Becker's
|
One of the last remaining stores bearing the Becker's brand in Ontario, Canada. | |
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | TSX: BEK.B |
| Fate |
Assets Sold to Mac's Convenience Stores in 1996 Name and Products Retired in 1999 & 2006 Respectively |
| Successors | Revived in November 2013 |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Products | Real estate |
Becker Milk Company, Limited is a Canadian real estate investment company, best known for its former dairy and convenience store businesses. Becker Milk Company was founded in 1957 in Toronto.
Convenience stores
Becker's Milk was a franchised chain of convenience stores in Ontario, Canada. The company owned 74 retail stores and 91 franchised locations before being sold to Mac's Convenience Stores. The founders of Beckers were Frank Bazos and Robert W. Lowe Sr.
Dairy
Becker Milk products included:
- milk
- cream
- fruit juices
- soda pop (cola, grape, cream soda, ginger ale, lime, root beer)
- popsicles (chocolate, banana)
- ice cream
Rush
The progressive rock group Rush listed Becker's Chocolate Milk in the "Special Thanks" section on many of their albums.
Asset sale to Silcorp
The assets of Becker's were acquired by Silcorp, parent company of rival Mac's Convenience Stores in November 1996. Becker's continues operation as a property owner. Silcorp was acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard in April 1999. Since that merger, the Becker's name has been retired, as Couche-Tard focuses on its core Mac's banner. The Becker's flower is now part of the Daisy Mart banner, an independent network of stores affiliated with Mac's in Ontario.
Milk products under the Becker's trade name were sold in Becker's, Mac's, Mike's Mart, and Winks locations until May 2006.
Rebirth
In November 2013, an Oakville, Ontario Mac's store was converted to the Becker's banner, including street-facing signs, and window clings. The store carries the Mac's brands, such as Frosters slush drink. There is also still a Becker's store located at an Ultramar gas station on Highway 15 in Kingston, Ontario. In late 2015, three more Becker's stores opened in Ontario: one each in St. Thomas, Burlington, and Acton. A new location was opened in summer 2016 on Ellesmere Road in Toronto. There is also a location on Rutherford Rd in Brampton just before Williams Parkway, and on Hwy 115 just north of Bowmanville, Ontario. A Hamilton Becker's store opened in March 2017 at Herkimer and Caroline in the Durand neighborhood, after having been a Mac's location which unexpectedly closed in late 2016. A Macs milk in Mississauga (Derry Rd and Bellshire Gate) was rebranded to Beckers in 2017.