Sobey family

The Sobey family grew a small meat delivery business in Nova Scotia to one of Canada’s largest grocery chains, with more than 1,500 stores across the country. Founded in 1907 by John William Sobey, today the family’s Empire Company Limited operates popular consumer subsidiaries that include Sobeys, Safeway, Farmboy, FreshCo, and Foodland. The Sobey family is one of the wealthiest in Canada.
In 1924, John William’s son, Frank H. Sobey, convinced his father to expand the delivery business into groceries. Frank would go on to open the company’s first modern supermarket in Atlantic Canada in 1947. Frank originally purchased Empire Company Limited in order to secure a plot of land, but later transformed the company into the family’s private holding company. Frank Sobey’s sons, Bill, David and Donald took over management of both Sobeys and Empire Company in 1971.
Bill Sobey’s son, Frank C. Sobey was Vice President, Real Estate of Empire Company Limited until his retirement in June 2014 after 36 years. He remains an Empire Company director. His brother Karl was President of the Atlantic Division of Sobeys until his retirement in 2001 after 27 years, and also holds a Director position at Empire. Great-grandson of the founder, Paul D. Sobey is a corporate Director at Empire and served as President for 31 years.