From bakery to ‘tech behemoth’: How Loblaw became a titan of the private health-care industry

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From bakery to ‘tech behemoth’: How Loblaw became a titan of the private health-care industry. The $845-million acquisition of Lifemark Health Group is part of a rapid expansion into health services and technology.

When he was 12, George Weston worked as a baker’s apprentice. He went on to become a bread route salesman and, by the early 1900s, earned a reputation for his “Weston’s Home-Made Bread” business — a triumph of enterprise that helped land him a seat on Toronto City Council.

Without Shoppers and Pharmaprix, Loblaw still owns a dizzying array of subsidiaries: No Frills, T&T Supermarket, Real Canadian Liquorstore, Real Canadian Superstore, Real Canadian Wholesale Club, Extra Foods, Valu-mart, ARZ Fine Foods, Dominion, Independent City Market, Freshmart, Atlantic Superstore, Provigo, Zehrs and Fortinos.

“They’re not primarily a grocer anymore. Fundamentally, Loblaw is a tech-driven platform that just so happens to sell groceries and real estate,” said Vass Bednar, executive director of the Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program at McMaster University.The small-cap physical therapy company will be rolled into Shoppers Drug Mart.

“If I’m diabetic, or pregnant, I wonder if eventually I’ll get points through PC Health for eating sugar-free foods.” The closest is probably Lifemark itself, according to a report from Desjardins Capital Markets, but the company earns an estimated $450 million annually in an $11 billion industry.

 

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