This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2019) |
Company type | Discount store chain |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1947 |
Defunct | 2008 |
Fate | Filed for bankruptcy, stores shut down, chain bought on asset basis |
Headquarters | Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
Products | Clothing, grocery, footwear, bedding, beauty products, and housewares. |
SAAN Stores Ltd. was a Canadian chain of discount department stores founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
SAAN is short for Surplus Army, Air Force, Navy. The chain's head office was in Mississauga, Ontario, and its main distribution center and Stores Support Office complex were located in Winnipeg, with an additional distribution outlet in Montreal. SAAN also operated a small chain of clearance stores called Red Apple Clearance Centres.
SAAN had more than 350 stores in the late 1990s; however, by May 2005, after it emerged from bankruptcy protection, this was reduced to 142 outlets in a number of communities (mostly smaller towns and cities) across Canada. [1]
SAAN was established in 1947 by founders Albert and Sam Cohen, who opened their first store on Main Street in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Surplus items from the Canadian armed forces (hence the store's name) were the company's first supply source until its sales grew and more SAAN stores opened. [1] From there, the number of stores grew to over 200 in Western Canada and Ontario, focusing on clothing, footwear and accessories. SAAN expanded into Eastern Canada in February 1997 with the acquisition of 89 locations once owned by other retailers including Greenbergs; that same year, the chain added hard goods such as kitchen items, bed and bath items, furniture, toys, housewares, stationery and health and beauty products to their product lines.
By the late 1990s, SAAN had more than 350 stores. By May 2005, however, after it emerged from bankruptcy protection, this was reduced to 142 outlets in a number of communities (mostly smaller towns and cities) across Canada. [1]
In June 2008, SAAN announced they would be closing all stores within 8 to 10 weeks, with a going-out-of-business sale being conducted by a joint venture group led by Great American Group LLC, which specialized in providing liquidation services. All remaining 126 stores closed within the following weeks, with some closing earlier than others. Most of the chain's locations and its intellectual properties were bought on an asset basis by TBS Holdings, owner of The Bargain! Shop chain, in August 2008.
A convenience store, convenience shop, bodega, corner store, corner shop, or superette is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as tea, coffee, groceries, fruits, vegetables, snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines.
Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the early stages of the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.
Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears—a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the American Sears chain—which operated a national mail order business and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after those of Sears in the U.S. After the Hudson's Bay Company purchased Simpsons in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled and Hudson's Bay sold its shares in the joint venture to Sears; with Sears now fully owning the company, it was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. From 2014, Sears Holdings owned a 10% share in the company. ESL Investments was the largest shareholder of Sears Canada.
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.
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's and then Eaton, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying-offices around the globe, and a mail-order catalog that was found in the homes of most Canadians. A changing economic and retail environment in the late twentieth century, along with mismanagement, culminated in the chain's bankruptcy in 1999.
Giant Tiger Stores Limited is a Canadian discount store chain which operates over 260 stores across Canada. The company's stores operate under the Giant Tiger banner in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan; under the GTExpress and Scott's Discount banners in Ontario and under the Tigre Géant banner in Quebec.
Consumers Distributing was a catalogue store in Canada and the United States that operated from 1957 to 1996. At its peak, the company operated 243 outlets in Canada and 217 in the United States, including stores in every province in Canada and in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Nevada.
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.
London Drugs is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Richmond, British Columbia. As of August 2024, the chain has 79 stores in Western Canada. In addition to pharmacy services, London Drugs locations also sell electronics, housewares, cosmetics, and a limited selection of grocery items.
No Frills is a Canadian chain of discount supermarkets, owned by Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited. There are over 200 franchise stores located in nine Canadian provinces.
The Food Emporium is a chain of grocery stores in New York and New Jersey. The supermarket banner was created by Shopwell Inc., whose roots can be traced to Daitch Crystal Dairies. Shopwell Inc. was acquired by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in 1986 and at the time, the company operated the upscale, gourmet banner stores in and around New York City; Westchester County, NY; and Fairfield County, CT. The Food Emporium grew throughout the 1990s, converting many of its New York-area A&P stores to The Food Emporium and expanding the chain to New Jersey. The 2000s brought new, stronger competition to the New York area, and the chain shrank, receding mostly to Manhattan. At the time of A&P's liquidation in 2015, The Food Emporium had 11 stores. The banner was acquired from bankrupt A&P in late 2015 by Key Food Stores Co-op, Inc., which currently operates thirteen of The Food Emporium stores.
Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods and electronics. The company, which first began in 1934 as a five-and-dime store, was in existence for 68 years before ceasing operations in 2002.
There are two castings of the well-known statue of Timothy Eaton, the famous Canadian retailer: one in Toronto, Ontario, the other in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Albert Diamond Cohen, LLD was a Canadian entrepreneur, community builder, philanthropist, and Officer of the Order of Canada. He was Chairman, Co-President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Gendis Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange listed Canadian real estate and investment company headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At one time, Gendis held a 51% stake in Sony of Canada and owned the SAAN Stores retail chain.
Princess Auto is a Canadian retail chain specializing in farm, industrial, garage, hydraulics and surplus items.
United Furniture Warehouse (UFW) was a Canadian retail furniture chain operating locations in Western Canada and Ontario. The company billed itself as "offering warehouse-style shopping at the lowest possible prices." The company was founded in 1981 by John Volken, an immigrant who arrived in Canada from East Germany in 1960 at the age of 18. It "was one of the first businesses to sell at warehouse prices and to operate without commission sales staff or in-store decor."
The Bargain! Shop Holdings, Inc., also known as TB!S, is a Canadian discount variety store chain operating in all Anglophone provinces in Canada.
Nygård International was a Canadian clothing brand, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that was founded and named after Peter Nygård. It was the largest producer of women's apparel in Canada.
Metropolitan Stores of Canada Ltd. was a Canadian variety department store chain based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.