History

Entering the grocery industry in 1956 as a young student, Alex A. Campbell worked his way up to become District Manager for Shop Easy stores in Vancouver.

In 1973 he moved to Vancouver Island to open the 49th Parallel Grocery in Ladysmith. In 1977, in conjunction with friend and business colleague Ernie Skinner, he acquired the space vacated by a closing Safeway outlet to open the first Thrifty Foods store, located in Victoria's Fairfield community.

Early growth came in part through franchising, the first opening in 1983. In 1991 Alex Campbell and Ernie Skinner parted amicably with Mr. Campbell assuming the role of President. That year the company opened its ninth store, in Victoria's Broadmead neighbourhood, and the same time introduced its first organic food section.

Having forged relationships with local suppliers such as Island Farms Dairies Co-Op; and with a clear commitment to top-quality products, competitive pricing and outstanding customer service, Thrifty Foods has evolved into a thriving chain of 20 stores that currently enjoys over 40 per cent market share in Victoria and 25 per cent market share on Vancouver Island overall. It is clearly understood that Thrifty Foods' success is due, in significant part, to the company's unstinting support of charitable causes and its high level of community involvement both locally and regionally.

Thrifty Foods is Vancouver Island's single largest private sector employer with over 4,100 employees. The business now includes a grocery and produce wholesale operation distributing to all Thrifty Foods stores and more than 60 independent grocers province-wide from a 70,000 square foot warehouse in Saanichton.

Thrifty Foods also operates "Thrifty Kitchens," a commissary production centre that supplies fresh foods, ready-made home replacement meals and packaged products for distribution through in-store deli departments. Thrifty Kitchens recently achieved a 98 per cent "near perfect" score in compliance with international HACCP food safety standards.

Thrifty Foods currently packages over seven hundred product lines sold under the THRIFTY brand label and as "Alex Campbell Signature Series" premium-quality food products.

As Alex Campbell watched Thrifty Foods grow, he understood the need to re-align basic business processes to facilitate continued growth and success. Following close consultation with a number of advisors, he decided to implement a new management structure that would move the organization forward. This resulted in the appointment of Milford Sorensen - a veteran grocery retailer who has worked with Dominion Stores, Atlantic Wholesalers Ltd., and who was most recently CEO for Calgary Co-op - as Thrifty Foods' President and CEO, in early 2004. Mr. Sorensen articulates his mandate as "growing the business to improve shareholder value while nurturing and continuing the unique Thrifty culture that has shaped this company's success."

Since Mr. Sorensen's appointment, the company has grown to a point where both men realized that in order to remain the market leader in an increasingly competitive environment, and to achieve its plans for growth, Thrifty Foods needed a significant amount of capital that was only available through a sale of the company.

In 2007, Mr. Campbell made the best decision for the continued success of Thrifty Foods and announced the sale of his company to Sobeys Inc., a leading national grocery retailer wholly-owned by Empire Company Limited of Stellarton, N.S.

While Mr. Campbell has stepped down from his role as chairman, he will continue to be involved in an advisory capacity.

Sobeys owns or franchises more than 1,300 grocery stores in all ten provinces under retail banners that include Sobeys, IGA, Foodland and Price Chopper.