Other than Sparkle Markets, I don’t think any of the grocery store chains we shopped at when I was young are still in Youngstown. My parents shopped at A & P on Mahoning Avenue until it closed, then shopped at Sparkle. My wife’s parents shopped at Loblaws on Youngstown-Poland Road. Going through the Vindicator in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, you can see their ads every week, especially on Wednesdays, when stores advertised their weekly specials.
What I was surprised to learn was that this chain had a relatively short existence in the Youngstown area. Loblaws, then called Loblaw, had its beginnings in Toronto, Canada, in 1919 where they opened their first “Grocetarias,” cash and carry stores. By 1924, they had expanded throughout Toronto and into New York state, forming an American company headquartered in Buffalo. The American subsidiary was also known under the name “National Tea,” as you will notice in the ad from 1967, although Loblaws of Canada held the controlling interest.. They continued to expand into Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio.
The Canadian chain continued to expand after being acquired by the Weston family, who also had department store interests. They pioneered the concept of supermarkets, the precursor to our superstores. They also implemented a customer loyalty program with Green Stamps, that spread throughout the US.
Meanwhile, Century Foods operated 14 stores in the Youngstown area and 39 in the region. On June 11, 1961, the New York Times ran a story announcing the sale of Century’s 39 store to Loblaw, Inc. of Buffalo. That’s when the old Century Foods became Loblaw Food Stores and later Loblaws Markets. The chain grew as it continued to expand during the early 1960’s but then growth stagnated and declined.
In 1972, Galen Weston, the new CEO began a reorganization and downsizing of the chain, focusing on its most profitable stores and consoldating stores. As part of that, the Meridian Road warehouse was closed and the 14 stores (they never expanded in the Mahoning Valley) were sold off to other chains. And thus, the Loblaws name came to an end in Youngstown.
The reorganization paid off for Loblaws in Canada. By the1980’s, they were Canada’s biggest supermarket chain. They acquired Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest chain of pharmacies, in 2013. They’ve created their own line of superstores. But its all in Canada. So if you are ever in Canada and see a Loblaws, you can say you remember when they were in Youngstown. And if they don’t believe you, just show them this article with the Vindicator ads.
To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!
I loved their cheesecake
I have tried to replicate the recipe, but have yet to be able to do so
I even wrote them, asking for the recipe, but never heard back from them
Don’t remember them in Boardman. My parents shopped at A&P on Market Street at Midlothian or Boardman Sparkle at Market and Wildwood.
My father worked at the Meridian Road Distribution center from 1960 to the closing in 1972. He was warehouse superintendent. When Youngstown closed, he was transferred to the Milwaukee Division as Trucking Fleet Superintendent. In 1975, Milwaukee division was closed, and he left the company, rather then take a Chicago transferr.
Do I remember a Century, later Loblaws, in the Boardman Plaza?. Mom usually shopped there because her Mom, who lived right up the hill on Oregon Trail, didn’t drive. She walked to to the plaza to work, and walked with her tall, wire, wheeled grocery cart for smaller orders, but Mom always took her when she went over to shop.
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