Galen Weston - Loblaw

Loblaw

In 1971, Galen Weston was asked by Garfield Weston, Chairman of George Weston Limited, to take a look at Loblaws, the company’s Ontario-based supermarket chain, which appeared headed for bankruptcy. He found a company deeply in debt with too many small, aging outlets, and a market share recently cut in half. “The big question then was should this chain be closed up or should we make the enormous investment in money and time to return it to its former place.... I felt that from a retailing standpoint Loblaws was the nucleus of potentially the finest company in Canada.”

In February 1972, W. Galen Weston was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Loblaw Companies Limited and immediately began consolidating operations. Financing was arranged through a Weston family holding company to free Loblaws from store leaseback agreements. Within a year, 78 money-losing locations were closed down. Weston noted that, “as a 200 store chain, we didn’t look very good. As a 100-store chain, we looked very good indeed.”

Galen Weston next hired designer Don Watt to remodel one of the chain’s Toronto outlets on a budget of only $30,000. “Loblaws is in such trouble that if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter. If it works – good.” The new store featured an expanded produce section moved the front, huge photographs of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and baked good, wood panelling and big, moveable display bins, in addition to new colours and logo. Sales dramatically increased. Loblaw also introduced a new advertising campaign with Canadian actor William Shatner of Star Trek fame who told viewers, “More than the price is right... but by gosh the price is right.”

Weston also brought in new managerial talent that included former university schoolmate Dave Nichol and fellow McKinsey consultant Richard Currie, who took on the role of “change agents.” In spite of no previous experience in the retail food industry, Weston gave Nichol and Currie the authority to force change on an often reluctant senior management. Nichol was made President of Loblaws in Ontario and later Loblaw International Merchants. He eventually replaced William Shatner on television and became closely associated with the company’s no name and President’s Choice brands. Currie’s logistical abilities saw him become President of Loblaw Companies Limited and, years later, George Weston Limited.

With the company’s holdings in the United States also losing money, particularly Chicago-based National Tea with some 700 supermarkets, Weston initiated a similar program of rationalization and renewal. He and Currie rented a townhouse in a Chicago suburb and spent months devising a plan that saw hundreds of outlets closed. Those stores that remained were renovated and rebranded in the hope of preserving the company’s stake in the U.S. market. Weston noted that “it was in the cards that National Tea should be, or would be, disposed of. But I felt we had a tremendous foothold in the U.S. and it must not be lost, almost at any price.”