Theodore Loblaw
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Theodore Pringe Loblaw (1872-1933) was a Canadian grocer and the namesake of the retailer empire Loblaws.
Loblaw was born on July 1, 1872 in Elmgrove, Ontario to parents William James Loblaw and Isabella Loblaw.
The Loblaws settle in the area near Cookstown, Ontario in the Township of Essa. Loblaw left the area and headed to Toronto, Ontario to begin his grocery empire in the 1890s.
He married Isabella Adam in 1897, but they had not children of their own. Instead the Loblaws adopted three nephews and grand niece as their children. The first headed to Toronto and later settle in Mimico. He would later purchase his grandfather's farm on Borden Road after starting his grocery business.
In 1900 Loblaw opened a grocery store on College Street, but it was the second store at 511 Yonge Street (now a strip plaza and home to A-A LJong Park Tae Kwon-Do)that was the beginning of the Loblaws name. By 1910, Loblaws Groceteria Company Limited grew to 158 stores.
Loblaw was also instrumental in the establishment of the Toronto Western Hospital as well as the Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston, Ontario.
T.P. Loblaw died in 1933.
