Jimmy Pattison was born in Alberta?

[jon]

Has anyone got any idea where Save-On comes from, claiming to be "Alberta's own"? From what I can tell, Jimmy Pattison was born in Luseland, Saskatchewan, but spent his adult life in Vancouver. Obviously, getting from one to the other would require a trip through Alberta, but that hardly qualifies Save-On to call itself Albertan.

This seems to have started a few months ago. I first noticed it when my mother-in-law asked about it, and I didn't believe her. In fact, I was questioning it just as we drove past a Save-On store in Sherwood Park with "Alberta's Own" signage on the building!

Plus, it is not as if Save-On has stores across the province: the only presence South of Red Deer is a single store in Lethbridge. They have completely pulled out of Calgary, though sister chain Extra Foods has stores in Cochrane and High River, but nowhere else in the South of the province.

[Russ_Byth]

Seriously Jon, is this really a burning topic?
It's called marketing.
I'm looking at my own local flyer which has 'BC's very own' in the same place using the same picture.
I'm guessing the steak is more expensive here at $6.99 a pound.

[jon]

"Buy Albertan" was a fairly large campaign here about 10 years ago. There would have been a pretty big stink back then if a store tried to piggyback on the campaign by claiming it was "Alberta' own" when it was not owned by Albertans, and the majority of its inventory was not manufactured in Alberta.

The steak is $6.99 here, too, by the way.

[drmusic]

Extra Foods is part of Loblaw, not Overwaitea/Save-On.

[jon]

Extra Foods is part of Loblaw, not Overwaitea/Save-On.

Right you are.

[albertaboy4life]

Might it be from the ownership of Associated Grocers (AG)?

Also Save-On/Overwaitea has a massive warehouse in northeast Calgary near the International Airport. It might even be the main warehouse for the business.

Didn't Pattison's outdoor advertising business along with its automotive leasing operation move to Alberta due to a more favourable business environment (namely lower taxes)?

[radiofan]

In the days when Jimmy's stores were known as Overwaitea, the slogan was "B.C.'s Very Own Food People" . I've noticed the "B.C.'s Own" slogan for Save On lately.

Regardless of the slogan, I won't shop at Jimmy's stores. Their Western Family products are all crap and the sealed packages of so called fresh meat are a joke.

[slowhand]

Talked to a lady yesterday who recently left Calgary and did not even notice when Save-On left. She and everyone she knew shopped at Co-op.

[Jack Bennest]

The Jim Pattison Food Group:

Overwaitea Foods
Save-On-Foods
Coopers Foods
PriceSmart Foods
Urban Fare
Buy-Low Foods
Nesters Markets
Canadian Fishing Company

Food is good at Save On locally - big stores

[Jack Bennest]

Correction - our stores are Buy Low but there are Save-Ons in Penticton and Kelowna