Atlantic Superstore is a Canadian
supermarket chain. The chain operates 54 stores in
the Maritimes
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of C ...
of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
, and
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
. It is owned by
George Weston Limited
George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of Weston Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary, and Loblaw Compani ...
through
Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...
, and operates under the
Atlantic Wholesalers
Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...
division of Loblaws.
The stores range in from 45,000 to over 120,000 square feet (4,000 to over 10,000 m²) in size.
Store services
Despite the similarity in name to sister chain
Real Canadian Superstore
Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of supermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to Superstore, or, less commonly, RCSS.
Originating in Western Canada in the late 1970s/early 1980s, the ...
, not all Atlantic Superstores are
hypermarket
A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
s: many are large supermarkets with little general merchandise. Others, however, are marketed as "one stop" stores (much like Real Canadian Superstore) and carry a wide variety of goods, including groceries, electronics, housewares, clothing, and generally offer services such as photo finishing and a pharmacy.
Some larger stores (60,000 to over 80,000 square feet) also have a community room, drive-through pharmacy,
Mobil gas bar, liquor store (operated by the applicable provincial agency), tobacco shop, and walk-in medical clinics.
Atlantic Superstore has added
self checkout
Self-checkouts (SCOs), also known as assisted checkouts (ACOs) or self-service checkouts, are machines that provide a mechanism for customers to complete their own transaction from a retailer without needing a traditional staffed checkout. When ...
registers at its larger stores which allow customers to scan the barcode of an item and make payment without any interaction with store employees.
Starting on April 22, 2009, some locations began charging 5 cents per plastic bag at checkouts, to promote the use of environmentally friendly reusable bags. On March 1, 2010 this practice was stopped. However, at least one location is "bagless" meaning that it has phased out disposable plastic bags entirely, requiring customers to either bring their own means of carrying their purchases, or else buy in-store reusable fabric bags.
In December 2017, click and collect, under the
PC Express
PC or pc may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Player character or playable character, a fictional character controlled by a human player, usually in role-playing games or computer games
* ''Port Charles'', an American daytime TV soap opera
* ...
banner began in
Atlantic Canada, starting with Atlantic Superstore locations in
Halifax.
History
Loblaw entered Atlantic Canada through the acquisition of Atlantic Wholesalers, owner of the
SaveEasy
SaveEasy (formerly ''Atlantic Save-Easy'') was a chain of small retail grocery store franchises in the Atlantic Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, owned by Loblaw Companies.
The c ...
chain, in 1976.
In 1986, the company opened its first large-scale grocery store in
Moncton, New Brunswick, using the name The Real Atlantic Superstore. In 1995 the name was shortened to the present one and the store designs were reformatted to the "market style" with the slogan "Low Prices and More!" Most SaveEasy stores, excluding those in rural areas, were eventually converted to the SuperValu or Superstore format, either through renovation or relocation.
During the 1990s, the company's headquarters were relocated from Sackville to
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. New warehousing facilities for
just in time logistics distribution were built, and a huge expansion campaign brought new large-format stores to many centres in the region within a period of only several years. In the early 2000s, a marketing campaign was introduced to the superstores, changing their slogan to "Eat Well, Spend Less". This was similar to a campaign carried out in Loblaws stores in Ontario. With the arrival of the
Real Canadian Superstore
Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of supermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to Superstore, or, less commonly, RCSS.
Originating in Western Canada in the late 1970s/early 1980s, the ...
concept in Ontario, Atlantic Superstore used a similar marketing campaign with the slogan "Prices You Can Trust". This concept was used until 2009 when the "Just Lower Prices" campaign was launched.
Some Atlantic Superstore locations will be switched to
No Frills depending on the stores demographic.
See also
*
List of supermarkets
As of September 2020, this is a list of supermarket chains, past and present, which operate or have branches in more than one country, whether under the parent corporation's name or another name. For supermarkets that are only in one country, see ...
External links
Atlantic Superstore Official website
{{Reflist
Loblaw Companies
Supermarkets of Canada
Companies based in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Retail companies established in 1986
1986 establishments in Nova Scotia
Canadian companies established in 1986
Cuisine of Atlantic Canada