Maxi is a discount

grocery A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

retailer Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

based in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada. Founded in 1984 by

Provigo Provigo is a grocery retailer based in Quebec, Canada, consisting of over 300 stores and franchises throughout the province. It operates a retailing chain of stores and distribution warehouses. It is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited. The chain' ...

, it is a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

Loblaw Companies 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 priva ...

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

The first Maxi store opened November 19, 1984 in a former

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

location in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly ac ...

. Maxi was intended to be a larger spinoff version of Provigo's

Héritage Héritage was a banner of discount grocery stores owned by Provigo to market smaller supermarkets in Quebec. Launched in February 1982 by Provigo, the first store was located on 3565 Taschereau Boulevard in Saint-Hubert, Quebec. The size of a ...

supermarket chain. By 1987, Maxi had grown to a chain of six locations and three of these stores included a day-care centre for parents to leave their children for up to 90 minutes while shopping. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, Maxi used a cartoonish elephant as its mascot, in a move similar to that of its sister chain Héritage which used a kangaroo. When

Steinberg Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops music writing, recording, arranging, and editing software, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It als ...

became defunct in 1992, some of its locations were converted into Maxi stores. 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. Maxi became a division of Loblaws following the latter's acquisition of Provigo in 1999. Maxi briefly used to have stores in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, but they were converted to No Frills after Loblaws purchased Provigo. There were 90 Maxi stores and 23 Maxi & Cie in 2017 within the province of Quebec.

Maxi & Cie

The chain's Maxi & Cie/Maxi & Co. locations are larger and carry a wider variety of general merchandise. The first Maxi & Cie opened on September 25, 1996 on Jean-Talon street in

Saint-Leonard, Quebec Saint-Leonard ( ; french: Saint-Léonard ) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formerly a separate city, it was amalgamated into the city of Montreal in 2002. The former city was originally called Saint-Léonard de Port ...

and is still in operation. Some Maxi & Cie outlets are themselves former Maxi stores that were converted because of their larger size. This includes the original store in Longueuil. Like with Maxi, Maxi & Co. used to have stores in

, but Maxi & Co. withdrew from Ontario in 1999 after the Loblaws purchase of the chain. The 1999 movie ''

Pushing Tin ''Pushing Tin'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Newell. It centers on Nick Falzone ( John Cusack), a cocky air traffic controller who quarrels over proving "who's more of a man" with fellow employee Russell Bell (Billy Bob ...

'' had a scene at one of the Maxi & Co. stores in Ontario.

References

External links

Official website
{{George Weston Limited Hypermarkets Loblaw Companies Retail companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in Quebec Supermarkets of Canada Discount stores of Canada

History

Maxi & Cie

See also

References

External links