Save-On-Foods in 100 Mile House will join other Overwaitea Group stores across the province to celebrate 100 years of operations on March 8.
Local manager Craig Lee encourages everyone in the community to turn out and enjoy the 100th birthday event, which includes free cake and ice cream and a hotdog sale from noon to 4 p.m.
“I’d like to invite all our customers to come out and celebrate with us.”
There will be anniversary souvenir books and toy trucks available, as well as several sale items at “blast-from-the-past” prices.
Lee says he and his staff really want to take this opportunity to thank their customers all for their support, both recent and past.
“We’ve been in town here since 1964, and we have made it this far with the great support that we’ve had from the community.”
The local store always tries to take an active role in the community because it knows this is important, Lee adds.
“We are proud to support BC Children’s Hospital [BCCH] and all the many different organizations in our town.”
He says the hotdog sale proceeds will go to the BCCH.
The Overwaitea/Save-On-Foods chain of grocery stores goes back a long way in British Columbia’s history, Lee notes.
“In 1915, R.C. [Robert Campbell] Kidd opened our first store in New Westminster.”
Kidd developed some innovative merchandising techniques to attract customers, including selling 18 ounces of tea for the price of a pound.
Before long, the store became known as the “over-weight tea” store, so when Kidd opened his second one, he decided to call it “Overwaitea.”
Over the past century, Overwaitea and Save-On-Foods were always innovating, Lee adds.
He says the chain was the first grocer in Western Canada to market products with odd-penny pricing (1915), such as two boxes of Cornflakes for 13 cents.
Shopping in those days was very much on the honour system, Lee says.
“We brought out Your Market Foods, where [they gave customers] a grease pencil and you marked the shelf price on your own stuff.
“In the mid- to late-1980s, we almost had a mini-hardware store. You could go in there and get parts for your bicycle.”
The chain was also the first to have in-store meats, delis, bulk foods and pharmacies.
The stores gained initial success under the Overwaitea brand, primarily in B.C.’s smaller towns. Many of them have since been converted to Save-On-Foods, including in 100 Mile House, where the store provides about 75-100 direct jobs.
Today, there are 52 Save-On-Foods locations across B.C. and Alberta.
