Maxi (Canadian supermarket)

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Maxi
Company typeDivision
IndustrySupermarket (Maxi)
Hypermarket (Maxi & Cie)
Founded1984
ProductsBakery, beer, dairy, deli, frozen foods, gasoline[1], general grocery, general merchandise[1], liquor[1], meat & poultry, produce, seafood, snacks, wine
Number of employees
7,000[2]
ParentLoblaw Companies
Websitemaxi.ca

Maxi is a discount grocery retailer based in Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1984 by Provigo, it is a division of Loblaw Companies[3] and the largest of Loblaws' Quebec supermarket chains. Maxi is the Quebec equivalent of No Frills, a chain of franchised discount grocery stores outside Quebec, except that Maxi stores are owned by the company. Over 7,000 people are employed at the Maxi and Maxi & Cie stores across Quebec.

History

Maxi's second logo from about 1994 to 2004

The first Maxi store opened November 15, 1984 in a former Kmart location at the corner of Chambly Road and Jacques-Cartier Boulevard in Longueuil.[4][5] It was Provigo's answer to the rising success of Super Carnaval which had just opened a branch in the same city two months earlier.[5] Maxi was intended to be a spinoff larger version of Héritage and was sometimes referred to as Maxi-Héritage or Héritage-Maxi in its early years.[6][7]

By 1987, Maxi had grown up to a chain of seven locations with stores in Longueuil, Châteauguay, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Saint-Leonard, Lasalle, Pointe-Claire and Trois-Rivières-Ouest.[8][9] Today, the original Longueuil store operates as a Maxi & Cie hypermarket. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, Maxi used a cartoonish elephant as the mascot of its flyers, in a move similar to that of its sister chain Héritage which used a kangaroo.[10][11][12][13]

Of the 22 locations that parent company Provigo acquired from Steinberg in 1992, half of them went to Maxi alone, while the other half was split between the Héritage and Provigo banners.[14] In 1993, several Provigo stores (especially the larger ones) were rebranded as Maxi locations. Maxi absorbed the Héritage chain in 1995 to reach a total of 67 locations.[15]

Maxi became a division of Loblaws following the latter's acquisition of Provigo in 1999.[16] Maxi briefly used to have stores in Ontario, but they were converted to No Frills after Loblaws purchased Provigo.[2] There were 90 Maxi stores and 23 Maxi & Cie in 2017 within the province of Quebec.

Maxi & Cie

Maxi & Cie logo

The chain's Maxi & Cie/Maxi & Co. locations are larger and carry a wider variety of general merchandise, more akin to the hypermarket model (such as Real Canadian Superstore). Some Maxi & Cie stores are themselves former Maxi stores that were converted because of their larger size. The first Maxi & Cie opened on September 24, 1996 on Jean-Talon street in Saint-Leonard, Quebec and is still in operation.[17]

Like with Maxi, Maxi & Co. used to have stores in Ontario, but Maxi & Co. withdrew from Ontario after the Loblaws purchase of the chain. The 1998 movie Pushing Tin had a scene at one of the Maxi & Co. stores in Ontario.

Maxi & Cie banner was retired on May 19, 2019 and consolidated. All 23 Maxi & Cie stores are now operated under the Maxi Banner

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Select locations
  2. ^ a b "Maxi – Who We Are". Retrieved July 28, 2013.
  3. ^ "About Us". Loblaw Companies. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  4. ^ "Provigo riposte et ouvre un «Maxi» à Longueuil". La Presse. Montreal. November 15, 1984. p. E2.
  5. ^ a b "Provigo lance Maxi sur la Rive Sud. La guerre du gigantisme se poursuit dans le secteur de l'alimentation". Le Devoir. Montreal. November 20, 1984. p. 11. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  6. ^ "Maxi Héritage,un magasin au goût des clients". Le Soleil. Quebec City. November 21, 1984. p. C3.
  7. ^ "Des milliers de personnes envahissent Maxi". Le Nouvelliste. Trois-Rivières. December 2, 1985. p. 3.
  8. ^ "L'ouverture de MAXI retardée de quelques semaines". Le Nouvelliste. Trois-Rivières. March 2, 1987. p. 22.
  9. ^ "Le MAXI Centre ouvrira en avril". Le Nouvelliste. Trois-Rivières. September 10, 1986. p. 9. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  10. ^ "Maxi advertisement page". La Presse. Montreal. July 2, 1986. p. H2.
  11. ^ "Maxi's advertisement page". La Presse. Montreal. October 7, 1992. p. A6.
  12. ^ "Héritage advertisement". La Tribune. Sherbrooke. July 8, 1989. p. S4.
  13. ^ "Héritage advertisement page". La Seigneurie. Boucherville. June 23, 1992. p. A12.
  14. ^ "Alimentation:Provigo, Métro et IGA ont consolidé leur part de marché". La Presse. Montreal. December 29, 1992. p. C2.
  15. ^ "Maxi advertisement page". La Voix de l'Est. Granby. April 22, 1995. p. 6.
  16. ^ [1][dead link]
  17. ^ "Trois nouveaux Maxi & Cie". Le Devoir. Montreal. December 13, 1996. p. A8. Retrieved February 4, 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maxi_(Canadian_supermarket)&oldid=920346129"