Oshawa Group


The Oshawa Group was once a leading owner of supermarkets in Ontario, Canada. It was bought by Sobeys in 1998. The company was based in Etobicoke and traded on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges.

History

Founded in 1957 as Oshawa Wholesale Limited, the company grew from expansion in the 1960s to 1980s. It was renamed the Oshawa Group Limited in 1971. The company roots date back further to 1914 by founders Max Wolfe and Maurice Wolfe, who started the Ontario Produce Company and acquired Oshawa Wholesale in 1949 and later gave rise to Oshawa Group.

Notable people

Through the life of the company it was run by the Wolfe family:
Beginning in the 1960s, Oshawa Group acquired various retail chains and stores:
Outside of retailing, Oshawa Group acquired various companies and real estate:
Oshawa Group also operated food services company SERCA Foodservices Incorporated.
The retail scene changed in the 1990s, even as the Oshawa Group had begun re-focusing on core operations beginning in the 1980s. The entire operation was sold in 1998 to Sobeys and the Oshawa name disappeared from Canadian retailing.