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Sobeys reaches milestone in FreshCo expansion plan

Seven new locations announced for discount grocery format

Russell Redman

January 28, 2021

2 Min Read
FreshCo_BC_store_closeup_0.jpg
Empire Company Ltd., Sobeys' parent, has now confirmed 37 of about 65 planned FreshCo stores in Western Canada.Sobeys/Empire

Sobeys Inc. parent Empire Company Ltd. is set to pass the halfway point in the expansion of its FreshCo discount supermarket format.

Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based Empire this week announced seven new FreshCo locations, including six in Alberta and one in northern Ontario. The Canadian food and drug retailer Company has now confirmed 37 of about 65 planned FreshCo stores in Western Canada.

In December 2017, Empire unveiled plans to convert underperforming Safeway and Sobeys supermarkets in Western Canada — amounting to approximately 25% of the banners’ 255 locations in the region — to FreshCo outlets over the following five years.

The first FreshCo opened in Western Canada in April 2019, in Mission, British Columbia. Since then, the company has opened 15 FreshCo stores in British Columbia, two in Manitoba and four in Saskatchewan.

Under Empire’s Project Horizon three-year growth plan, announced in July, plans call for 10 to 15 FreshCo stores to be opened in fiscal 2021. By the end of fiscal 2022, the company plans to have 37 FreshCo locations open for business in Western Canada.

“Empire’s discount network has grown 23% since we opened our first store in the West only two years ago,” Mike Venton, general manager for discount formats at Sobeys, Empire’s food retail subsidiary, said in a statement. “We are committed to delivering market share growth through Project Horizon. Alberta is ripe with opportunity for Empire to compete with a strong discount offering. We are now more than halfway through our FreshCo expansion in Western Canada.”

Related:Sobeys eyes more market share after Q2 sales gains

The six new FreshCo locations slated for Alberta — all conversions of Safeway supermarkets — include Brentwood in Calgary, Millbourne Mall in Edmonton, Saddle Ridge in Calgary, Coliseum in Edmonton, Palisades Square in Edmonton and Gateway Village Mall in St. Albert. Closures of the Safeways are slated to begin in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, with reopenings under the FreshCo banner expected at the end of the fiscal 2022 second quarter.

In Ontario, plans call for the Safeway supermarket in Thunder Bay to close in the fiscal 2002 first quarter and reopen as FreshCo store in the following quarter.

Empire noted that it will work with the unions representing affected Safeway employees in Alberta and northern Ontario to ensure all terms of their collective bargaining agreements are met. The company said it also will collaborate with the respective unions to offer options to impacted employees, including the opportunity to work at Safeway stores within the network or in the new FreshCo locations.

Related:More Farm Boy stores coming from Sobeys

Of upcoming stores, six are expected to open in Manitoba (four) and Alberta (two) in spring 2021, one in Saskatchewan in summer 2021, seven in Alberta (six) and Ontario (one) in fall 2021, and one in Alberta in winter 2021-22.

Store closing and conversion costs are estimated at $11.7 million pretax and will be charged to earnings in the fiscal 2021 third quarter, according to Empire.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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