Supermartifacts / The Artifacts of Loblaws

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The classic "fat Z" logo of the 1970s and 1980s. No longer in use on any store, naturally...

Loblaws' branding in Canada is nothing if not complicated. In southwest Ontario, their history is intertwined with that of Zehrs...a local Kitchener grocer that was acquired by the company in 1963. Zehrs managed to maintain a modicum of autonomy within Loblaws with distinct and visually-consistent store designs, and some of these are explored below.

In the 1970s, the parent company began consolidating their presence in cities under one brand or the other...resulting in the proliferation of Zehrs stores throughout southwest Ontario (except in London, where the Loblaws brand was studiously maintained). Until the 1980s, Zehrs also had a "sub-subsidiary" called Gordons that operated in "almost Michigan" markets such as Chatham and Windsor.

Unless noted otherwise, all photos on these pages were taken by Andrew Turnbull.

1950s-1980s Zehrs stores

100 Highland Rd. W., Kitchener, ON
2019

The Zehr family's first grocery store was housed in this small and inauspicious building, and opened in 1950. For several years, this was the only Zehrs store in existence. By 1960 Zehrs had expanded to three locations in Waterloo and Kitchener.

696 Belmont Ave. W., Kitchener, ON
2019

As you might expect, the goldmine for potential Zehrs artifacts gets deeper the closer you are to Kitchener. This store operated from 1960 (or earlier) to the early 1980s, and features a street-flush alignment and period fieldstone accents that remain intact on the facade. I believe it's been expanded a bit on the left.

150 Holiday Inn Dr., Cambridge, ON
2019

According to Mike Franks, this store in Cambridge opened in early 1970 and was the flagship of the chain. The anchor at the opposite end of the centre contained a small upper-floor area where Zehrs' corporate offices were headquartered until the 2000s.

835 Queen St., Chatham, ON
2019

This store opened in the early 1980s under the Gordons name, and stands on the site of a predecessor Loblaws store that operated until the 1970s. Converted to No Frills in the 2000s.

1515 King St. E., Cambridge, ON
2019

This storefront is punctuated by small windows identical to those on the Chatham store, so it goes without question that it dates to the same era. Originally a Zehrs Market; converted to No Frills in 2015.

123 Pioneer Park, Kitchener, ON
2018 (Jacob Nelson)

This store opened in 1977 as one of no fewer than fifteen Zehrs then operating in the chain's Waterloo-Kitchener "home base." It went on to survive all its contemporaries...and by the time of its 2018 replacement, this store was the last in the entire chain still bearing the "fat Z" logo seen at the top of this page. It succumbed to the wrecking ball soon afterward, and I still kick myself for not getting a picture of it in time. Fortunately Jacob Nelson did, so here is the Last Vintage Zehrs in its 1970s brown-and-orange glory for all to enjoy!

360 Caradoc St. S., Strathroy, ON
2019

And here's yet another example of a small-windowed Gordons/Zehrs building from the 1970s! This one opened by 1979, and even has the original natural brickwork visible.

4136 Petrolia Line, Petrolia, ON
2019

Although this supermarket is branded under the Your Independent Grocer franchise banner (and it's been retrofitted with a version of the current Loblaws "glass peak" facade), I have a strong suspicion that it was originally a Gordons/Zehrs store.

59 Mill St. E., Tilbury, ON
2019

Confirmed as a former Zehrs (and most likely, former Gordons) location.

111 Charles St. E., Ingersoll, ON
2019

Confirmed as a former Zehrs location, opening by 1979. The horizontally-grooved aluminum trim is undoubtedly a Zehrs artifact.

191 Silvercreek Pkwy. N., Guelph, ON
2023

Opened by 1980; converted to No Frills in the 2000s. This was a mall store; hence, it was built with no exterior entrance.

345 Notre Dame St., Belle River, ON
2019

Confirmed as a former Zehrs and (likely) former Gordons location, opening by the 1980s.

1350 16th Ave. E., Owen Sound, ON
2019

This store at Owen Sound's Heritage Place Mall hails from the late 1980s, and originally operated as Zehrs. When the company relocated to a new freestanding store a handful of years later, their old store somehow defected from the Loblaws camp to the A&P camp and became a Food Basics franchise! Though not visible in a rainy twilight picture, this building still bears diagonally-corrugated aluminum trim on the facade that is a Zehrs artifact.

Contemporary Zehrs stores

Zehrs stores feature unique architecture that differs from that of other Loblaws banners. The bulk of newer stores in operation seem to fall into three broad styles: The "Twin Towers" type, the "Orange Wall" type, and the "Canopy" type.

The "Twin Towers" type

Most if not all of these stores were branded as "Zehrs Food Plus" in the past. Most are now branded with the Loblaws-hewed "Great Food" tagline, which sounds superfluous but actually indicates a difference in labour contracts.

7201 Tecumseh Rd. E., Windsor, ON
2019

A Zehrs store opened on this site by 1990; however, the building as it is today likely owes its appearance to a renovation or rebuild into the Zehrs Food Plus format in the late 1990s.

5890 Malden Rd., Windsor, ON
2019

A store offering much the same story as the last: A Zehrs opened on this site by 1990, and the building has probably changed quite a bit over the years since.

865 Ontario St., Stratford, ON
2019

Opened at some point after 1997. It bears the "Great Food" tagline that's also appeared on Loblaws stores over the last decade or so, and replaced an 1980s store closer to the city centre.

600 Murphy Rd., Sarnia, ON
2018

Opened in the late 1990s as Zehrs Food Plus; converted to Real Canadian Superstore by 2011. Which explains why it looks everything like a Zehrs, and nothing like a Superstore.

472 Bayfield St., Barrie, ON
2018

This central Ontario store also originally operated as Zehrs, and once bore a version of the "Twin Towers" facade. In 2015, however, Loblaws cut down the towers, remodelled the store inside and out, and changed it to its own name.

1045 Paisley Rd., Guelph, ON
2023

Another Zehrs "Twin Towers" store that's picked up a bit of Loblaws branding...albeit to a more subtle degree. This was the standard for Zehrs signage in the mid-2010s.

The "Orange Wall" type

I think these stores may be newer than the "Twin Towers" type. Then again, maybe they're not. I never can tell with Zehrs.

1150 6th St. E., Owen Sound, ON
2019

969 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON
2019

Opened as Zehrs Food Plus in the late '90s. Small signs bearing an earlier version of the Zehrs logo still stand by the parking lot entrance.

The "Canopy" type

400 Manning Rd., Tecumseh, ON
c2008 (Ryan Wellborn), 2019

Just in case things weren't confusing enough: It is possible for a Zehrs store building to be converted from one "type" to another, as in this Windsor area store's Great Food conversion. The proportions of the finished product look a little "off," with taller towers and a smaller vestibule than "true" twin-towers stores.

400 Simcoe St., Tillsonburg, ON
2019

A "canopy" store bearing newer (but not new) Zehrs Markets signage. This building also features dark-coloured "panels" on the facade with contrasting vertical stripes, similar to those on Real Canadian Superstores.

600 Mitchell Rd. S., Listowel, ON
2019

One more column under the canopy, but otherwise you'd be hard-pressed to notice any difference between this and the Tillsonburg store. I often find myself driving through Zehrs' trade area at night...

180 Holiday Inn Dr., Cambridge, ON
2019

This store is the direct replacement for Zehrs' 1970s flagship, and is plainly visible from the 401.

800 Tower St. S., Fergus, ON
2023

Here, the entire canopy is glassed in as part of a vestibule.

Still other types

2430 Dougall Ave., Windsor, ON
c2008 (Ryan Wellborn), 2019

Originally Zehrs Food Plus; converted to the Superstore banner in 2008. This is an odd one, since it isn't actually a standalone store at all: The building actually houses a miniature mall with multiple retail tenants, and the front doors open into a shared promenade rather than directly into Superstore space. This explains why the ceiling line looks unusually low (it only covers the area of the building forward of the promenade)...and why Zehrs and Superstore are sharing half their canopy billing with Winners.

297 Eramosa Rd., Guelph, ON
2018

This store was extensively remodelled in the early 2010s, and if anything it's reflective of where store designs have progressed. Note the appearance of the Loblaws "L" logo on the facade.

1005 Ottawa St. N., Kitchener, ON
2019

Hey, Zehrs in a mall! Stanley Park, to be precise, though its present configuration bears scant resemblance to the original. I was hoping to have a chance to see this location before its recent signage update, but it was not to be.

123 Pioneer Park, Kitchener, ON
2019

This store is as new as it gets, having opened 24 Aug. 2018 on the site of an older Zehrs. That previous store had opened in 1977, and until 2018 it was the last store in the chain still bearing the "fat Z" logo seen at the top of this page. I couldn't get a picture of it in time. *sniff*

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