Food Galore!
This is a story about about a man named Frank Sobey who took a
single store to create a national food chain .
It all started with his father - John William Sobey. John
William had a horse drawn carriage deliverying meat and local
produce to local residents in Stellarton, Nova Scotia in 1907. In
1924, his son Frank convinced him to setup a full line grocery
store.
It is from this beginning that the Sobeys' chain of groceries
stores began. By 1939, there were six Sobeys stores in the
surrounding counties. Throughout the 1950's and 1960, Sobeys
expanded throughout Atlantic Canada. Frank's three sons also became
active in the company operations. In 1998, the Sobeys chain become
a national company with its takeover of The Oshawa Group - a
Toronto based supplier of Canada IGA stores. Codville - IGA chain
was a very large retailer in Western Canada.
Frank Sobey had a very strong local hometown pride. As his chain
was growing, he insisted that the corporate head office remains in
the small town the company was born in - Stellarton, Nova Scotia.
Many of his children are still there and running the company from
there.
