Commisso's Food Markets was a Canadian

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more lim ...

chain based in

Beamsville, Ontario Beamsville ( 2021 Urban area estimated population 13,323) is a community that is part of the town of Lincoln, Ontario, Canada. It is located along the southern shore of Lake Ontario and lies within the fruit belt of the Niagara Peninsula. It con ...

. Operating under Commisso's Grocery Distributors Limited, the chain was part of one of the largest independently owned grocery and food distribution chains in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is dis ...

. At its peak, Commisso's operated a wholesale business and distribution centre, six cash and carry outlets, and 16 supermarkets across the

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

and Hamilton areas, where its commitment to "quality products, friendly people and low prices" proved very popular. On December 3, 2003,

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...

announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase all of the company's assets and a deal was finalized on February 3, 2004. All of the original Commisso's supermarkets were converted to Sobeys and Price Chopper stores. The original Beamsville location, which the Commisso family kept in operation for two more years, was purchased by

Loblaw Companies Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...

. It closed on January 31, 2007, and re-opened in May as a No Frills supermarket. As of 2009, the Commisso's family opened a new store called Commisso's Fresh Foods located in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the Canada 2016 Census, 2016 census. It is part of the List of census ...

on Thorold Stone Road.

History

In 1962, Mike Commisso, a local

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals ...

worker, opened a 20 by family grocery store in Beamsville, Ontario. Upon his retirement, the business was handed over to his three sons who expanded the company over a period of several years. A second location was opened at 106 Broadway, Welland, ON L3C 5L5

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

in 1967. In 1977, the Welland store was re-located to the Rose City Plaza on Ontario Road in Welland, a new building, operating under the name Food Terminal. The low-priced products and high quality service of the store, which operated in a warehouse-like setting, made the store popular for families in the area. Food Terminal soon operated in several communities throughout the Niagara region, including three stores in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario ...

. In the 1990s, Food Terminal adopted a new look and name, inspired by the original Beamsville store's "Town Square" design. All Food Terminal stores were converted to the Commisso's Food Markets format, which included new investments in state-of-the-art technology and further expansion into Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area. In 2000, Commisso's bought Lanzarotta Wholesale Grocers Limited (LWG) - a private family-owned Ontario company. At the time, LWG was one of Canada's largest, most successful independent wholesale grocers, at distribution rates of nearly 10,000 products to 7,000 retailers a week. The purchase of LWG brought Commisso's several key advantages including additional purchasing power, stronger merchandising performance, greater warehouse capacity and management, and the introduction of the ''Our Very Own'' line of discount products.

History

See also