← Home · Suggest a correction

Sobeys Inc.

subsidiary · HQ Canada

Ownership

Wholly-owned food-retail subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia (with a national office in Mississauga, ON). Established in 1907 by John William Sobey. Sobeys Inc. owns, affiliates and franchises more than 1,500 stores across all 10 Canadian provinces under a family of banners (Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo, Chalo! FreshCo, Foodland, IGA, Thrifty Foods, Lawtons, Needs, Rachelle-Bery, Les Marches Tradition, Marche Bonichoix, plus the Voila e-commerce service). Farm Boy and Longo's are held within the Empire group as separate operating businesses. [1][2][3][4]

Brands (7)

• Chalo! FreshCo (discount) 1
• Foodland (full service)
• FreshCo (discount) 15
• IGA (Sobeys-supplied, Canada outside B.C.) (full service) 21
• Safeway (Canada) (full service) 41
• Sobeys (full service) 2
• Thrifty Foods (full service) 25

Other holdings (7)

Businesses and brands these owners hold beyond grocery storefronts.

Food & beverage

• BoniChoix Convenience — Quebec convenience/small-format grocery banner owned and supplied by Sobeys (listed among Empire's store banners). [5][6]
• Needs Convenience Convenience — Atlantic Canada convenience-store chain (140-plus corporate and franchised stores) whose trademark is owned by Sobeys; grew out of the TRA wholesale business. [7][5]
• Compliments House brands — Sobeys' flagship private-label/own brand (roughly 3,400 items), launched under the Compliments name in 2005; includes sub-lines such as Balance and Organic. [8][9]
• Panache (formerly Sensations by Compliments) House brands — Sobeys' premium own-brand line, formerly marketed as Sensations by Compliments and now branded Panache. [8][9]
• Sobeys Liquor (Safeway Wine & Spirits) Liquor — Western Canada liquor-store division (100-plus stores in Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan); Sobeys Liquor acquired Safeway Wine & Spirits in 2014 following the 2013 Canada Safeway purchase. [10][11]
• Sobeys Wholesale (formerly TRA) Wholesale & distribution — Wholesale distribution arm supplying private-label products and independent retailers (incl. convenience stores and gas stations); operates distribution centres in Stellarton, Montreal, Mississauga and Calgary. [9][6]

Non-food & other

• Sobeys Fast Fuel Fuel — Sobeys-owned retail fuel/gas-bar banner (often paired with Needs stores) in Atlantic Canada; Empire operates more than 350 retail fuel locations company-wide. [7][5][12]

Sources

1. Empire Company Limited (corporate homepage) — Empire Company Limited
2. Fast Facts — Empire Company Limited
3. Grocery and Retail (our banners / businesses) — Empire Company Limited
4. Sobeys completes purchase of Canada Safeway — Empire Company Limited / Sobeys Inc. (CNW / Newswire)
5. About Us — Empire Company Limited
6. Sobeys — Wikipedia
7. Needs Convenience — Wikipedia
8. Own Brands — Empire Company Limited
9. Brands - Sobeys Wholesale — Sobeys Wholesale
10. Sobeys Liquor / Safeway Wine & Spirits (2014 acquisition) - web search results — Web search (incl. liquor.sobeys.com About Us)
11. Sobeys to sell 23 stores in Safeway deal, says Competition Bureau — Canadian Grocer
12. Sobeys Fast Fuel / Needs gas bars - web search results — Web search (incl. needs.ca)