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With rapid expansion, T & T is now Canada's largest Asian supermarket chain. It has eight stores in Metro Vancouver, four in Alberta (two in Calgary and two in Edmonton), and six stores in Ontario with five stores in the Greater Toronto Area including Downtown Toronto, and one in Ottawa. More stores are expected to open in the coming years with a target for 10 in Eastern Canada. The average size of each store is between 35000 sqft (3251.6 m2). and 45000 sqft (4180.6 m2). In addition to the many departments found in a regular supermarket, most T & T stores also have an in-house bakery, an Asian deli, a sushi and Chinese barbecue department. T & T is part of Loblaw Companies, which purchased it in July 2009 for $225 million in consideration, consisting of $191 million in cash and $34 million in preferred shares. The consideration paid above and beyond the tangible asset base of the company (i.e. the accounting goodwill) was estimated at $180 million. The chain had been created as a joint venture of Uni-President Enterprises Corporation, one of Taiwan's ten largest conglomerates; Tawa Supermarkets Inc., a California-based chain of Asian supermarkets; and a group of Canadian investors. Chief executive officer Cindy Lee is a Taiwanese-Canadian who started the business with one store. The first "T" stands for Tawa Supermarket Inc; the second "T" represents Uni-President Enterprises Corp., whose Chinese name is pronounced "Tong Yi". |
