in Guelph on February 13, 1997 and maintained a healthy market share, primarily because of the noticeable customer service over their competitors. Guelph's store employed a number of high school and University of Guelph students that took on customer service head-on under the leadership of the store management. Many of these students were allotted power and authorization not seen in any of A&P's other stores. This focus on customer service was initially seen as critical in order to make the store successful. While customer service was critical to the success of the Guelph store, the store was also well known for being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - something no other grocer in the city of Guelph offered. The Guelph store was also seen regularly participating in local community events such as the Santa Clause Parade, Guelph's July 1 celebrations at Riverside Park, Heart and Strokes Big Bike event (a bicycle built for 30 people) as well as 365 days a year bin drop off for the Guelph Food Bank. On August 7, 2008, Metro announced it will invest $200 million consolidating the company's conventional food stores under the Metro banner. Over a period of 15 months, all Dominion, A&P, Loeb, the Barn and Ultra banners were converted to be Metro; the Food Basics brand was retained in the discount food segment. The final three Ultra Food and Drug locations were converted by November 14, 2008. See also List of Canadian supermarkets References External links Metro Canada 1989 establishments in Ontario 2008 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian pharmacy brands Defunct companies of Ontario Defunct supermarkets of Canada Metro Inc. Retail companies established in 1989 Retail companies disestablished in 2008 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company