Maxi (supermarket)

For the Maxi supermarket chain in Serbia, see Maxi (supermarket chain). For the Swedish retailer, see ICA Maxi.

Maxi

Type	Division
Industry	Supermarket (Maxi) / Hypermarket (Maxi & Cie)
Founded	1984
Products	Bakery, beer, dairy, deli, frozen foods, gasoline*, general grocery, general merchandise*, liquor*, meat & poultry, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks, wine * Select locations
Employees	7,000[1]
Parent	Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Website	http://www.maxi.ca/

Maxi is a grocery retailer based in Quebec, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies 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 company owned. Over 7,000 people are employed at the Maxi and Maxi & Cie stores across Quebec. "Le panier le moins cher" ("The Lowest Grocery Bill") is the chain's current slogan.

Founded in 1984 by Provigo, the first Maxi grocery stores opened up on spaces vacated by Kmart which had closed several Quebec stores in 1983. The first Maxi store opened in St-Léonard, and is still at the same place, despite it has been expanded throughout the years. Some larger Maxi stores (particularly the older ones) are still under their old banner, even though a location in Pointe-Claire, Quebec is now a Maxi & Cie. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, Maxi used a cartoonish elephant as the mascot of its leaflets, 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 leaflets as the company felt such practice had become unnecessary. This turned out to be a miscalculation and Maxi eventually started making leaflets again.

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 even absorbed Provigo's older brand Héritage in 1995. Maxi briefly used to have stores in Ontario, but they were converted to No Frills in 1999 after Loblaws purchased Provigo.^[1]

Maxi & Cie

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 original Maxi & Cie store opened in 1996 in Saint-Hubert, Quebec and is still in operation.

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.

See also

• Loblaws
• No Frills (grocery store)
• Provigo
• Supermarkets in Canada

References

1. ^ ^{a b} {{cite web | url = http://www.maxi.ca/qcen/10368.aspx | title = Maxi - Who We Are | accessdate = 22 April 2009^{[dead link]}

External links

• Official website