Québec City Chain Grocery/Supermarket Locations, 1935-1976

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This is a list of all known chain grocery addresses in Québec (City) between 1935 and 1976, compiled from city directories, telephone books, and other sources. It is generated through a live Google Spreadsheet so it reflects the latest information I have.

View and download a copy of this location spreadsheet via Google Sheets.

Notes:

  • This was a challenge (and took much longer than expected for so relatively few addresses) due to significant street renaming and renumbering and to some French-language naming conventions that caused alphabetizing dilemmas for the publishers of the directories. Also there were no classified listings published after 1947 until 1957, and there were no directories at all after 1976. I also did not have access to newspapers as a secondary reference. Fortunately my French is just barely good enough that the language barrier was not an issue.
  • I suspect there are other small chains I may have missed and I’m certain there are co-ops not listed because there was no way to identify them.
  • Dominion Stores acquired the Thrift Stores chain in 1955.
  • Provigo, established originally as a wholesaler, became a major retailer in the 1970s and purchased the Dominion Stores in the province of Québec in 1981. Provigo also ended up with many Steinberg locations in the early 1990s before itself beng acquired by Loblaws in 1998.
  • Aux Vraix Aubaines, originally based in Trois-Rivières was acquired by Provigo in 1972, before the Québec City stores opened. The Jato chain was acquired by Provigo in 1975.
  • Street names have been given using Francophone-style ordering and spelling (rue = street, chemin = road, ouest = west, est = east, etc.) although I have omitted the comma that is often used between the number and street name and I have used the Anglophone approach to capitalization (so the street type is capitalized). Additionally, I have used the post-amalgamation names for the municipalities. This seems to provide the best functionality in the Google Maps links.

Store tags:

  • A&P
  • Jato/Jen Boiteau
  • Dominion
  • IGA
  • Magasins Morin
  • Metro/Super C
  • Steinberg
  • Provigo/Provibec/Provigain/Aux Vraix Aubaines