Editor’s note: Story has been updated at 12:30 p.m. to include details from a company conference call.
CORNWALL – A grocery store chain which originated in Cornwall is being sold in a proposed $800 million deal.
The parent company of Sobeys announced Monday morning it is purchasing Farm Boy.
It’s not clear what will change at the supermarket as Farm Boy will be managed separately from Empire Co. Ltd.
But executives on a conference call today on both sides of the deal assured the public that nothing will change.
Farm Boy founder and co-CEO Jean-Louis Bellemare and co-CEO Jeff York will continue in their roles.
Bellemare said nothing will change in the today’s call.
Bellemare first opened Farm Boy in Cornwall in 1981 and the grocery chain, known for fresh produce and prepared foods, now has 26 stores across Ontario.
The deal, which is expected to close in early 2019, is meant to ramp up Farm Boy’s face in the GTA and southwestern Ontario through new stores and Sobeys store conversions.