What is "rossy"

Rossy is a regional chain of variety stores located primarily in the provinces of Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada.

The company was founded by Michael Rossy in 1949. During the 1960s to the 1990s, different Rossy stores in Montreal were often located within a walking distance from each other. Today such proximities among the stores are less common; but in contrast, the chain has expanded its presence throughout the province.

The first Rossy store in Ontario was opened in August, 2010 in the former town of Val Caron.

In October 2011, Laval-based competitor Hart Stores had run into financial difficulties, and entered Companies Creditors Arrangement Act bankruptcy protection, closing 32 of its 92 Canadian stores. In Newfoundland, eight of Hart's former Bargain Giant locations were converted in 2012 to Rossy stores.

Rossy, born Paul Bert Rahasimanana, is a singer and songwriter from Madagascar generally considered the most popular Malagasy artist of the 1990s. Beginning his musical career as an accordionist and singer within a traditional hira gasy musical troupe, Rossy innovated a fusion of hira gasy instrumentation and vocal style with contemporary rock, funk and folk sounds to create a uniquely Malagasy genre of contemporary popular music. Rossy actively promoted former president Didier Ratsiraka through concert performances throughout his presidency and served within the Ministry of Culture to promote artists' rights and copyright law. When Ratsiraka fell into disfavor following the contentious 2001 Malagasy presidential elections, Rossy went into self-imposed exile in France. He returned to the island to give concerts beginning in 2008 and enjoyed enormous popularity despite six years of absence, setting an unbroken record of 35,000 tickets sold for a performance given that year. His compositions and style are frequently associated with the Ratsiraka socialist period and commonly evoke a sense of nostalgia among Malagasy fans.