David Sobey, who grew the family grocery business into the second-largest supermarket chain, has died. He was 92.
At the time of Mr. Sobey’s death, the grocery chain had grown to operate over 1,500 stores across Canada earning about $31.5-billion in annual sales and employing 131,000 people, with corporate headquarters in the rural Nova Scotia town where it all began – a legacy of which he was immensely proud, according to his friends and colleagues.
“He’d always shake his head and say, ‘It’s amazing what this company has become,’” said Andrew Walker, vice-president of communication for Empire Company Limited and Sobeys.
His grandfather, John William Sobey, started the Sobeys brand in 1907, purchasing livestock from local farmers and delivering meat by horse-drawn wagon to the townspeople of Stellarton. Soon he built a storefront in the heart of the town with broad glass windows that sold meat and other provisions. By 1924 his son Frank was in full partnership, opening other stores throughout the county and eventually the region.
Sobey remained strong and sharp and active until his last day. He lived within walking distance of the Westside Sobeys store, near his home in the town of New Glasgow.
