History
The first Real Canadian Superstore location opened in March 1979 in a former Loblaws location in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan under the name SuperValu. Numerous other SuperValu locations opened across Western Canada before most gradually expanded into Superstore sites; the SuperValu name is still in use in British Columbia and the Maritimes, the latter branded as Atlantic SuperValu.
The similarly named The Real Superstore was used in the United States from the 1970s up until the mid-90s by the Loblaws-owned National Supermarkets chain until the chain's purchase by competitor Schnucks.
Superstore marks the return of Loblaw's superstore format in the Greater Toronto Area after the unsuccessful launch of the SuperCentre format in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early 21st century, Loblaw brought the Superstore banner to Ontario as a response to the introduction of large grocery sections in most Canadian Wal-Mart stores and other department stores, as well as a pre-emptive strike against any plans by Wal-Mart to bring its "Supercenter" format to Canada. Originally, Ontario stores were co-branded with the local Loblaw banner (i.e. "Loblaws - The Real Canadian Superstore"), but most shortened their name to reduce confusion and allow separate weekly specials for each chain.
In 2003, Loblaws purchased Maple Leaf Gardens, the former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and announced plans to convert it into a Real Canadian Superstore, which created heavy criticism from historical groups such as Friends of Maple Leaf Gardens. Loblaws later completed an agreement with Ryerson University to convert a large part of the gardens into Ryerson University's athletic centre, which features a NHL regulation ice rink on the top floor under the roof for use by the university's hockey team along with other features in the building. Loblaws opened up their half of the building under the Loblaws name on November 30, 2011, making it their new flagship store featuring many tributes to the garden's past along with displays of the arena and a dot on the floor of the store marking original centre ice. The exterior of Maple Leaf Gardens remained unchanged; however, during the Ryerson part of the project the canopy and sign were replaced by a new canopy and sign based on the original 1940s version of the canopy and sign. The replacement has received much acclaim due to its historical accuracy to the original sign.
New Ontario locations began to open under the name Loblaw Superstore in late 2007. Since December 2008, Ontario stores have used common flyers displaying a combined "Superstore: Loblaw / Real Canadian" logo. However, Loblaw has not yet said whether one banner will eventually replace the other.
In March 2009, the Real Canadian Superstore in Oakville became The Loblaw Superstore with new signage and colour scheme, along with the Weston location in Summer 2009.
In fall 2009, the Weston location had again reverted to Real Canadian Superstore banner.
Read more about this topic: Real Canadian Superstore
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