 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Supermarket |
| Founded | 1927; 98 years ago (1927) |
| Defunct | December 2009 |
| Fate | Absorbed intoMetro Inc. |
| Headquarters | Toronto,Ontario, Canada |
| Products | Master Choice products; Dairy, frozen foods, grocery, general merchandise (non-food), meat/deli, pharmacy, produce, snacks |
| Parent | The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (1927–2005) Metro Inc. (2005–2009) |
| Website | www.metro.ca |
A&P Canada Company was a Canadian supermarket company that operated from 1927 until 2009, when its stores wererebranded under the Metro name byMetro Inc.
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 acquiredDominion Stores in Ontario. It acquiredSteinberg's Ontario grocery store chainsMiracle Food Mart andUltra Food&Drug in 1990 when the company divested them under new management (Miracle Mart rebranded by 1994 and Ultra by 2008).[1]
In 1999, it acquired the Barn Markets, based inHamilton, Ontario, and opened its first discountgrocery store,Food Basics.
In 2005, A&P Canada Co. operated 135 stores under the banners of:A&P,Dominion andUltra Food & Drug, in addition to The Barn Markets andFood Basics. It employed over 34,000 employees in Ontario.[1]
On July 19, 2005, Metro Inc. announced that it had reached an agreement withThe 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'sMaster Choice store brand replaced with Metro'sSelection andIrresistibles brands.