Overwaitea Foods is a chain of supermarkets operating in the British Columbia region. The chain is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Overwaitea Food Group.

History
Overwaitea’s story started when Robert Kidd bought a store in 1915. This store was located at 746 Columbia St. in the area of New Westminster in British Columbia. In his store, Kidd developed and implemented a number of merchandising techniques that were considered innovative. Some of what he implemented at the store included penny pricing that was considered odd at the time. For instance, Kidd sold 18-oz. of tea for a pound price (16 oz.). His techniques attracted a considerable customer base.

Because the store sold a lot of tea for a very cheap price, the store was soon named the “Over-weight tea” store. When Kid decided to open a second store, he named it “Overwaitea.”

In 1968, Jim Pattison acquired Overwaitea. Despite being owned by a different company, the store still operated under the same name. By 2007, there were already 15 outlets all over the province. Most of these stores were located in the area of British Columbia. Some Overwaitea stores were converted to Save-On-Foods stores, Overwaitea’s sister chain under the Overwaitea Food Group. Aside from Save-On-Foods, Overwaitea’s other sister chains are Urban Fare, Cooper’s Foods and PriceSmart Foods, all of which are subsidiaries of the Jim Pattison Grp.

Overwaitea’s 15 locations are in Burns Lake, Fernie, Fort St. James,Grand Forks, Kitimat, Port Hardy, Princeton, Creston, Fort Nelson, Golden,Kimberley, Nakusp,Prince Rupert, Sparwood. Most products sold in the store are of the Western Family™ and Western Classics™ labels. These products are categorized into Classics, Organics and Envirowise. Products sold under the Western Family label are all comparable, and oftentimes even exceed the quality of some national brands. This is why Overwaitea takes pride in being an exclusive distributor of these products.

Aside from offering grocery goods, Overwaitea also has pharmacy services in some of its stores. Overwaitea’s pharmacy offers prescription refills (either through online orders, telephone, or over-the-counter orders). Like other supermarkets and grocery stores, Overwaitea also offers its local customers a rewards program, called More Rewards. The stores also offer weekly sales to customers as part of its promotions and marketing strategies.

Headquarters: Langley, British Columbia
Ownership Type: A subsidiary of Overwaitea Food Grp.
Employees: Information not available
Geography: Canada
Demography:  Value shoppers

Brands
Overwaitea, Western Family™, Western Classics™

Important links
Overwaitea Corporate Home Page
Promotions and Coupons
Products
Jobs and Careers
Overwaitea Contact Information