A&P Canada
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Supermarket |
Fate | Renamed Metro |
Founded | 1927 |
Defunct | December 2009 |
Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Products | Master Choice products; Dairy, frozen foods, grocery, general merchandise (non-food), meat/deli, pharmacy, produce, snacks |
Parent | Metro Inc. |
Website | www.metro.ca |
A&P Canada was a Canadian supermarket company from 1927 to 2009.
In 1927, A&P opened its first stores in Canada. By 1929, A&P was present in 200 communities in Ontario and Quebec.[1]
A&P Canada left the Quebec market in 1984, and in 1985 acquired Dominion Stores in Ontario. It acquired Miracle Food Mart and Ultra Food&Drug in 1989.[1]
In 1995, it acquired the Barn Markets, based in Hamilton, Ontario, and opened its first discount grocery store, Food Basics.[1]
In 2005, A&P Canada Co. operated 135 stores under the Dominion, A&P, Ultra Food & Drug and the Barn Markets banners, and 101 Food Basics stores. It employed over 30,000 employees in Ontario.[1]
On July 19, 2005, Metro Inc. announced that it had reached an agreement with The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. and its subsidiary, A&P Luxembourg S.à.r.l., to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of A&P Canada, for an acquisition price of $1.7 billion, consisting of $1.2 billion in cash and $500 million in the form of treasury shares of Metro. The sale was completed on August 15, 2005.
On August 7, 2008, Metro announced it would invest $200 million consolidating the company's conventional food stores under the Metro banner. Over a period of 15 months, all Dominion, A&P, Loeb, The Barn and Ultra banners were converted to the Metro name. Food Basics stores were not directly affected because they compete in the discount food segment,[2] but did see A&P's Master Choice store brand replaced with Metro's Selection and Irresistibles brands.
See also
- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (former parent company)
- List of Canadian supermarkets
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 History of A&P Canada from Metro Inc. website
- ↑ Metro Inc. Press Release August 7 2008 Archived February 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
References
- March 15, 2007 – FLAVORx/SAVEURx+ Inks Deal with A&P Canada (A Division of Metro)
- National Post – FP Trading Desk – Merrill Lynch remains 'neutral' on Metro Inc. Posted: March 23, 2007, 2:00 PM by David Pett