a Canadian chain of discount supermarkets owned by Sobeys. It was launched in March 2010. As of September 2023, there were 100 FreshCo stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IGA Supermarkets (Australia)</span> Australian supermarket chain owned by Metcash

Independent Grocers of Australia is an Australian chain of supermarkets. The IGA brand is owned by Australian conglomerate Metcash under their Food & Grocery division, but individual IGA stores are owned and operated independently. Its main competitors are Aldi, Coles and Woolworths. IGA is the fourth largest supermarket chain in Australia, following Aldi overtaking Metcash in supermarket revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BI-LO (United States)</span> American supermarket chain owned by Southeastern Grocers

BI-LO was an American supermarket chain owned by Southeastern Grocers, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time of the banner’s elimination, supermarkets under the BI-LO brand were operated in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pattison Food Group</span> Canadian operator of supermarkets

Pattison Food Group is an operator of supermarkets, based in Langley, British Columbia. It is owned by the Jim Pattison Group. Most stores are under the Save-On-Foods banner, which it launched in 1982.

SaveEasy was a chain of small retail grocery store franchises in the Atlantic Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, owned by Loblaw Companies.

Safeway is a Canadian supermarket chain of 135 full service supermarket stores mostly operating in the western provinces in Canada. It was established in 1929 as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., before being sold in 2013 to Canada's second-largest supermarket chain, Sobeys, a division of the conglomerate Empire Company. Independent since 2013 from the American company it continues to use the same Safeway name and logo as of May 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeastern Grocers</span> American supermarket company

Southeastern Grocers is an American supermarket portfolio headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The portfolio was created by Lone Star Funds in September 2013 as the new parent company for Harveys, Winn-Dixie, and Fresco y Más. Southeastern Grocers was rated #31 in the Forbes 2015 ranking of America's Largest Private Companies. In February 2017, Anthony Hucker was appointed as president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers. On August 16, 2023, the company announced its intention to sell all Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores to German supermarket chain Aldi, and all locations will either remain open under their respective brands or convert into the ALDI brand. SEG has also agreed to divest its Fresco y Más operations, via a sale of the banner that the company expects to close in the first quarter of 2024. The Fresco y Más banner, including all 28 stores and four pharmacies, will be sold to Fresco Retail Group LLC, an investment group focused on food and grocery. Fresco Retail Group, LLC plans for all stores and pharmacies in the Fresco y Más banner to continue operating as they are presently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friendly Grocer</span> Australian supermarket chain

Friendly Grocer is a small supermarket banner operating in Australia. The banner was founded in New Zealand in 1923 and expanded to Australia in 1956. Since the success of Four Square the 'Friendly Grocer' brand was introduced in 2006.

References

  1. "IGA (Canada) - Fresh Food, Friendly Neighbours". Archived from the original on 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  2. Regina Leader-Post (26 August 2016). "First IGA store in Western Canada in 15 years opens in Emerald Park" . Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  3. H.Y. Louie Co. Limited rebrands, introduces new company name: Georgia Main Food Group Archived 2018-10-01 at the Wayback Machine , Western Grocer Media Release, October 1, 2018.