Zehrmart Inc. (

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Zehrs Markets or simply Zehrs ) is a Canadian

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 ...

chain in

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 ...

. The chain has 42 locations and is a part of Loblaw Companies Limited, which purchased the Zehrs chain in the mid-1970s.

History

The first store was established by Emory Zehr and his sons in Kitchener in 1950 and was focused mainly on food. Some of the earliest locations were on Lancaster Street, Belmont Avenue and Highland Road in Kitchener. Until the 1980s, Zehrs had its own line of certain foods, including

soda pop A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweet ...

and

potato chip Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

s; these were eventually replaced by Loblaws'

President's Choice President's Choice (Canadian French, French: le Choix du Président) or PC is a line of grocery products and services offered by the Canada-based Loblaw Companies, Loblaw Companies Ltd. History President's Blend The first President's Ch ...

line of products. Television commercials for Zehrs included a brief tune with the words "When it comes right down to the one and only reason; you're important to us." Until 1995, the store's logo was a red or orange square, with two small lines to make it a boldened stylized "Z". Zehrs stores have been known in Ontario by three distinct names: Zehrs Markets, Zehrs Food Plus and Zehrs Greatfood (similar to the new Loblaw Greatfood locations opened in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

). In 2010, Zehrs unveiled a new logo and store design, renovating several stores to the new format. The new stores are known as Zehrs Markets, as opposed to the new Zehrs Greatfood format that had been opened only a couple of years before. A Kingsville location was changed from a Greatfood to a Zehrs Markets, but is once again operating as a Zehrs Greatfood. The business entity is known as Zehrmart Ltd, which is operated by its parent company, Loblaw Companies Limited. Zehrs employees are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1977 as well as the UFCW Local 175/633.

Current operations

The administrative portion of this banner is located in

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 ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Zehrs Markets regions are divided into three districts, numbered from 1–3. Every department in the store has its own specialist for its district, and further expansion into areas of marketing and merchandising are being utilized most recently. Zehrs operates stores in large cities and small towns throughout southern Ontario. Locations stretch from Kingsville in the south to

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

in the north, and from Windsor in the west to

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

in the east and northeast to

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

. It does not have any locations in the Hamilton or Toronto metropolitan areas. It is notable that there are no Zehrs stores in the London-St. Thomas area right in the middle of Zehrs' main market area; that is one of the few areas of southern Ontario where Loblaws had several stores operating when it acquired Zehrs and due to the strength of the Loblaws name in that area that name was retained whereas other Loblaws locations scattered throughout southwestern Ontario were renamed to Zehrs. Locations of a chain of grocery stores in far southwestern Ontario (Windsor, Chatham, Kingsville, Sarnia) named Gordons were renamed to Zehrs in the 1990s. Loblaws has been introducing the Real Canadian Superstore banner to southwestern Ontario and some Zehrs have been renamed to that in recent years. As a "one-stop" shop, Zehrs stores contain traditional departments such as fresh bakery, ready-meals (Fresh2Go), meat and produce, and newer non-traditional departments such as optical stores, wine shops,

President's Choice Financial President's Choice Financial (), commonly shortened to PC Financial, is the financial service brand of the Canada, Canadian supermarket chain Loblaw Companies. Two different wholly owned subsidiaries of Loblaw Companies provide services under t ...

banking kiosks, clothing and electronics departments. In March 2005, Zehrmart Ltd and

Fortinos Fortinos is a Canadian supermarket chain that was founded in Hamilton, Ontario. It operates 24 stores across the western Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited. History In 1961, Giovanni (John) Fortino, a ...

Grocery Stores (both under the Loblaw umbrella) merged their operations and are now run as one unit. In September 2005, all Ontario operations of Loblaw Companies Limited and the banners began moving into the newly constructed office at 1 President's Choice Circle, Brampton, Ontario. As with other Loblaw stores, Zehrs is noted for carrying

products. At newer stores, such as in Guelph or Barrie, the Zehrs logo has the familiar "L" logo from Loblaws added.

Locations

Ontario

42 Locations * Alliston *

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

(3) *

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

(2) *

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

(3) * Fergus * Goderich *

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, ...

(4) * Keswick * Kitchener (4) * Kingsville * LaSalle *

Listowel Listowel ( ; , ) is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,794 according to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the third large ...

* Orangeville *

Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

(2) * Stratford *

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

Tillsonburg Tillsonburg is a town in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada with a population of 18,615 located about 50 kilometres southeast of London, on Highway 3 at the junction of Highway 19. History Prior to European settlement, the present site of Tillso ...

* Waterloo (3) *

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-on ...

* Windsor *

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

References

External links