The 25-location Thrifty Foods grocery store chain plans to open its fourth location of 2010 Wednesday in Nanaimo.
Thrifty Foods has been on a tear since July 2007, when the Empire Co. Ltd. (TSX:EMP) subsidiary Sobey’s Ltd. bought the company and its then 20 stores for $260 million.
Earlier Thrifty Foods store openings this year were in:
Other Lower Mainland grocery chains have similarly expanded after they were sold to deep-pocketed grocery giants.
For example, T&T Supermarket opened its second Osaka-branded grocery store on November 17 in North Vancouver. Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L) bought the 17-store T&T chain for $225 million in July 2009.
Thrifty Foods’ president Milford Sorenson and founder Alex Campbell will be on hand to officially open the store at Nanaimo’s Brooks Landing. That location will be Thrifty Foods’ third store in Nanaimo.