Price Co. May Expand Into Canada Market

Price Co., which operates 21 discount warehouse stores in four states, on Friday said that it is negotiating with a Montreal-based retail chain to form a joint venture to open and operate an undisclosed number of Price Clubs in Canada.

The San Diego-based company is discussing the joint-venture proposal with Steinberg Inc., which operates grocery and retail stores in Canada and the United States.

The discussions could be concluded “shortly,” according to a Price Co. spokesman, who declined to discuss the number of stores or locations being considered.

If the discussions are successful, Price Co. would become the second U.S.-based warehouse chain to operate in Canada. Seattle-based Costco has announced plans to open stores in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Edmonton, Alberta, before year-end. Costco, which plans to go public, also operates 16 warehouse stores in the United States.

“We see this as a venture that we would like to participate in,” Steinberg President and Chief Executive Irving Ludmer said. “We think it will be as welcome in the Canadian market as it is in the United States.”

Steinberg operates grocery, retail and convenience stores in eastern and midwestern Canada, as well as Smittys, a 20-store grocery and retail products chain in the Phoenix area.

Price Co. operates Price Club outlets in California, Arizona, Virginia and Maryland, and it has plans to open warehouse stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.