Sobeys to close 6 grocery stores in Manitoba

Sobeys Inc. is closing six more grocery stores in Manitoba, after being ordered to sell five other locations this past fall.

The company, which owns several grocery retails chains, is closing three stores in Winnipeg, one in Thompson, one in Brandon and another in Steinbach.

About 300 workers will be affected by the closures.

Locations in Winnipeg include the IGA in the Maples, the Garden City Safeway and the Safeway location at Sturgeon Road and Ness Avenue.

Both Brandon and Steinbach will lose a Safeway location as well.

Jeff Traeger, with the United Food and Commercial Workers, said Sobeys told his local union the Thompson Cash and Carry would close July 18.

Traeger said they received written notification of the Maples closure in Winnipeg, but there was no specific date provided.

More details on when the location will close is expected in six to eight weeks, he said.

The company gave no reason for the closures, but Traeger said he was expecting some stores would close after the company merged with Safeway Canada.

"I would say that's extremely unusual that we don't get a reason, and even more unusual, I would say, is that we didn't see a press releaseor that we didn't see any kind of official conference or the company coming forward," said Traeger.

He said the unions collective agreement allows workers to move to other stores in the province, and he expects other western provinces to see closures soon.

The news comes months after the company was ordered by the Competition Bureau to sell five other Winnipeg locations.

Nationally, the chain was told to sell 23 stores before it could purchase Safeway Canada for $5.8 billion a move the bureau said was necessary to keep the Canadian grocery market competitive.