Maxi (Canadian supermarket)

Maxi
Division
Industry Supermarket (Maxi)
Hypermarket (Maxi & Cie)
Founded 1984
Products Bakery, 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]
Parent Loblaw Companies
Website maxi.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 in November 1984 at the corner of Chambly Road and Jacques-Cartier Boulevard in Longueuil and was Provigo's answer to the rising success of Super Carnaval which had just opened a branch in the same city two months earlier.[4] By 1986, Maxi had grown up to a chain of six locations with stores in Longueuil, Châteauguay, Saint-Leonard, Lasalle, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, and Trois-Rivières.[5] 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. In 1996, Maxi enjoyed so much success that the chain stopped producing flyers as the company felt such practice had become unnecessary. This turned out to be a miscalculation and Maxi eventually started making flyers again.

Maxi became a division of Loblaws following the latter's acquisition of Provigo in 1999. [6]

A lot of Maxi stores today were those that were Steinberg supermarkets until that chain went bankrupt in 1992. In 1993, several Provigo stores (especially the larger ones) were rebranded as Maxi stores. Maxi absorbed Provigo's older brand Héritage in 1995. Maxi briefly used to have stores in Ontario, but they were converted to No Frills after Loblaws purchased Provigo.[2] There are 96 Maxi stores and 16 Maxi & Cie in 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. 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.[7]

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.

During 2009, a few Loblaws stores in Quebec were converted to Maxi & Cie, particularly in Montréal-Nord & Laval.

Locations

Quebec

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Select locations
  2. 1 2 "Maxi – Who We Are". Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "About Us". Loblaw Companies. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  4. ↑ "Provigo lance Maxi sur la Rive Sud. La guerre du gigantisme se poursuit dans le secteur de l'alimentation". Le Devoir. Montreal. 20 November 1984. p. 11. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  5. ↑ "Le MAXI Centre ouvrira en avril". Le Nouvelliste. Trois-Rivières. 10 September 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  6. ↑ http://origin-www.loblaws.ca/en_CA/community/who-we-are.html
  7. ↑ "Trois nouveaux Maxi & Cie". Le Devoir. Montreal. 13 December 1996. p. A8. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
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