Canadian Retail Thread

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

When Loblaw's bought Zehrs, they not only retained the name but I think opened additional supermarkets in central southwestern Ontario under the Zehrs name. On the other hand, when Sobeys took over the old Dutch Boy supermarkets in Kitchener, they eventually rebranded them as Sobeys. That was a bit of a risk as the common perception at the time was that K-W shoppers would not patronize a grocery that was not "local" (there was a long history of national chains trying unsuccessfully to penetrate the local market). It seems that perception was not entirely accurate, as the Sobey's continue to operate here (although Zehrs dominates the local market, it seems to me).

In the case of Safeway, I wonder Sobeys won't be obliged to change the name, given the Safeway name in the States? I guess it will depend on what they negotiated in the purchase. Where both Sobey's and Safeway already exist, I suppose stores could be rebranded with some of Sobeys other company banners.

Interesting read regarding Zehrs. Re-branding is always a tricky thing to get right. You risk alienating your customer base in an attempt to create a strong uniform brand across all regions. I still miss 'Dominion'. That brand was one of my earliest images of Canada when I landed in Halifax aged 11.

I still associate that brand closely with Canada although my association is not one others will have. Massey-Ferguson and Consumers Distributing are 2 others I continue to miss.