View source for Loblaws

{{Short description|Canadian supermarket chain owned by Loblaw Companies Limited}}
{{about|the supermarket chain|its parent company|Loblaw Companies|other uses|Loblaw (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Loblaws Inc.
| logo = Loblaws Brand Logo.svg
| image = Loblaws Store in Bowmanville, ON, September 1 2025.jpg
| image_caption = A Loblaws location in [[Bowmanville, Ontario]]
| native_name_lang = en
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1919|6}} in [[Toronto, Ontario]]
| founders = [[Theodore Loblaw]]<br />J. Milton Cork
| hq_location = 1 Presidents Choice Circle
| hq_location_city = [[Brampton, Ontario]]
| industry = {{Unbulleted list|[[Retail]]|[[Supermarket]]}}
| hq_location_country = Canada
| num_locations = 50
| num_locations_year = 2024
| area_served = {{Unbulleted list|[[Alberta]]|[[British Columbia]]|[[Ontario]]}}
| products = Appliances*, bakery, beer, charcuterie, clothing*, dairy, deli, frozen foods, gardening centre, gasoline*, general grocery, general merchandise, liquor*, meat & poultry, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks <br>{{small|*Select locations}}
| parent = [[Loblaw Companies|Loblaw Companies Limited]]
| brands = {{Hlist|[[No Name (brand)|No Name]]|[[President's Choice]]}}
| services = Click and collect ([[PC Express]]), community room, [[dietitian]], [[dry cleaning]], fashion ([[Joe Fresh]]), [[Optometry|optical]], [[Pharmacy (shop)|pharmacy]], [[walk-in clinic]] (select locations)
| subsid = Loblaws CityMarket
| homepage = {{url|loblaws.ca/}}
}}
'''Loblaws Inc.''' is a Canadian [[supermarket]] chain with stores located in the province of [[Ontario]], and in [[Alberta]] and [[British Columbia]] under the '''Loblaws CityMarket''' banner. Headquartered in [[Brampton]], Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of [[Loblaw Companies|Loblaw Companies Limited]], Canada's largest food distributor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4157662 |title=Loblaws Inc. |work=bloomberg.com |access-date=2018-09-30}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:First Loblaws in Toronto.jpg|thumb|A Loblaws supermarket in Toronto in 1919]]
'''Loblaw Groceterias''' was founded by [[Theodore Loblaw]] and John Milton Cork in 1919.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barndt |first1=Deborah |title=Rutas enmarañadas: mujeres, trabajo y globalización en la senda del tomate |date=2007 |publisher=Metropolitan Autonomous University |isbn=9789703106462 |page=152 |language=Spanish |quote=Loblaw Grocertaria fue fundada en 1919 por J. Milton Cork y Theodore Pringle Loblaw..}}</ref> Loblaw opened the first Canadian self-service supermarket in [[Toronto]] in June 1919. During the 1920s the company grew throughout Ontario.<ref name="tvo">{{cite web |last1=Bradburn |first1=Jamie |title=How a radical idea turned Loblaws into a supermarket empire |url=https://www.tvo.org/article/how-a-radical-idea-turned-loblaws-into-a-supermarket-empire |website=tvo.org |date=15 January 2019}}</ref> By the 1930s it had 107 stores in Ontario and 50 in the state of [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name="tvo" /> 

In 1947, [[Garfield Weston]] struck a deal to acquire a block of 100,000 shares of Loblaw Groceterias Co. Limited, which had become one of the country's leading supermarket chains.<ref name=Canadabiggestgrocer>{{cite news|last=Honderich|first=Beland|title=World's baking king now Canada's biggest grocer|newspaper=Toronto Daily Star|date=October 4, 1947}}</ref> By 1953, [[George Weston Limited]] had established majority control. 

Loblaws stores operated across Canada until the early 1960s when most locations in western Canada were [[rebranded]] as [[SuperValu (Canada)|SuperValu]], and later as [[Real Canadian Superstore]]. 

Retail sales and earnings were in decline in the 1970s as Loblaws' aging chain of supermarkets looked increasingly uncompetitive.<ref name= summitmeeting>{{Citation | title = The summit meeting that changed course for giant Loblaw | newspaper = Toronto Star | location = Toronto | date = January 25, 1973}}</ref> The company initiated a broad marketing strategy that saw a prototype store renovated and remodelled in new colours and a new Loblaws logo. In the mid-1970s stores in the United States were sold to [[Bells Markets]]; however, some Loblaws stores in northwestern Pennsylvania continued operation into the early 1990s. 

In 1996, in addition to revitalizing the look of its stores, Loblaw management earmarked $40 million for the development of its in-house, private-label program.<ref name=Acelebration>{{Citation | title = A celebration of Loblaw Companies Limited | publisher = Canadian Grocer | location = Toronto | year = 1996}}</ref>

=== Super Centre ===
'''Super Centre''' was a hyper supermarket banner used by Loblaws during the 1990s in Ontario. Some stores were an expansion from the '''Super-Valu''' banner. These stores were about {{convert|60000|to(-)|120000|sqft}} in size on average, larger than standard supermarkets, sold a wider selection of merchan{{shy}}dise (including department store merchan{{shy}}dise, such as clothing), and contained in-store [[pharmacies]]. The initial concept was successful, but many of their locations failed as competition grew. 

The concept was abandoned by the late 1990s with locations being downsized, re-branded as Loblaws stores and sold altogether. The brand survived in [[Atlantic Canada]] as Atlantic Superstore, now [[Real Atlantic Superstore]].

===21st century===
[[File:Loblaws in Heartland Town Centre interior 2021.jpg|thumb|Interior of the Loblaws at [[Heartland Town Centre]]]]
Beginning in 2008, some new and renovated Loblaws stores were given a new store format and were named "Loblaw Great Food", dropping the red-orange curved-L logo. Stores under this banner are also subject to slightly different collective-agreement terms with the [[United Food and Commercial Workers]], the [[trade union|union]] representing Loblaw employees. 

The chain's location on the site of the former [[Maple Leaf Gardens]] in [[Toronto]], opened in late 2011, is promoted as simply Loblaws and uses the familiar "L" logo, but is officially named "''Loblaws'' Great Food", indicating that similar terms are in place at that store.<ref>{{cite web|author=[[United Food and Commercial Workers|UFCW]] Local 1000A|date=2011-11-30|title=New Loblaws Great Food Opens at Historic Maple Leaf Gardens Site|url=http://www.ufcw1000a.ca/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=108:new-loblaws-great-food-opens-at-historic-maple-leaf-gardens-site&Itemid=326|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426052311/http://www.ufcw1000a.ca/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=108:new-loblaws-great-food-opens-at-historic-maple-leaf-gardens-site&Itemid=326|archive-date=April 26, 2012|access-date=2011-12-15}}</ref> 

On July 19, 2013, Loblaws introduced their new concept "Loblaws CityMarket" in British Columbia (in North Vancouver, Richmond and Vancouver). Loblaws CityMarkets are now operational in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. 

On July 23, 2015, Loblaws announced the planned closure of 52 non-profitable stores over the following year.<ref>{{cite news |title=Loblaws closing 52 unprofitable stores over next 12 months |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaws-closing-52-unprofitable-stores-over-next-12-months-1.3164578 |access-date=April 25, 2019 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=July 23, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Loblaws in Toronto Edlinton Ave E 2023.jpg|thumb|A Loblaws in Toronto Midtown in 2023]]

In December 2017, Loblaws and [[George Weston Limited]] disclosed to the [[Competition Bureau (Canada)|Competition Bureau]] that it had arranged to [[bread price-fixing in Canada|fix the price of bread from 2000 to 2014]]. In response, the chain offered a $25 gift card to Canadian customers as a gesture of goodwill, but was met with public backlash over its restrictions and lack of remorse.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sagan |first=Aleksandra |date=December 22, 2017 |title=Loblaw hit with backlash over response to bread price-fixing scheme |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/12/22/loblaw-hit-with-backlash-over-response-to-bread-price-fixing-scheme.html |work=[[Toronto Star]] |agency=[[The Canadian Press]] |access-date=January 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Strauss |first=Marina |date=January 8, 2018 |title=Loblaw's bread-fixing gift card assailed as 'deceitful public relations' campaign |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/loblaw-launches-bread-price-fixing-gift-card-offer-with-some-restrictions/article37523613/ |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |access-date=January 8, 2018}}</ref> The two companies agreed to pay $500 million to settle the lawsuit in July 2024, with the class action lawsuit against several other retailers continuing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-07-25 |title=Loblaw, George Weston to pay $500M for bread price-fixing scheme in record antitrust settle |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaw-bread-price-settlement-1.7274820 |work=CBC News |agency=[[The Canadian Press]]}}</ref>

==Programs==
Loblaws offers a grocery pickup service called PC Express where customers can order groceries online and select a time slot to pick up their orders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loblaws.ca/online-grocery-shopping|title=Online Grocery Shopping at Loblaws {{!}} Loblaws|website=www.loblaws.ca|access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> The rewards program used at Loblaws is PC Optimum which allows customers to accumulate points from purchases of certain items to be used in increments of ten dollars on purchases.

It is a participant in the voluntary [[Scanner Price Accuracy Code]] managed by the [[Retail Council of Canada]].<ref name="Harris">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/price-code-free-1.6263904|title=Attention shoppers: Overcharged for an item at checkout? You might be able to get it for free|last=Harris|first=Sophia|publisher=[[CBC News]]|date=28 November 2021|access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada|Food|Companies}}
*[[List of supermarket chains in Canada]]
*[[Dave Nichol]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.loblaws.ca/}}

{{George Weston Limited}}
{{Canadian Supermarkets}}

[[Category:Companies based in Brampton]]
[[Category:Loblaw Companies]]
[[Category:Supermarkets of Canada]]
[[Category:1919 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1919]]
[[Category:Canadian companies established in 1919]]