Wikipedia
Save-On-Foods is a chain of supermarkets located across Western Canada. Founded in 1982, it is a subsidiary of the Overwaitea Food Group, which, in turn, is owned by the Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group.
Stores carry both standard brand names and private label brands, such as Western Family, Western Classics, Value Priced, and Body Zone. Many stores have pharmacies, and some locations provide other services, including nutrition tours, health clinics, and Changes Recycling Centres. Today, Save-On-Foods operates 91 stores in British Columbia, 33 in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan.
A number of stores concurrently running as Save-On-Foods formerly operated under the Overwaitea brand, founded in 1915 and purchased by Pattison in 1968. Most Overwaitea stores were gradually converted to Save-On-Foods stores during the expansion and renovation of the overall chain in the 1990s and 2000s. Some other store names still operating as separate brands under the Overwaitea Food Group include Urban Fare, Cooper's Foods, PriceSmart Foods and Bulkley Valley Wholesale.
The first Save-On-Foods store in Alberta opened in 1990, at Mayfield Common in Edmonton. The store's loyalty card, originally called the Save-On-More card but recently re-branded as More Rewards, was launched in May 1992. It is currently accepted at all of the chain's stores and at all Chevron gas stations, Avis locations, Jim Pattison Auto Group locations, Accent Inns and Canadian Direct Insurance.
Save-On-Foods is also the namesake company of the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre Arena in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2004, the Jim Pattison Group agreed to pay $125,000 per year for 10 years for the Save-On-Foods name rights on Victoria’s new arena, amidst unpopular public opinion.
In February 2014, the company announced it was taking over 14 stores on Vancouver Island owned by Sobeys, mostly under the Safeway and Thrifty Foods banners. It was also announced that Overwaitea would convert 11 PriceSmart Foods locations to the Save-On-Foods brand.
Until 2015, Save-On-Foods operated exclusively in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. In July 2015, the company revealed it was planning to open as many as 40 stores in Manitoba and Saskatchewan over the next three to five years. The first of these stores are scheduled to open in 2016 and include three locations in Winnipeg) and four across Saskatchewan.
In March 2016, it was announced that Save-On-Foods would also expand to northern Canada opening up a store in Whitehorse, Yukon in 2017.