LANGLEY, B.C. - The Overwaitea Food Group, a supermarket operator based in British Columbia, Canada, is moving eastward in an ambitious expansion plan.
The company expects to open 40 stores in Saskatchewan and Manitoba with its Save-On-Foods banner, according to the Financial Post. The openings will occur over the next three to five years, beginning with seven stores in the spring of 2016. Those seven stores include three locations in Winnipeg, as well as stores in Saskatchewan in Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton, and Moose Jaw.
Darrell Jones, President of Overwaitea Food Group, told the Post that the company has its sights set on slow organic growth, rather than expansion through mass consolidation.
“Our focus is mainly on building stores and putting stores in neighborhoods where we can build stores to fit the neighborhood – having a more focused approach in the communities where we plan to grow,” Jones tells the Post. “We think that is the advantage we have that makes us unique from our competitors.”
Speaking on the rumors that Metro Inc., Canada’s third-largest grocery chain, would acquire Overwaitea, Jones went on the record as saying, “I simply can’t see, right now, anything like that happening.”
Jones continued, “They have a very successful business in Ontario and Quebec and we are doing our thing in the West and I think that is likely going to be the case for some time to come.”
In total, Overwaitea operates 145 stores in British Columbia and Alberta. Overwaitea operates 80 Save-On grocery stores in B.C. and 30 in Alberta. The company plans to add 10 more stores in B.C. and Alberta over the next 18 months.
Jones also told the Post that it may bring its downtown format, Urban Fare, to Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we track Overwaitea’s push eastward.
