New Longo’s supermarket opens with gift card draw in Whitby

Brooklin shoppers will soon have a new supermarket to fill their carts in when the long-awaited new Longo’s opens this weekend.

Since its founding, Longo’s has expanded throughout southern Ontario to 36 locations. However, their only location in Durham Region was the Ajax store which opened in 2017.

That’s soon set to change with the grand opening of the Brooklin Longo’s on July 20. The store is making an event out of the opening with Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy, MP Ryan Turnbull, Longo’s executives and town councillors in attendance.

The store opens at 8 am following a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Longo’s tradition is a celebratory “apple bite” to acknowledge the opening. Then, as the first customers enter the store, employees will clap them in.

The grocery chain was founded by Italian immigrant brothers Joe, Tommy, and Gus Longo in Toronto in 1956. The business has mostly stayed in the family, but is now owned by Sobey’s parent company, Empire Company.

Empire also owns Safeway, IGA, Foodland, Farm Boy, and FreshCo, with 1,500 stores across Canada that employ roughly 127,000 people. The company is worth about $14 billion.

The first 250 customers at the newest location will receive a mystery gift card valued between $5 and $500.