In 1947, 19 independent grocers from LaSalle, Montreal decided to form a buying group that eventually morphed into the Metro banner.
The food retailer’s history is marked by several acquisitions: the most recent include Groupe Jean Coutu, Adonis and Première Moisson.
This growth would not have been possible without the grocers’ families who have been at the helm for 75 years. Particularly during the merger with Grocers United in 1982, which enabled the expansion of Metro’s offerings – then called Metro Richelieu – in the state capital.
The first supermarkets were very different from the large stores that people are used to today. For a long time there was only the bare essentials: meat, vegetables and fruit.
Today, local products mix with exotic dishes and ready-made meals help with many last-minute meals.
Small changes for consumers, but many changes for these retailers, some of whom grew up within the walls of their supermarket. And with their passion, they continued to work to fill all the pantries.
Quebec – The Ferland family, the centuries-old grocer
In 1917, an ironworks grocery store was founded in the Saint-Sauveur district in the hands of Oscar Ferland and his wife Albertine Morency.
It was on this land, where the Morency maple grove once stood, that the couple took their first steps in the food industry.
“It was almost a general store,” emphasizes grandson Serge Ferland, the current owner of Metro Ferland.
A decision that will shape the legacy of the next three generations. Almost 100 years later, the Ferland family still proudly bears the title of grocer.
The founder’s son, Roland Ferland, joined the brand in 1943. Fifteen years later he became the owner and co-founder of the Grocers Unis group.
“And Épiciers Unis merged with Metro in 1982,” explains Serge Ferland together with his daughter Karyn. It was like a cooperative of merchants from Quebec, while Metro was from Montreal. »
This connection allowed the two groups to stay the course in the face of growing competition, particularly from Steinberg.
Serge Ferland still remembers his father painting the flyers by hand every week. And on Wednesday after school, the young man had to distribute the copies in the neighborhood.
In 1989, the grocery store passed into the hands of Serge Ferland, who still runs the store together with his daughter Karyn. The latter officially joined the company in 2016 as co-owner of its second store on Rue du Marais.
“It’s funny because the real grocer was my father,” says Serge Ferland. I was more of a manager. »
At 96, his father Roland was never far from his grocery store.
“Until a month ago, he came here every day,” Karyn added. He was here talking to people. There’s a cold drinks counter out front and he was refilling it. “It’s also called the daddy counter,” she laughs.
Saguenay – Dany Boutin, from licensee to boss
In her mid-twenties, Dany Boutin got a job at grocery retailer Super Carnaval.
Although this position was not his first in the industry, as he was already working as a grocer at the age of 17, the desire to pursue a career there took serious shape.
Metro is now making acquisitions. First Grocers United, then Super Carnaval. Dany Boutin, who is suffering from the effects of these restructurings, was thanked for his position with the banner that employs him again today.
But his goal hadn’t changed.
In the early 1990s, he joined forces with his brother and one of his cousins to acquire Metro de Dolbeau. Seven years later he became the sole partner. In 2009 he also bought the Metro de Saint-Félicien.
The grocery store is more than a workplace. His two children, Naomi and Olivier, learned to count in the hallways at a young age.
Because the school is near the supermarket, “after class, the kids would come into the conference room to do their homework and then go down to the floor to work.” It’s our life and it quickly got them involved. »
And today they are about to pick up the torch.
“Long before the big chains [concurrentes] » Dany Boutin claims he was the first to integrate the bistro sector and prepared meals in the Saguenay region, where there are fewer restaurants than in the large centers.
Tourtière, shepherd’s pie, lasagna, etc.: the owner is proud to feed his region and to be able to contribute to it.
“We are fortunate to be able to give our businesses a soul. And I think that’s what sets us apart. […] Being a good grocer means loving people, talking to them and listening to them every day. »
His greatest happiness: “It’s when I’m standing at the checkout or packing or putting things away. For me, administration is a chore, while I enjoy being on the floor,” emphasizes the owner, who, as he did when he was 17, takes on the role of clerk every week.
Trois-Rivières – Les Fournier, life in the grocery store
Jean Fournier practically spent his life in a grocery store. In 1965, on the eve of his sixth birthday, his parents bought a small grocery store on Thibeau Boulevard in Trois-Rivières.
“When we first got here, we handed out flyers door-to-door by hand, and I did that for years,” says the man who now owns Metro Plus Fournier.
In 1978, the grocery store displayed the Metro sign. Three years later, the store underwent a series of moves and remodels for the first time.
“We enlarged it with our hands. If we ask ourselves what our commitment was, then it was also the construction, says Jean Fournier. At that time there were no entrepreneurs to expand our branches. I spent my youth doing this with my brother and my father. »
Before Jean Fournier’s parents became merchants, they worked in the catering industry for almost 15 years. This made this brand from Trois-Rivières a forerunner of the dishes prepared in grocery stores.
A few years after the first move, another expansion made it possible to incorporate a kitchen department with matriarch Corinne Fournier as head chef. “It was the beginning of the Maman Fournier courts,” he remembers proudly.
A few decades later, his son Simon Fournier continued the family history.
“I’ve been working in the company since I was little: classifying bottles, mowing the lawn. It’s stupid, but it’s easy to find small jobs,” he laughs.
At the age of 16, he started working in the sausage department. “I didn’t really have a clear career plan. But when I saw my father working and getting involved in the business, I decided I wanted to make a career out of it. »
And 20 years later, Jean Fournier retires. “The more he takes, the more I go.” »