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| Type | Public (TSX: WN, TSX: WNPRA, TSX: WNPRB, TSX: WNPRC, TSX: WNPRD, and TSX: WNPRE) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1882 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Key people | W. Galen Weston |
| Industry | Grocery Stores |
| Revenue | $32.815 billion CAN (▲2% FY 2007) |
| Employees | 148,000 |
| Website | www.weston.ca |
George Weston Limited (TSX: WN for common stock and TSX: WNPRA, TSX: WNPRB, TSX: WNPRC, TSX: WNPRD, and TSX: WNPRE for preferred stock), often called Weston's or simply Weston, is a Canadian food processing and distribution company, and one of Canada's most recognizable companies. It was founded in 1882 by George Weston. The company represented the North American operations of the Weston food empire, and upon the death of George Weston, control of George Weston, Ltd. fell to his son W. Garfield Weston (1898-1978), who built it into a multi-billion dollar company. On his death, the current Chairman Galen Weston continued to expand the business into one of the largest food conglomerates in North America.
While its origins are in the bakery field, it also owned the E.B. Eddy Company, a pulp and paper business acquired in 1943. As well, Weston purchased Loblaw Companies Limited in 1947 and built it into the largest chain of supermarkets in Canada. In recent years they acquired the Neilson Dairy (sold in 2008) and Gadoua Bakeries.
The company was founded on building strong vertical integration. For example, the Weston grocery stores sold the bread they manufactured which contained the sugar that was refined at their own sugar refineries.
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Brands
Bakery
- George Weston Bakeries (Canada only; USA rights owned by Grupo Bimbo)
- Brownberry
- Boboli (in Canada; USA rights owned by Grupo Bimbo)
- Maplehurst Bakeries
- Interbake Foods [1]
- Wonder Bread (in Canada)
- Country Harvest
- Arnie's Bagels
- Gadoua Bakeries
- Weston Bread
Grocery
Chains:
- Loblaws
- Zehrs
- Fortinos
- Provigo
- Maxi
- No Frills
- Atlantic Superstore
- Dominion stores in Newfoundland and Labrador
- Real Canadian Superstore
- Extra Foods
- Valu-mart
- SaveEasy
- Your Independent Grocer
- Atlantic SuperValu
- T&T Supermarket
Brands:
- President's Choice
- No Name
- Exact
Other
Upscale Department Stores:
- Holt Renfrew (Canada)
- Selfridges (UK)
- Brown Thomas (Ireland)
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of the company are: A. Charles Baillie, Robert Dart, Peter Eby, Phillip Farmer, Anne Fraser, R. Donald Fullerton, Anthony Graham, Mark Hoffman, Allan Leighton, John Makinson, Robert Prichard, Wendy Rebanks, Galen G. Weston, and W. Galen Weston (chairman).
See also
Associated British Foods - the company built by George Weston, and controlled by Galen Weston, Sr.'s brother Garry until his death in 2002. Galen Weston, Sr. is currently a non-executive director of ABF.
References
External links
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