Knob Hill Farms
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Knob Hill Farms was a supermarket chain in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Knob Hill Farms operated about ten supermarkets including Cambridge, Markham, Oshawa, Toronto, the western suburbs and Weston.
[edit] History
Knob Hill Farms first opened its headquarters in the 1950s and gradually expanded into Pickering and Markham. Unlike most supermarkets of their day, Knob Hill Farms stores were low frills -- simply a warehouse like building with rickety metal carts and shevles.
[edit] Flagship store
Long before Home Depot and Costco arrived in Canada, Knob Hills Farms pioneered the "big box" format with their flagship store in Weston, Ontario that was considered the largest supermarket in the Greater Toronto Area for nearly two decades. The 300,000-square foot supermarket was located on Weston Road and Oak Road just south of Highway 401 and is almost encircled by Knob Hill Drive to the north and east, which is named after the supermarket. The Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railway line run to the east and was once connected with the supermarket.
The Knob Hill building was an industrial building dating back to the 1930s which was used for the construction and assembly of airplanes. Over the years, it was retrofitted for various uses including its last use as a Knob Hill food store.
Other features around the supermarket included a man-made waterfall with three structures to the northwest side which stopped running after its closing. This was featured at the end of its commercials. The area was about 250 to 300m (800 to 1,000ft) from south to north and about 50 m (150 ft) from west to east, with an extra 50m to the northern part featuring parking lots and another 50m with shipping sectors.
The south side featured several shops, rides and a photo shop near the west exit. A mural painted in the 1980s featured the History of the Earth from million years ago, to the 1000s and through 1950 and to 1985 encircled the wall. Another mural facing the south side featuring Southern Ontario from downtown Toronto, with a street written as Baloor instead of Bloor Street and the Don Valley Parkway, the western suburbs, the Hamilton Mountain, Niagara Falls and near Fort Erie. Parking lots were situated in the southern part and a parking garage in the east section of the building. A gas bar which was not operated by Knob Hill Farms lies to the southwest. The supermarket also featured two doorways in the east and the west sides. The walkway featured streetlights that looked liked a promenade or a walkway. Other supermarkets were various in size and did not featured the same features as its most used location and sections and aisles were rarely varied. The Crossroads shopping centre is situated north of Knob Hill Farms.
[edit] Expansion
More supermarkets opened in the mid to late 20th century including one in Markham near Woodbine Avenue and Highway 7 (now Michael Angelo supermarket), Cambridge near Hespeler Road (now Sam's Club) and in Oshawa and in the western suburbs.
[edit] Knob Hill Farms online
Towards the end of the company, Knob Hills Farms established an internet address, knobhillfarms.com.
[edit] The logo and the slogan
The most popular slogan was "You Know You'll Get Good Value When You Shop... at Knob Hill Farms" and used "The Food Terminal" which left on radio advertising until its closing. Its logo featured a shape strongly resembling a bovine head and featured a wheat grain with a maple leaf once shown at the top.
Advertisements for the store usually graced the last page of Toronto's dailies, namely a blue and back ad featuring weekly specials.
[edit] The closing of Knob Hill Farms
In the summer of 2000, the president, Steve Stavro, closed all of its Knob Hill Farms stores because of increased competition in the supermarket sector. Before the closing, Knob Hill farms featured its closing sale which lasted for a couple of days at all of its supermarkets. Some Knob Hill Farms stores were transformed into other supermarkets. The Cambridge supermarket was demolished, and other, smaller stores now stand in its place.
[edit] The flagship store after Knob Hill Farms
The flagship supermarket became the Close-Out King retailer for some time in the early-2000s and was later abandoned and was reserved for other uses for several years. It was demolished in early 2005, the only remains of the old building is the boulders and pine tress which once surrounded the parking lot. The black barb-wired fence located at the on Knob Hill Dr and Weston Rd was where transport delivery trucks once parked.
The location has been redeveloped as a Real Canadian Superstore,[1] operated by Loblaws ltd., and opened August 16, 2006.
The new Real Canadian Superstore (RCSS) is considerably smaller in size (approx 180,000 sq ft) where the old Knob Hill building was in excess of 300,000 sq ft. The new RCSS is an elevated store with underground and surface parking while the Knob Hill was an at grade building with a small underground parking area.
[edit] Knob Hill Farms in Oshawa
The Knob Hill Farms building at 500 Howard Street in Oshawa is still standing and no plans are being made to demolish it. the building will be used for other uses. While the building is currently vacant, an Official Plan Amendment and a Zoning Bylaw Amendment are being completed to allow industrial uses in the building for the purpose of manufacturing and warehousing adhesive tape and bubble wrap. Only a small portion of the building will be used for the production of these materials while the majority of the building will be used for warehousing.
[edit] Knob Hill Farms in Pickering
The Knob Hill Farms building at 1650 Kingston Road was purchased by DOT Patio.
[edit] Knob Hill Farms in Scarborough
The Scarborough location was the former Canadian General Electric plant at Eglinton and Warden Avenues and served mainly vendors and retailers. The location has since been demolished and replaced with a parking lot for the Brick Superstore (formerly The Home Show).
[edit] Knob Hill Farms in Toronto
[edit] Knob Hill Farms in Cambridge
The chain opened a massive store at Eagle Street and Pinebush Road in 1991, which they marketed as the world's largest grocery store; however, the location was perhaps too big for the area, as it was often underpopulated and required a long walk to do regular shopping. The building was demolished soon after the chain folded, and the lot is now occupied by Home Depot and Sam's Club locations.
