TORONTO—Loblaw said Tuesday it is planning to build 50 new stores and renovate 150 others this year in its latest effort to adapt to a rapidly evolving food retail sector.
The grocery and pharmacy giant said the $1.3 billion revamp and expansion project would cover stores of various banners. It is not yet releasing information on where the new stores will be located.
Catherine Thomas, Loblaw’s director of external communications, said in an email that the expansion would add about 5,000 new store employees while creating roughly 15,000 construction jobs.
The new jobs would beef up Loblaw’s employee base by 2.6 percent. Loblaw employs about 192,000 full- and part-time workers, according to its most recent annual information form.
The announcement is the company’s most recent move to compete in an industry that has seen waves of change in recent months.
Inflation and the dropping value of the Canadian dollar earlier this year triggered sharp increases in some food prices, and both Loblaw and rival Metro have dipped their feet into the waters of online shopping and pickup services.
Just last month, Loblaw announced that it was expanding its “Naturally Imperfect” line of discount produce.
Thomas said the completion and success of multiple IT and supply chain investments over the past few years now allows Loblaw to increasingly focus its capital on stores. The investment announced Tuesday would also go towards increasing Loblaw’s e-commerce, IT infrastructure, and supply chain projects, the company said.
Loblaw already operates more than 2,300 stores. They include Loblaws, No Frills, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Joe Fresh apparel outlets.
The company’s most recent quarterly results in February showed profits slipped more than a third compared with the previous year. However, the decline was primarily due to costs and accounting items associated with unusual items, rather than store performance, Loblaw said.
It will release its first-quarter results on May 4.
