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Sobeys was founded in Stellarton, Nova Scotia by John W. Sobey, a former carpenter, in 1907 as a meat delivery business. In 1921, Sobey's son, Frank, became a partner of the company and added six new grocery stores serving the Pictou County and Antigonish County regions.
Since 1907, Sobeys has been a proud part of the evolution of Canadian history and values. In celebration of Canada’s 150th and our 110th, join us in looking back at some key moments in both the history of Canada, and of Sobeys.
Our History. A proudly Canadian business, here’s how Sobeys Inc. has grown from a small meat delivery business in Stellarton, Nova Scotia to more than 1,600 stores across the country. Scroll across to see Sobeys Inc. grow through the years to become the iconic Canadian company it is today.
- Customer First
- Investment and Reward
- A People Business
- Long-Term Growth
- From Coast to Coast
- Proudly Sobeys
Sobeys is a successful and unique business because it never strayed from what’s most important: Customers come first. In the food business, that means great people providing customers with great service, first and foremost in the stores, but also from suppliers, folks all along the distribution chain and in the management offices. They never lose t...
Sobeys’ present and future is informed by the values of the past, by the principles that have guided its growth for 110 years. When talking to employees across the country about what Sobeys stands for, the responses differ but the stories have common threads. The insights of company leaders today and from years past are the same. Donald R. Sobey, a...
When David F. Sobey talks about the business, you won’t hear the former CEO highlight his own achievements. The Sobeys don’t talk about what they’ve done. They talk about what they’ve learned from others, what they have experienced and admired in the people who make their enterprise a success. It’s a people business, David says. It took a great man...
Sobeys is always moving ahead, because building and growing is what great companies do. That’s another inherent value at Sobeys. Way back in the 1940s, the six-store Nova Scotian grocery chain bought out an eight-store chain, its bakery and its warehouse, which allowed Sobeys to stock more national brands. The move paid off. At the end of the centu...
In 1907, J.W. Sobey left his job helping to build the Allan coal mine to start a meat delivery business and later open a small store. It was a bold move at the time. His son, Frank, displayed the same quality when he opened a second store, and later a cash-and-carry outlet, the first in the region. The same drive and determination that made J.W. a ...
In many ways, Sobeys’ story is unique in the 150-year history of Canada yet the growth of Sobeys mirrors the building of our nation. Like Canada, Sobeys spread from east to west until both stretched across a continent. The company grew from one Nova Scotia store with a handful of employees to a company that reaches coast to coast. Sobeys, its franc...
Sobeys 110 Timeline. Scroll down to search 110 years of Sobeys history. Or use the menu in the top right corner to jump to a specific decade or Sobeys milestone (in green). Discover what was happening in Canada that same year by clicking on the maple leaf icon.
Established in 2014, the Sobeys Inc. Better Food Fund supports access to, and the advancement of, better food through donations and partnerships with national and regional charities. To learn more about the Better Food Fund and our partners, click here.
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Sobeys executed an audacious takeover in 1998 that gave it national reach for the first time. It acquired The Oshawa Group Ltd., a grocery distributor based in Toronto, in a CAD 1.5 billion leveraged buyout.
