Social Responsibility

 Every year Sobeys helps feed the hungry by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and donating millions of pounds of food.

• Sobeys and IGA stores in Western Canada collected more than $409,000 for local food banks through their Time for Sharing campaign.
• The Thrifty Foods in-store Food for Families campaign helped raise $274,000 through at-till donations over a six-week period over the holidays for 16 food banks on Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island and the Lower Mainland.
• Sobeys customers, employees and suppliers in Atlantic Canada came together to raise over $838,000 in food and cash donations for food banks throughout the Atlantic provinces in the third annual Fill the Food Bank, Fuel the Community campaign in October 2012. Through this campaign, over $2.6 million has been raised over the past three years for food banks across Atlantic Canada.

In an effort to help improve the quality of life in our communities, Sobeys is  proud to support hospitals and organizations that are helping to find a cure.

• More than $31,000 was raised at Sobeys locations in Saskatchewan during their annual Saskatoon Centre of Care Pink Ribbon campaign in support of breast cancer research.
• As the official grocery sponsor, Sobeys Inc. served over 5,000 participants and volunteers of the Ontario Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer in support of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Participants of the event raised $18.1 million in the fight to conquer cancer.
• FreshCo and Price Chopper raised over $113,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society through their annual Charity Classic Golf Tournament. Since 2001, FreshCo and Price Chopper stores and employees have raised over $640,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of colleagues who have lost their brave fight against cancer.
• Across Québec, IGA stores teamed up with their suppliers to raise $570,000 during their Straight to Heart campaign in support of the Montréal Heart Institute Foundation.

Sobeys has been giving extends to organizations and events that raise funds for charities and causes.

• Sobeys offices, distribution centers and corporate stores in Québec raised over $270,000 for Centraide (the United Way)..
• Thrifty Foods committed $300,000 to build a patient information library at the B.C. Cancer Agency Vancouver Island Center in Victoria. Opened in early 2013, the Thrifty Foods Patient Information Library is designed to support individuals and families through cancer treatment by providing medical information in a home-like setting.
• Sobeys locations in Saskatchewan raised over $38,000 during the Helping Hands campaign for the Kinsmen Foundation. This foundation helps Saskatchewan residents access special needs equipment and medical assistance that wouldn't otherwise be attainable.

All this information can be found at http://www.sobeyscareers.com/Why-Work-For-Sobeys/Social-Responsibility.aspx with more detail and explanation. This was just a little summary of how Sobeys is giving back to the community.


Are you surprised at all the things Sobeys has going on and is involved in outside the store and groceries?
Did you ever think that a grocery store would be involved in so many other projects other than just food and retail?
Do you think Sobeys is doing the right thing? If so why and what really stands out for you?
Reading this would this make you a more loyal customer?


Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!

Frank H. Sobey

Frank H. Sobey, (May 24 1902 – December 15, 1985) was a Canadian businessman and entrepreneur who was the primary builder of the Sobeys Retail Store chain.

Frank H. Sobey was Born in Lyons Brook, Nova Scotia. His father was John William (J.W.) Sobey and his mothers name was Eliza Sobey. Frank H. Sobey was three years old when his family moved from the farming community to the nearby then-booming coal mining town of Stellarton. In 1907 his father, John Williams, purchased a meat retailing business in town and became a the local butcher, peddling meat products door to door on a horse-drawn wagon. In 1912 John Williams built a 2-storey store in Stellarton's central business district selling mostly meat and vegetables.

 Frank Sobey left school after Grade 8. He had a goal of entrepreneur, and with that goal set in mind , at age sixteen enrolled in a business college, In 1924 he persuaded his father to expand the store to carry a full range of groceries and the family began expanding, opening stores in the nearby industrial towns of  New Glasgow, Trenron and Westville,  In the early 1940s, Frank wished to purchase a building on Archimedes Street in New Glasgow for a supermarket. But the problem was that the property was owned by a different company named Empire Company Ltd. and in order to acquire the building for himself, Frank H. Sobey purchased the company whole, and the Empire was transformed into the family's holding company and was privatized in 1981.

Sobeys Inc. is now a $17.6 billion company with more than 1,500 corporate and franchised stores across the
country.




What do you think about Frank H. Sobey's determination and hard work?
Did you know who Frank H. Sobey was?
Are you surprised that he dropped out of school after grade 8? If so why?


Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!

Loyalty Programs

In this episode I will be talking about Sobeys' Loyalty Programs.

Sobeys  unveiled a Club Sobeys loyalty card as well as a Club Sobeys Mastercard at its stores in Ontario and Western Canada in 2008.

The cards,  allow members to accrue points redeemable for grocery discounts, airline travel miles and other rewards, are the first to be offered at Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based Sobeys, according to Bill McEwan, chief executive officer, who announced the program at an investor conference.
 McEwan said the program was “the most significant strategic development in the 7½ years I have been with Sobeys.”

Shoppers in Club Sobeys get one point for every $1 spent at the store, with this they have opportunities to earn bonus points through many other in-store promotions. This loyalty program has a variety of ways to collect rewards for customers, ranging from in-store savings to items from an online catalog at their website clubsobeys.com. Customers can also select to convert points for Aeroplan Miles which is the air travel rewards program run by Air Canada and other related carriers.

Shoppers who use the Club Sobeys MasterCard can gain points for all card purchases, and earn two Club Sobeys points for every $1 spent in Sobeys stores.

This option allows Sobeys to gain greater insight into consumer shopping patterns.

“Loyalty comes fundamentally from the quality of your stores, the quality of your people, the quality of your products and the consistency of your execution,” 

Sobeys beleives in:

The fresher, the better, the tastier,

Save time. Eat well. Everyday, and

Choose the healthy life.

What do you think about Sobeys Loyalty Program? Have you ever heard of it?
Do you own a Sobeys card?
Have you ever won a Grocery Giveaway?
From a business perspective, do you think this is a successful loyalty program to attract and keep customers?

Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!

Sobeys Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and Threats

In this episode I will be talking about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats about the Sobeys retail store. There are many more but I have just chosen a couple for each section.

Strengths 

•          In store services and environment (cooking classes, wine tasting, catering, live music, etc.
•           Privately owned (flexible & focused strategy)
•         Private label brands targeting three separate market segments (high value, Savings, and exceptional quality)
•         Large online and magazine source of tips, articles, guides, and recipes which help generate traffic and loyalty from customers
•       Sobeys has a financial strength rather than a physical presence with many locations in the states (25th largest retailer in U.S. despite only operating in TX)

Weaknesses 

•          Unfamiliarity with Canadian market
•     Distance from current warehouses to market
•     Agricultural trade restrictions
•     Tight real estate market and land use regulations impeding large scale entry or growth strategy
•      Capital financing resources
•     Regional store and private label brand recognition
•     No French influences or experience
•     Higher prices than some competitors

Opportunities 

• Well established in every province (over 100yrs) 
• Large number of high tech wholesale distribution centers 
• Brand recognition for fresh and healthy foods
• Established private label brands for high quality and convenient high quality 
• Loyalty inspired by Inspired Magazine, Club Sobeys, locally sourced products, and community events 

Threats 

•   Relies on outside trucking company for supply chain transfers
•  Dispersed brand under 14 different banners
• Limited focus on prepackaged non-frozen goods or general merchandise
• competitors (such as Loblaws, also Wal-mart, Food basics etc. can be as well because they also sell the same products ( being groceries).

Have any other Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats or opportunities that you think I missed? If so what?
What do you think about Sobeys Weaknesses? Does it make you think twice before buying their products?
Are you looking forward for the Improvements Sobeys is planning on making?

Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!

Products, Price and Competitors

In this episode I will be talking about some of the products Sobeys carries and the price ranges compared to other retail stores and Competitors.

Basically Sobeys carries the same products as most of the typical grocery stores do such as; your fruits and vegetables, frozen goods, canned goods, meats etc. On their website they have categories that are divided under the following subheadings:
 1.Private brands
2. Cheese
3. Seafood
4. Produce
5. Meat
6. Deli
7. Our Kitchen
8. Grocery
9. Jamie Oliver
10. Natural Sources
11. Bakery 

 Sobeys has very good customer service and is a little bit of a high brand retail store, so thus the prices of Sobeys might be higher than say a Lob-laws  which happen to be the top competitor for Sobeys. Lob-laws is an American based company while Sobeys is a Canadian based company. Unlike Walmart  Lob laws and Sobeys are labelled food retailers and not superstores. Even though Sobeys comes second to Lob laws  Lob laws has 1000 retailed and franchised stores in Canada, three hundred (300) less stores than Sobeys (1300 stores). Lob laws is founded in 1919, operated in the early 1960’s and operated in states such as New York and Pennsylvania.

It all depends on the income and the customer opinion, because Sobeys is a high brand company who cares about its customer relationship, and has plans on moving forward with customer appreciation trying to make themselves available by making the job as easy as possible for their customers to look and buy whatever they need. 

How do you think Sobeys website ranks up against other retail stores across Canada?
Are you able to easily access the Sobeys website?
Do you think Sobeys has a good customer service program? If so why?
How fresh are your food products when you shop at Sobeys? Are you happy with them?


Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!

Charity goals and environment involvements

Sobeys Charity goals and environment involvements.

In 2008 Sobeys created a strategy to help provide healthy food alternatives for children by teaming up with the Launch of Compliments Junior Disney Kids. The Launch of Compliments Junior Disney Kids is a food line just for children.

Sobeys is also known for giving back to the community and for its community involvement and this ranges from environmental actions to health and education. 
Sobeys has taken many actions towards staying environmentally passive such as the following;
--> late in 2006 Sobeys introduced the reusable grocery bag "Green Bag for Life"
--> The company also initiated proper in-store training for its cashiers so they can reduce the use of traditional plastic grocery bags by up to 20%
--> Sobeys has added in-store plastic bag recycling
-added recycled content to plastic bags
--> used stickers as proof of purchase on larger items to reduce the use of bags 
--> In May 2009 Sobeys implemented a 5-cent fee to plastic bags and paper bags to encourage customers to use reusable bags 

In Addition to being involved Environmentally, Sobeys is also actively involved in the health and education department.
--> In Atlantic Canada Sobeys became the Premier Atlantic Canada Regional Sponor and entered into a partnership with Breakfast for Learning  to support child nutrition programs at school.
--> A lot of corporate donations and in-store fundraising 
-->In 2008 Sobeys also supported a wide range of charities across Canada, such as the Kids Help Phone, Easter Seals, Canadian Cancer Society and Community food banks.

Sobeys also makes many donations to educational institutions such as St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The business school is named the Sobeys School of Business. 

Are you Surprised of how much Sobeys is giving back and helping the charities?
Do you think their plans on going green and being sustainable will help them in the future?
What do you think about Sobeys environmental involvements?
Do you think this helps them attract more loyal customers?


Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!

History

This episode I will be talking the history of Sobeys and some key information about Sobeys.

Sobeys Inc. engages in food and grocery retailing business in Canada. The company operates full service, fresh service, community service, price service, and convenience service format stores that offer food products, as well as operates other stores that provide health care, beauty, cosmetics, convenience, and gift ware products. It also engages in food distribution business; offers printing services, including offset printing, silkscreen printing, and sign printing; manufactures carbonated soft drinks and natural spring water; and operates retail gas stations, liquor stores, and cash and carry outlets. Sobeys Inc. operates approximately 1,300 stores in 10 provinces.

Key Executives For Sobeys Inc.

Mr. Marc Poulin

Chief Executive Officer and President

Age: 51

Mr. Paul A. Jewer

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Claude Tessier

President of IGA Operations Business Unit

Mr. David Jeffs

President of Operations - Ontario Region

Age: 55

Mr. William Gerard McEwan

Executive Director
Age: 55

Sobeys is a one of the top grocery food stores in Canada and are not hard to find near most Canadians. It was founded by Frank H. Sobey. They were first known as just a Family Meat and local Vegetables but Frank helped take that to the next level. first self-serve supermarket in 1949.

In 1987, Sobeys achieved sales of over $1 billion for the first time and opened its first store outside of Atlantic Canada in Guelph, Ontario and Sobeys became the second-largest grocer in Canada after purchasing the Oshawa Group in 1998.

What do you think about Sobeys? and how often do you shop at Sobeys?

Out of 10, what would you rate Sobeys interior as?
What do you think about the progression of Sobeys over time?

Please comment and let me know if you have any questions and/or positive feedback and even any constructive criticism. Thank you!