Supermarkets keep growing beyond food

Article Excerpt

Canada’s supermarkets are doing a good job of competing with U.S. retail giants like Wal-Mart, which are aggressively expanding in the grocery market. In addition to improving their efficiency, the Canadian firms are buying other chains, like drugstores and specialty bakeries, that nicely complement their main businesses. LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $59 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.8 million; Market cap: $24.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with about 1,050 stores. The company is benefiting from sales of other products beyond food. For example, in 2006 it launched its popular Joe Fresh line of clothing, shoes and accessories. Loblaw sells these goods in over 330 of its supermarkets and through 17 stand-alone stores in the U.S. and Canada. It plans to open 140 more Joe Fresh stores outside of North America in the next four years. As well, in March 2014, Loblaw paid $12.3 billion in cash…