Industry Grocery Website www.farmboy.ca CEO Jeffrey York (Nov 2009–) Motto It's All About the Food. | Area served Ontario Headquarters Ottawa, Canada Number of locations 20 Founded 1981 | |
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Founder Jean-Louis and Collette Bellemare | ||
Farm boy and his john deere tractor
Farm Boy is an Ottawa-based Eastern Ontario regional supermarket chain that sells primarily fresh produce, baked goods, organic foods, dairy, deli, meat, fish and some prepared products (usually with no additives or preservatives) including a private label line. The company started in December 1981, with its first store in Cornwall, Ontario.
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Its primary jingle is It's a farm boy day, so shop the farm boy way. Its current slogan can be found under the Farm Boy sign on its stores, "It's All About The Food."
History
In December 1981, Collette and Jean-Louis Bellemare opened the first Farm Boy on Cumberland Street in Cornwall, Ontario. At that time, the modest 300 sq. ft. store sold only produce. The second Farm Boy was opened in February 1983 by brother Normand Bellemare in Cornwall.
By October of the next year, the Bellemare brothers joined together to open a Farm Boy on Sydney Street. This 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) store allowed them to expand their products beyond produce with dairy, deli, cheese and meat product lines. An in-store bakery and bulk food were also added.
Expansion
By 1992, the success of Farm Boy in Cornwall allowed the family to expand their business into other regions; Orleans on Centrum Boulevard in 1992, Nepean in February 1996, Montreal Road in the Hillside Plaza in May 1997, Kanata on Hazeldean Road in November 1997, Blossom Park area in July 2003 and again in Orleans in December 2004. New stores were opened in 2006 at the Blue Heron Mall, on Bank Street, Barrhaven on Woodroffe Avenue, a store on Terry Fox Drive in the Kanata Signature centre in 2007 and Britannia off Richmond Road in 2011. In 2012 they opened a location at Place d'Orleans mall and it was the first store to offer an in store eating area. In 2012 Farm Boy also expanded to Kingston, their first store outside of the Ottawa area.
In the fall of 2003, the Bellemares created a Board of Directors to oversee the overall direction of the company and appointed Jeff York as the new President of Farm Boy in 2009. In 2012 two of the 3 Bellemare brothers stepped down as an investment group out of Boston invested in the company to help them grow.
In the summer of 2014, Farm Boy expanded to London, Ontario. Citing success in its first London location at Wellington Road just north of Bradley Ave, the company announced two more locations would open in the spring of 2015. The first located near Masonville Place in the city's north end, and the region's largest store located at Wonderland and Beaverbrook, just west of Western University. The Wonderland and Beaverbrook location is also home to the company's regional offices.
In summer of 2015, Farm Boy furthered its expansion with its first location in Kitchener and Whitby.