Empire Company Limited announced the next seven locations for the expansion of its FreshCo discount banner, six in Alberta and one in Northern Ontario. The Company has now confirmed 37 of approximately 65 locations in Western Canada. In December 2017, the Company announced plans to convert approximately 25 per cent of its Safeway and Sobeys locations to FreshCo over a five-year period. Empire is on track with the Project Horizon commitment to open 10 to 15 FreshCo stores in fiscal 2021. Since April 2019, the Company has opened 16 FreshCo stores in B.C., two in Manitoba and four in Saskatchewan. By the end of fiscal 2022, the Company plans to have these 37 FreshCo stores open in Western Canada. The six Alberta FreshCo store conversions announced are: Brentwood in Calgary; Millbourne Mall in Edmonton; Saddle Ridge in Calgary; Coliseum in Edmonton; Palisades Square in Edmonton; and Gateway Village Mall in St. Albert. Closures of the respective Safeway stores will start in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, and open as FreshCo stores starting at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2022. In Northern Ontario, the Safeway store in Thunder Bay will close in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 and re-open as a FreshCo store in the second quarter of fiscal 2022.