Farm Boy adding to its Ottawa-area store network

Eastern Ontario fresh chain Farm Boy is expanding again. The company says it will open its 11th store in the small town of Stittsville, just west of Ottawa, in the fall.

Jeff York, Farm Boy's CEO, said the town was chosen in part because of requests from customers who live there but who must now travel to one of the retailer's stores closer to Ottawa.

"Our Stittsville customers are some of our most enthusiastic with their requests to have a Farm Boy in their community," he said. The store will be located in a 13,000 sq. ft. space in a mall formerly occupied by an IDA pharmacy. It will employ 100 people.

Farm Boy, which focuses primarily on fresh foods and prepared meals, currently has nine stores in Ottawa and Cornwall, Ont. Its 10th will open in the west end of Ottawa on Britannia Road in June.

That store opening, which had already been announced last year, was recently delayed due to a fire on the construction site. Damage was pegged at $200,000.

Last month the privately held Farm Boy won a spot on the list of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada. The annual award is sponsored by accounting firm Deloitte, CIBC, the National Post and Queen's School of Business.

Farm Boy was founded in 1981.