Loeb was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

 chain in Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...

. It is owned by Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

's Metro chain of grocery stores. It was once Ottawa's second-largest supermarket chain behind Loblaws

Loblaws

Loblaws is a supermarket chain with over 70 stores in Canada, headquartered in Brampton, with stores across Ontario and Quebec. Loblaws is a division of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest food distributor...

. Each of the stores averaged 26114 square feet (2,426 m²) in size. Loeb was acquired by the Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

-based supermarket chain Metro in 1999.

History

Loeb began in 1912 when Moses Loeb opened a small wholesale confectionery house in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. From 1912 to 1950, Loeb was a small wholesale warehouse. Eventually, Loeb grew from that small confectionery house into two large warehouses. For Loeb, the following two decades were those of lucrative business ventures. Through partnerships with other companies, Loeb grew to serve the needs of more people within a greater area. They even enjoyed success in the United States – a very competitive market.

Throughout the 1980s, Loeb expanded throughout Canada. In 1990, Loeb launched its own brand of private label products called 'Loeb Made Today', and soon after came 'Loeb Ready' products.

In June 1999, Loeb became part of the Metro Foods corporate group (previously it was owned by Provigo

Provigo

Provigo is a grocery retailer based in Quebec, Canada, consisting of over 300 stores and franchises throughout the province. A majority of the stores are located in the Montreal area. It is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited. Provigo is similar to Ontario's Your Independent Grocer/Zehrs banners, as...

, which had just been sold to Loblaw

Loblaw Companies

Loblaw Companies Limited is the largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,400 supermarkets operating under a variety of regional banners, including the namesake Loblaws. LCL is headquartered in Brampton, Ontario...

, and was required to resell Loeb for competitive reasons). Now Loeb was able to put Metro's house brands Merit Selection and Irresistible Brand products on their shelves.

In 2006, following Metro's acquisition of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company of Canada, Loeb became a subsidiary of A&P Canada

A&P Canada

A&P Canada was a Canadian supermarket company from 1927 to 2009.In 1927, A&P opened its first stores in Canada. By 1929, A&P was present in 200 communities in Ontario and Quebec....

. New products and services were introduced to Loeb stores, and the Merit, Econochoix and Irresistible lines were dropped in favour of A&P Canada’s house brands Master Choice, Equality and Baker’s Oven products and Fresh Obsessions produce.

In 2008, Loeb began returning the Irresistible and Selection lines to its stores.

On August 7, 2008, Metro announced it will invest $200 million consolidating the company's conventional food stores under the Metro banner. Over a period of 15 months, all Loeb stores were converted to the Metro name.

It is unrelated to the Swiss chain of grocery stores with the same name.

Advertising slogans

• 1998-2002: Real Values (Get Real... Real Saving, Real Quality, Real Variety & Real Freshness)
• 2002-2004: For What's Important in Life
• 2004-present: Just What You Need, Lunch Box Treats for Kids of All Ages!, Cut Your Way Everyday!, Freshness to Go!

Private labels

• Merit Selection
• Econochoice
• Irresistibles
• Loeb Bakery Shoppe
• The Event Pleaser
• Red Grill Meats

Since acquisition of A&P Canada

A&P Canada

A&P Canada was a Canadian supermarket company from 1927 to 2009.In 1927, A&P opened its first stores in Canada. By 1929, A&P was present in 200 communities in Ontario and Quebec....

by parent company:

• Fresh Obsessions
• Master Choice
• Basics for Less
• Equality