Canadians still fondly remember the grocery stores of youth. 

Some have nostalgic memories of sneaking forbidden junk food items into the Miracle Food Mart shopping cart when a parent’s attention was distracted, or, as a high school student, working part time at the local Dominion store, stocking shelves. 

But many of those old, familiar grocery stores, once central to day-to-day life have disappeared from the commercial landscape. Others remain, but only in certain areas of the country, operating as part of a different chain. 

Whatever happened to those grocery stores? Here’s a partial summary: 

A&P Canada started in 1927 in Montreal. Mainly serving Ontario and Quebec, it was acquired by Metro in 2005, and all stores converted to the Metro name by 2009. 

The Barn began in Hamilton in 1983. It was bought by A&P in 1999, then acquired by Metro in the 2005 purchase. Barn locations were also later converted to the Metro name. 

Dominion was another once-popular brand, dating back to 1919. Its Quebec stores were sold to Provigo in 1981, and the balance was acquired by A&P in 1985. A&P retained the Dominion brand in Toronto-area locations until A&P was purchased by Metro. There is a separate Dominion Stores that operates in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is owned by Loblaw, and licenses the Dominion name from Metro. 

Food City and Food Town began in 1965 in Toronto. They were sold to Sobeys (Empire) in 1998, and mostly renamed Price Chopper, then FreshCo. 

Knob Hill Farms was an independent chain that began in 1953, and closed operations in 2000. 

Loeb began in 1912 in Ottawa. It was acquired by Metro in 1999, and its stores rebranded by 2008. 

Steinbergs began in Montreal in 1917. It operated the Miracle Food Mart brand in Ontario. Steinberg’s eventually declared bankruptcy, but before doing so, sold portions of its business variously to A&P, Loblaw, Metro and Provigo. 

In addition, three other prominent brands continue on in parts of Canada, though with changes in ownership: 

IGA operates primarily in Quebec, acquired by Sobeys. Its Ontario stores are largely now known as Foodland. There are also independently owned stores known as IGA operating in British Columbia.

Provigo was formed in 1969, grew through acquisitions for the next 20 years, then was acquired by Loblaw in 1999. 

Safeway was formed in Winnipeg in 1929 and dominated Western Canada grocery retailing. It was forced to sell locations to competitors because of its dominance. It was purchased by Sobeys in 2013.