Longo Brothers Fruit Markets Inc., commonly known as Longo's, is a Canadian chain of retail

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s and grocery delivery service that serves the

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

area. It is controlled by

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 bil ...

parent

Empire Company Empire Company Limited is a Canadian conglomerate engaged mostly in food retail and corporate investments. Founded in 1963, the company is headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia and owns the Sobeys supermarket chain. In total, the company ow ...

in partnership with the founding Longo family. Its

corporate office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

is located in

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

, Ontario, and it operates locations mainly in the

Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) is an urban conurbation that is composed of some of the largest cities and metropolitan areas by population in the Canadian province of Ontario. The GTHA consists of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and ...

History

Longo's was founded in 1956 by Italian immigrant brothers Joe, Tommy and Gus Longo, who immigrated to Canada in 1951 from

Termini Imerese Termini Imerese (; ) is a town of the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the northern coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is one of the most important towns of the Metropolitan City of Palermo, from which it is 33 km away. The town is easily reachabl ...

, Sicily. They established their first store at the intersection of

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

and Castlefield Avenue in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, with the name "Broadway Fruit Market". This store was about , and it had eight family members working there. After the Longo family joined Antonino in Canada, they opened a store on Yonge Street in 1956. A year after the father's death in 1961, the store moved to East York. Their second location was in Malton, at the southeast corner of Airport and Derry. While a massive gas explosion in 1969 destroyed many businesses in the community, the Longo family cleaned up and reopened after just a few days. They sold their Toronto store in 1971, to focus on their Malton operations as increased expansion continued. In 1998, Tommy's son Anthony became the president of Longo's. Longo's publishes a free magazine called ''Experience Magazine''. In 2004, Longo's acquired the online grocery retailer Grocery Gateway. Longo's owns and operates 36 stores, mostly in the

, including several smaller-format "The Market by Longo's" stores in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

and

midtown Toronto Midtown is one of four central business districts outside the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the north of Old Toronto, its borders are roughly defined by St. Clair Avenue to the south and Eglinton Avenue or Lawren ...

. A flagship store opened at

Maple Leaf Square Maple Leaf Square is a multi-use complex and public square located in the South Core neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the west of the Scotiabank Arena on the former Railway Lands. The $500 million development was join ...

in downtown Toronto. In September 2016, the chain's southwesternmost location opened in Ancaster, making it the first in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. Longo's employs more than 5,000 people, and for nine consecutive years was one of Canada's Top 50 privately managed companies by the ''

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' is a financial news website, and business section of the ''National Post'', both publications of the Postmedia Network. It started as an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the ...

'' newspaper (2000–2008), achieving platinum status. Joe Longo Sr. died on September 15, 2008, at the age of 70. Tommy Longo died on January 30, 2011, at the age of 76. On March 16, 2021, it was announced that

, parent company of

, would buy a 51% stake in Longo's and its Grocery Gateway e-commerce business (which was acquired by Longo's in 2004) for $357 million. The deal, which closed in May 2021, includes a clause allowing Sobeys' share to increase in future years. The Longo's stores and Grocery Gateway "will continue to be led by CEO Anthony Longo". The plan was subject to review by the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau () is the independent law enforcement agency in charge of regulating competition in Canada, responsible for ensuring that markets operate in a competitive manner. Headed by the Commissioner of Competition, the agency is ...

. In September 2021, the Grocery Gateway delivery service was folded under the Longo's banner, with the transitional name "Longo's delivered by Grocery Gateway". At the time of the Empire sale, the company said the Longo's delivery operation would continue as a standalone business, but that it might collaborate with Sobeys' own Voilà delivery brand. On July 4, 2023, Empire announced that it was sunsetting the Longo's / Grocery Gateway delivery service, with customers gradually being redirected to Voilà, and additional Longo's private label products being available through that service.

Locations

42 locations: *

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

* Ancaster *

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

(2) * Brooklin (

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

) * Burlington (2) *

East Gwillimbury East Gwillimbury is a town (lower-tier municipality) on the East Holland River in the upper-tier municipality the Regional Municipality of York. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area of southern Ontario, in Canada. It was formed by the amalgama ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

* Kitchener *

Kleinburg Kleinburg is an unincorporated village in the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, an art gallery with a focus on the Group of Seven (artists), Group of Seven, and the Kortright Centre for Conserva ...

Maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

(2) *

Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...

(2) * Milton *

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

(5) * Oakville (3) * Richmond Hill *

Stouffville Stouffville () is the primary urban area within the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville in York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is situated within the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The urban area is centred at the inte ...

* Thornhill *

(10, including 5 "The Market by Longo's" locations) *

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of **Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

(3)

References

External links

* {{Canadian Supermarkets 1956 establishments in Ontario Companies based in Vaughan Retail companies established in 1956 Supermarkets of Canada Privately held companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 1956

History

Locations

See also

References

External links