Frank H. Sobey

Who was Frank H. Sobey?

Frank H. Sobey, OC was a Canadian businessman and entrepreneur who was the primary builder of the Sobeys Stores chain.

Born in Lyons Brook, Nova Scotia to John William Sobey and Eliza Sobey, he was three years old when his family moved from the farming community to the nearby then-booming coal mining town of Stellarton. In 1907 his father purchased a meat retailing business in town and became a butcher, peddling meat products door to door on a horse-drawn wagon. In 1912 J.W. built a 2-storey store in Stellarton's central business district selling mostly meat and vegetables.

In an era where education opportunities were limited in small Maritime towns, Frank Sobey left school after Grade 8. However, he had an entrepreneurial mindset and at age sixteen enrolled in a business college. In 1924 he persuaded his father to expand the store to carry a full range of groceries and the family began expanding, opening stores in the nearby industrial towns of New Glasgow, Trenton and Westville, as well as the university town of Antigonish. In the early 1940s, Frank wished to purchase a building on Archimedes Street in New Glasgow for a supermarket.