Knob Hill Farms

Stavro's father operated Louis Meat Market in Toronto from the 1930s to the 1950s. In 1951, he opened his own fresh produce stand across the street under the Knob Hill Farms name. Stavro said he took the name from a box of produce from California.[2] By 1954, Stavro had gone off on his own, managing outdoor markets and grocery stores under the Knob Hill Farms name. By the late 1950s, he was operating at nine sites in Toronto.[3]

Promotional Knob Hill Farms / Canada Dry pin

Knob Hill Farms mug

In December 1963, Stavro changed direction and opened his first "food terminal"—a forerunner of the big-box store with 65,000 square feet (6,000 square-metres) of space just north of Toronto at Woodbine Avenue and Highway 7 in Markham. At the time of its opening, the Markham location was Canada’s biggest grocery store in Canada.[4]

Knob Hill Farms shopping basket

Eight years later, on August 4, 1971, Stavro opened a second terminal in Pickering, Ontario – immediately to the east of Toronto. With each store opening it became customary for Stavro to hold events for large industry groups, including brokers, wholesales and manufacturers. This store opening was also noteworthy for the arrival of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club, who drove in from New York to meet with Steve Stavro.

Following the Pickering terminal Stavro opened his third terminal, the first in Toronto, on September 3, 1975. The terminal was located at Lansdowne Avenue and Dundas Street West, on a site previously occupied by a National Cash Register plant. A second Toronto terminal opened on February 2, 1977 at Cherry Street and the Gardiner Expressway.

The fifth store, billed as the largest food store in North America, opened November 1, 1978 at Dixie Road and the Queen Elizabeth Way in Mississauga – immediately to the west of Toronto. This was the first store in the chain to sell some non-food products and was initially two stories tall. The second storey was later closed to customers and used for storage. A restaurant, drug store, and wine shop all rented space within the building.

On June 29th 1983, Knob Hill Farms opened a location in Oshawa, Ontario in the former Ontario Malleable Iron Company Limited’s factory. The building had been used as an iron foundry since 1898, although the company had operated at that site since 1872. The 226,000 square foot (21,000 square metre) building had railway spurs for both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railway lines running right to the store. A pharmacy, bakery, dentist’s office, video rental store, wine store, and a card shop were among the other businesses initially located within the terminal.[5]

The Ontario Municipal Board and the Ontario government approved a 12-acre (49,000 m²) site in 1982 for the seventh Knob Hill Farms terminal, this one at Weston Road and Highway 401 in the Weston community of Toronto. For this opening a team of executives from The Kroger Company, the largest supermarket chain in the US, flew in on a company jet for the opening. The site was previously an industrial building dating back to the 1930s and was used for the assembly of airplanes (de Havilland Mosquitos) by Massey Harris during World War II. The 325,000 square foot (30,200 square metre) store opened May 14, 1986. Features of the supermarket included a man-made waterfall, rides for children and a variety of shops. The store also featured John Richmond’s 1,300 foot (400 metre) mural depicting the history of food from Prometheus to Marc Garneau.[6] Another mural facing the south side featuring Southern Ontario from downtown Toronto, with a street written as "Baloor" instead of Bloor Street and the Don Valley Parkway, the western suburbs, the Hamilton Mountain, Niagara Falls and near Fort Erie. The supermarket also featured two doorways in the east and the west sides. The walkway featured streetlights that looked liked a promenade or a walkway.

Knob Hill Farms logo

In 1984 Knob Hill Farms purchased 1900 Eglinton Ave. East from General Electric on the closing of its factory. The plan was to construct a new food terminal catering to the Scarborough, Ontario community. This plan, however, was opposed by some members of the local community and led by the area alderman, a real estate broker, who felt the terminal would be “too disruptive to the existing fabric of development”.[7] In 1987 the application for development was formally turned down. The denial came as somewhat of a surprise forcing Knob Hill Farms to pivot its strategy for the location, turning it into a wholesale retailer on the north side of the building and the south side of the building became Knob Hill Farms’ head office.

On August 21st 1991 Knob Hill Farms opened a terminal in Cambridge Ontario, the first outside the Greater Toronto Area. The terminal measured 340,000 square feet (31,500 square metres), making it the largest food retail store in the world. It was estimated that the terminal saw over 20,000 customers on opening day with hour long lines and traffic jams surrounding the store.[8] The Store featured 5,250 feet (1,600 metres) of refrigeration units, a 500 foot (150 metre) meat counter and 1,500 parking spaces.[9] An interesting facet of the terminal also was the partnership with the local Mennonite community. 8,000 square feet (750 square metres) of the store was devoted to the sale of homemade Mennonite furniture and fabric, while the parking lot featured a five buggy hitching post to accommodate the Mennonites’ horse and buggy travel.[10]

The final Knob Hill terminal, the Riverdale Terminal, opened in 1992. The terminal was located at the Carlaw and Gerrard intersection in Toronto.

In the 90s Knob Hill Farms was easily recognized in local newspapers with their one or two page ads printed in black and blue. Advertised on the air they used the jingle "You know you get good value when you shop, at Knob Hill Farms."

In August 2000, Stavro announced that all stores would close.[11] At the time, the company had about 800 employees at 10 locations. Knob Hill Farms had lost market share to new competitors, including Costco and large Loblaws stores, and had racked up significant debts. The final store — the Weston site — closed in February 2001.

The Markham site was sold for $11.5 million to Michael-Angelo's Market Place Incorporated (supermarket closed and now LA Fitness). Loblaw Companies paid $34.2 million for three properties (Lansdowne & Dundas, Mississauga, and Carlaw & Gerrard) and reopened as No Frills stores. It subsequently purchased the Weston site, demolished the Knob Hill site and redeveloped as a Real Canadian Superstore, which opened in 2006. The Cambridge site is now occupied by Home Depot and Canadian Tire. The site in Scarborough became a Wal-Mart Supercentre. The Pickering store at 1630 Kingston Road was occupied by DOT Patio and T-Phat Supermarket, but now lays abandoned after the building was demolished. The Cherry Street site became a T & T Supermarket in 2007 and now part of Loblaws chain but has since been torn down. The Knob Hill Farms building, at 500 Howard Street in Oshawa, became a discount/liquidation outlet and a flea market for a brief period of time before finally closing its doors. In July 2014, the Oshawa location was expropriated for the new Oshawa Central GO Station.[12]

• List of Canadian supermarkets
• Knob Hill Stable