Early photograph of the interior of Steinberg grocery store. Group portrait with employees, Ida Steinberg (behind cash). ca. 1920s.
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
Exterior of Steinberg's Limited. Group Portrait, Nathan Steinberg, Jack Steinberg, Sam Steinberg, Max Steinberg, Morris Steinberg. ca. 1950s.
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
Steinberg’s
Samuel Steinberg was a Hungarian-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist whose drive and vision transformed his mother’s unassuming grocery store, Steinberg’s Supermarket, into the largest grocery chain in Quebec.
Steinberg moved to Canada as a child and worked, along with his four brothers, at Steinberg’s Supermarket. Through mass merchandising, industrial mechanization of food production and employee management, he transformed the world of food retailing in Quebec. And by the late 1950s, his stores had expanded into Ontario. For several decades, Steinberg’s was the largest supermarket chain in all of Quebec, running in close competition with stores like Provigo and Metro. Steinberg was also a director of Ivanhoe and Pharmaprix.
Steinberg was one of the first employers to implement mandatory bilingualism (English and French) for all his employees. As result, the supermarket became a meeting point for the Montreal Jewish community and their Quebecois neighbours. Among Francophones, “Je fais mon Steinberg” (“I’m doing my Steinberg’s”), came to be synonymous with the act of grocery shopping, regardless of the supermarket chain. In 1974, Steinberg became a local celebrity, when he was the subject of the National Film Board of Canada documentary, After Mr. Sam. At the time of his death, the company was annually grossing over $1 billion, was the largest supermarket chain in Quebec, and was completely family-owned.
Steinberg and his wife Helen (née Roth) were generous donors who funded a number of philanthropic causes including The Pavilion of Judaism at Expo 67, the Helen and Sam Steinberg Foundation’s Geriatric Day Hospital, and the Sam Steinberg Award for Young Jewish Entrepreneur of the Year, awarded by the Jewish Chamber of Commerce of Montreal. Steinberg also served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Canada-Israel Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Canada Council and as National Director and Co‑Chairman of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. For his contributions to Canadian society and its economy, Steinberg was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
