Hi friend,

Imagine yourself reflecting on the opportunity to develop a new business. How do you decide what products or services your business should deliver? It would be wise to take into account your skills and experience, as well as what specific needs can be found in the broader community.

Food is something we need for our daily survival as individuals, and that was the professional focus of Theodore Pringle Loblaw, co-founder of what is now Canada's largest food retailer (Loblaw Companies Limited) and one of Mimico's most famous historical residents.

In the early 20th century, buying groceries meant handing a list to a clerk who fetched items for you, which was a slow, high-overhead model. Theodore Pringle Loblaw disrupted this entirely by introducing the self-serve cash-and-carry concept, founding the Loblaw retail empire. His story is an example of the wisdom in challenging the "way things have always been done" to achieve massive scale.

Early Life

Born in 1872 in Elmgrove, Ontario (near Alliston), Theodore Loblaw faced early hardship when he was orphaned in his teens. Raised by his Scottish-born grandparents, William and Elizabeth Stevenson, he learned resilience early on. At just 17 years old, he left the family farm and moved to Toronto with only twenty dollars in his pocket and a singular ambition to forge a career in the retail grocery business.

He married Isabella Adam in 1897, and by 1900, his retail dream began to materialize when he purchased his first grocery store on College Street in Toronto alongside his partner, J. Milton Cork.
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The Birth of Loblaws

At the dawn of the 20th century, buying groceries was a highly labour-intensive, clerk-driven process. Customers handed a list to a clerk, who weighed, measured, and fetched every item from behind a counter, followed by free home delivery via wagon.

Loblaw and Cork believed they could drastically cut costs and lower prices for consumers if they changed this model. Inspired by early "self-serving" concepts in the United States, they opened the first Loblaw Groceterias store in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood in 1919.

The concept was radical for Canada: "Cash and Carry." Customers picked up their own baskets, browsed clearly priced items on well-lit shelves, and paid cash at a central checkout. Despite early skepticism that Torontonians wouldn't want to carry their own groceries, the "We Sell For Less" model was a massive success.

The "Merchant Prince" and His Impact

Throughout the 1920s, Loblaw expanded his empire rapidly. By 1928, the chain boasted 69 stores across Ontario and had expanded into New York and Chicago. To support this, they built a massive, state-of-the-art warehouse at Fleet St. and Bathurst St. in Toronto that featured its own electric tram railway, giant baking ovens, and early computer-like punched card systems for inventory.

As his success grew, Loblaw settled in the Toronto neighbourhood of Mimico. In the 1920s, he purchased a former Eaton family property in Mimico Beach to serve as his summer estate, named "Bonnyview." He was an active member of the local community, attending the Wesley United Church in Mimico.

Remembered as a "Merchant Prince," Loblaw dedicated much of his wealth to philanthropy. He heavily funded the Toronto Western Hospital, the Toronto Kiwanis Club, and built the Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston to honour the grandparents who raised him.

Following a near-fatal case of pneumonia in 1928 after being thrown from a horse, Loblaw re-evaluated his finances and cancelled a planned merger with Dominion Stores. He passed away suddenly in 1933 at age 60 from complications following a minor surgery, but the empire he built was just getting started.

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​Loblaw Companies Limited

Following Loblaw's death, co-founder J. Milton Cork took the reins. However, the company's trajectory shifted again in 1947 when Canadian industrialist W. Garfield Weston purchased a massive block of shares. By 1953, Weston's holding company, George Weston Limited, secured majority control of Loblaws.

Under the Weston family's control, Loblaw Companies Limited initiated aggressive post-war expansion, acquiring regional chains across Canada and the US, and pioneering the modern supermarket layout with massive parking lots, air conditioning, and automatic doors.

Today, the company Theodore Pringle Loblaw founded is massively different from its single-store origins, though it retains his name and his commitment to scale. Loblaw Companies Limited is now Canada's largest food retailer, pulling in over $60 billion in revenue annually and employing 220,000 Canadians. The parent company operates 22 distinct regional banners (including Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, and Shoppers Drug Mart), controls highly successful private labels like President's Choice and No Name, and has expanded deeply into apparel (Joe Fresh) and banking.

As we read the story of Theodore Pringle Loblaw and the company he co-founded, I have one question to ask you: how will you challenge the "way things have always been done" in your workplace and/or in your community?

Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect.

Until next time,
​Alex Rășcanu​

P.S. If you'd like to read the past e-newsletters focused on life lessons, you can find them here.

P.P.S. See you at one of the upcoming monthly ExperienceTO historical tours, such as the Mimico one on Saturday, September 19th.