US Trends

which grocery stores are owned by loblaws

Loblaw Companies owns a long list of grocery banners across Canada, so many stores that look independent are actually under the same corporate umbrella.

Main grocery chains owned by Loblaw

These are some of the key supermarket and grocery banners owned by Loblaw Companies Limited.

  • Loblaws / Loblaw Great Food / Loblaws CityMarket
  • Real Canadian Superstore
  • No Frills (discount grocery)
  • Your Independent Grocer / Independent CityMarket
  • Atlantic Superstore
  • Real Canadian Wholesale Club / Wholesale Club
  • Fortinos
  • Zehrs / Zehrs Great Food
  • Extra Foods
  • Maxi and Maxi & Cie (mainly Quebec)
  • Provigo / Provigo Le Marché (Quebec)
  • Dominion (especially Newfoundland and Labrador)
  • Freshmart
  • SuperValu
  • Shop Easy Foods / SaveEasy
  • Valu-mart
  • T & T Supermarket (Asian-focused chain)

Loblaw is also tied to a number of related retail operations (like Shoppers Drug Mart / Pharmaprix and Real Canadian Liquorstore), but those are more pharmacy/liquor than traditional grocery, even though they sell a lot of food items.

Quick HTML table of major Loblaw grocery banners

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Banner</th>
      <th>Type</th>
      <th>Notes / Region</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Loblaws / Loblaw Great Food / CityMarket</td>
      <td>Full-service supermarket</td>
      <td>Core Loblaw-branded stores in several provinces[web:1][web:3]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Real Canadian Superstore</td>
      <td>Big-box supermarket</td>
      <td>Large format, groceries plus general merchandise[web:3][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>No Frills</td>
      <td>Discount grocery</td>
      <td>Low-price banner across multiple provinces[web:3][web:5][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Atlantic Superstore</td>
      <td>Supermarket</td>
      <td>Mainly Atlantic Canada[web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Your Independent Grocer</td>
      <td>Franchise supermarket</td>
      <td>Various communities across Canada[web:1][web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Fortinos</td>
      <td>Supermarket</td>
      <td>Primarily Southern Ontario[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Zehrs / Zehrs Great Food</td>
      <td>Supermarket</td>
      <td>Ontario-focused chain[web:1][web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Maxi / Maxi &amp; Cie</td>
      <td>Discount supermarket</td>
      <td>Primarily Quebec[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Provigo / Provigo Le Marché</td>
      <td>Supermarket</td>
      <td>Quebec banner, mix of corporate and franchise[web:1][web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Extra Foods</td>
      <td>Supermarket</td>
      <td>Smaller-format grocery stores[web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Dominion</td>
      <td>Supermarket</td>
      <td>Notably in Newfoundland and Labrador[web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Freshmart</td>
      <td>Smaller community grocery</td>
      <td>Often in smaller towns[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>SuperValu / Shop Easy / SaveEasy</td>
      <td>Franchise / smaller-format</td>
      <td>Various regions, often in smaller communities[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Valu-mart</td>
      <td>Franchise supermarket</td>
      <td>Mostly Ontario[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>T &amp; T Supermarket</td>
      <td>Asian-focused supermarket</td>
      <td>Large cities in BC, AB, ON, QC[web:1][web:3][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Forum-style context and “latest news” angle

Over the past couple of years, this question has become a trending topic in Canadian forums and social media because of frustration with food inflation and the perception that a few big players dominate the grocery market. Many users are surprised to learn that discount banners like No Frills and more upscale ones like Loblaws or Fortinos are part of the same corporate group, which affects how they think about “shopping around” for better prices.

On boycott threads and consumer advocacy sites, people often share lists like the one above specifically so others can avoid (or deliberately target) Loblaw-owned banners. Some commenters argue that knowing which grocery stores are owned by Loblaws is a small but concrete way to push for more competition, while others say that in many smaller communities there is effectively no alternative.

“I thought I was avoiding them by skipping Superstore, then I found out No Frills and my ‘independent’ grocer were Loblaw too.”

From a practical standpoint, if you are trying to dodge Loblaw-owned groceries, you need to look beyond the name on the front of the building and check whether that banner appears on corporate or watchdog lists like the ones maintained by consumer groups and news outlets.

TL;DR:
Loblaw owns a wide range of banners including Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Your Independent Grocer, Atlantic Superstore, Fortinos, Zehrs, Maxi, Provigo, Extra Foods, Dominion, Freshmart, SuperValu/Shop Easy/SaveEasy, Valu-mart, and T & T Supermarket, among others.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.