Overwaitea turns 100

The iconic grocery store chain, which includes a Prince Rupert location in its roster of stores, has started to celebrate it's 100th birthday making for a fairly impressive longevity record for a industry that seems to reinvent itself every couple of years.

Operated by the Jim Pattison Group and led by Jimmy Pattison, British Columbia's most recognizable business leader, the grocery chain began it's commemoration of the 100 years with an advertising campaign tied into the weekly flyer's that arrived in your mailbox on Wednesday evening.

Further to this week's celebrations, Pattison himself has been making the media rounds highlighting the history of the chain, which at 86 years of age, he almost matches year for year.

Pattison purchased the British Columbia chain of grocery stores 47 years ago and from that point turned it into one of Canada's largest grocery retailers.

Since that purchase, the chain and its affiliated other brands has grown to close to 150 stores and employ over 14,500 employees.

The celebration this week of the opening of the first Overwaitea location is just the start of Overwaitea's plans to share their birthday party.

Local stores across the province will be hosting Birthday Celebrations on March 8th

Some background on the Overwiatea story can be found here.

Reviews of the birthday celebrations can be viewed below:

Overwaitea trumpets 100 years of doing business in B. C. 
Jim Pattison on Overwaitea Foods' 100th Anniversary