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Sobeys Inc. is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,500 supermarkets operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than $16 billion CAD in 2012. It is part of the conglomerate Empire Company. ==History== Sobeys was founded in Stellarton, Nova Scotia by John W. Sobey in 1907 as a meat delivery business. In 1924 his son Frank H. Sobey convinced him to expand into a full grocery business, serving the industrial Pictou County region. From that point until his death, Frank was the driving force behind the business. Sobeys opened its first self-serve supermarket in 1949. The chain eventually expanded throughout Atlantic Canada. During most of the second half of the 20th century it was the region's dominant grocer. In the 1980s, Sobeys expanded into southern Ontario, challenging Loblaws on its "home turf", thereby igniting what came to be a nationwide battle for market supremacy. Sobeys had significant stakes in New England grocer Hannaford and Quebec grocer Provigo until the 1990s. In 1998, Sobeys became the second-largest grocer in the country after purchasing the Oshawa Group, owners of the IGA franchise across Canada, along with several regional chains in Ontario, in addition to various food service and wholesale companies. In 2001, Sobeys abandoned a two-year $90 million investment in an Enterprise Resource Planning system because of failed project management. In 2005, Sobeys lost a bidding war with Quebec-based Metro to acquire A&P Canada, operator of several Ontario supermarket chains. The all-cash offer made by Sobeys was reportedly the highest bid for the chain, but the U.S. parent, The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, ultimately accepted Metro's $1.7 billion cash-and-stock offer. It is also suggested that the Sobey family was unwilling to cede any control to the Tengelmann Group, the ultimate parent company of A&P at the time. Though Sobeys remained the second largest grocery chain in Canada, it was the third place chain in most of the provinces outside the Atlantic, and the successful purchase of A&P Canada would have helped to bolster its position in Ontario. In 2007, Sobeys announced a $260 million takeover offer for the Thrifty Foods chain in British Columbia. The company operates more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and distributes goods to thousands of wholesale customers. In 2011, Sobeys' wholesale division signed a long-term distribution agreement with American retailer Target for the supply of select food and grocery products to its Canadian stores. In June 2013, Sobeys announced the purchase of Safeway's Canadian operations for $5.8 billion, subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition will add Safeway's 214 locations, primarily located in Western Canada, to its portfolio. Sobeys has not yet determined whether it will maintain the Safeway brand post-acquisition. As a condition of the deal imposed by the Competition Bureau in October 2013, Sobeys was required to sell 23 of its retail locations to other companies. Sobeys sold 29 of its locations, which included 18 Safeway stores. Fifteen were sold to Overwaitea Food Group (particularly in British Columbia and Alberta), and fourteen were sold to affiliates of Federated Co-operatives (particularly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) for $430 million in total.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.leaderpost.com/life/Canada+Safeway+changeover+operative+effort/9868426/story.html )〕 In June 2014, Sobeys announced that it would, in the wake of the Safeway purchase, close 60 of its "underperforming" locations. The stores affected are primarily in Western Canada, although some in Ontario and the Atlantic region are also affected. In 2015, Sobeys acquired the store and gas units of Co-op Atlantic. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sobeys」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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