Market News

Wal-Mart food format begins southern Ontario invasion

Wal-Mart is Canada\'s single largest non-food retailer with an estimated $13 billion a year in sales. It\'s [now] preparing to take on the supermarket industry in a battle for control of Canada\'s $70 billion a year grocery business. By this time next year the Scarborough store [Warden and Eglinton, Toronto] will be one of seven Wal-Marts - all in Ontario - that will carry everything from lettuce to chicken legs. The U.S. based retailer has confirmed that it will open three of these behemoths this fall, one each in Ancaster, London, and Stouffville. The other three schedule! d to open early next year are in Vaughan, Brampton, and Sarnia. Wal-Mart has been gradually adding more food to its stores. But until recently it was confined to dried goods, frozen foods and dairy products. Customers had to go elsewhere to buy fresh meat, produce or baked goods. Source: Toronto Star/CFIG E-News, August 14, 2006.