Theodore Loblaw
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Theodore Pringe Loblaw (July 1, 1872 – 1933) was a Canadian grocer who spent his entire life in the province of Ontario, but became the founder of Loblaws, now a nationwide retail empire.
Loblaw was born in Elmgrove, northeast of Alliston, the son of William James Loblaw and Isabella Stevenson Loblaw. After his parents' deaths during his adolescence, Loblaw was raised by his maternal grandparents, William and Elizabeth Stevenson, at their farm just outside Alliston. In the 1890s he headed to Toronto to begin his career in retail grocery. He later settled in Mimico and eventually purchased his grandparents' farm.
Loblaw married Isabella Adam in 1897, but they had no children of their own. Instead they adopted three nephews and a grand-niece as their children.
In 1900 Loblaw opened a grocery store on College Street, Toronto, but it was his second store, at 511 Yonge Street, that launched the brand name "Loblaws". By 1910, Loblaws Groceteria Company Limited had grown to 158 stores.
Loblaw was also instrumental in the establishment of the Toronto Western Hospital, as well as of the Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston, which was named in honour of his grandparents.
