Empire, the Canadian food and pharmacy retailer and parent company of Sobeys, has announced plans to open 70 new grocery stores over the next three years.
According to Pierre St-Laurent, the company’s president and chief executive officer, about three quarters of these new locations will be discount supermarkets. He noted that the group has “a lot of room to grow in discount without cannibalizing our network”. The expansion comes as a growing consumer appetite for deep discounts has driven major grocers to expand their discount footprints, according to sources.
As part of its growth strategy, the retailer is expanding its flagship discount banner, FreshCo, into Atlantic Canada, with one conversion and two new store openings planned for Nova Scotia in 2026. Additionally, Empire is entering Quebec’s discount wholesale segment through the acquisition of Mayrand Group Inc, which was announced in April. The deal has received court and regulatory approval and is expected to close in the coming days.
For its 2027 financial year, the group expects capital spending to reach around C$850 million ($620 million), with about half allocated to renovations and new stores.
Source: Canadian Grocer / The Canadian Press (via BNN Bloomberg)
