Metro launches its banner in Ontario with the opening of six Toronto stores

Company is poised to become the largest
                   grocery banner in Ontario by late 2009MONTREAL, Sept. 25 /CNW Telbec/ - With the conversion of six Dominion
locations in Toronto today, the Metro banner is being launched in Ontario.
This evolution is part of a strategy adopted following the acquisition of A&P
in 2005 that strives to make Metro the largest grocery banner in Ontario.
Accordingly, its five conventional grocery banners in Ontario (Dominion, A&P,
Loeb, The Barn and Ultra) will all fall under the Metro banner over the next
15 months.
    All of the Dominion, Ultra and The Barn stores will be converted before
the end of the year, while Loeb stores will be converted during the first half
of 2009, and A&P stores will be converted by the end of 2009. At present, the
158 Ontario locations with the Metro name will be added to the 218 Metro
stores in Quebec, thereby constituting a strong grocery presence in each of
the two provinces. Food Basics stores are not affected by these changes
because they fall into the discount stores category.
    This launch is supported by a $200 million investment to renovate stores,
upgrade the food offering and rollout a new marketing campaign.
    "Launching the Metro name in Ontario is part of a long-term strategy to
capitalize on the efficiency of operations and marketing activities in
Ontario, and to pool the best practices in effect at our Quebec and Ontario
stores," explained Serge Boulanger, Vice-President, Marketing, Metro Inc.
    "We are very excited to take this step in the pursuit of Metro's
development," Mr. Boulanger added. "We are building on a solid foundation
thanks to our focused grocery strategy, our great store locations, and our
dedicated employees, who are devoted to providing outstanding service."

    METRO INC.

    Metro Inc.

    With annual sales of nearly $11 billion and over 65,000 employees, Metro
Inc. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Québec and Ontario,
where it operates a network of close to 600 food stores under several banners
including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as over 250
pharmacies under the Brunet, Clini Plus, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners./NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on
    the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.
    Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive
    website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited
    members of the media/

For further information: Marie-Claude Bacon, Director, Corporate
Affairs, Metro Inc., [phone], [e-mail]; Media relations: Denise
Deveau, [phone], [e-mail]