Jim Pattison Group
A Canadian privately held conglomerate with businesses spanning food retail, automotive dealerships, packaging, media, entertainment, agriculture, advertising, transportation services, and resource infrastructure.
Last updated August 25, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Jim Pattison Group is a Vancouver-based Canadian conglomerate controlled by entrepreneur Jim Pattison. It began in 1961 when Pattison acquired a General Motors automobile dealership in Vancouver, using bank financing secured against his home and life-insurance policy. From that initial automotive operation, the group developed into one of Canada's largest privately held business organizations. The company operates through a portfolio structure rather than a single consumer-facing master brand. Its activities have included automobile retailing and leasing, grocery and food distribution, flexible and corrugated packaging, illuminated and outdoor advertising, radio and television broadcasting, periodical distribution, entertainment attractions, agriculture equipment dealerships, seafood, forestry-related products, financial services, real estate, and export infrastructure. Its principal operating platforms have included the Jim Pattison Auto Group, Pattison Food Group, Pattison Media, Pattison Sign Group, Jim Pattison Packaging Group, Pattison Agriculture, Ripley Entertainment, Guinness World Records, Jim Pattison Lease, The News Group, and Westshore Terminals. The group expanded during the 1960s through a sequence of acquisitions in broadcasting, outdoor advertising, grocery retailing, and news distribution. During the 1980s and 1990s it broadened into real estate, seafood, entertainment, packaging, financial services, coal-export infrastructure, and additional grocery banners. This diversification reduced reliance on the original dealership business and created a collection of operating companies serving both consumers and business customers. Food retail has become one of the group's most visible areas. Its portfolio has included Save-On-Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Urban Fare, Buy-Low Foods, Choices Markets, Nesters Markets, Nature's Fare, Quality Foods, Cooper's Foods, Canadian Fishing Company, and other food and wholesale businesses. In 2024, the group acquired Save Mart Companies, including Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, Yosemite Wholesale, and related office operations in the United States, further expanding its grocery presence. Automotive operations remain another core activity. The Jim Pattison Auto Group operates dealerships and related collision, body-shop, leasing, and fleet-management businesses representing multiple vehicle manufacturers in Western Canada. Pattison Agriculture operates agricultural-equipment dealerships, including John Deere locations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The packaging platform manufactures and distributes food-service packaging, corrugated plastic sheets, tubes, and aerosol containers for commercial and industrial customers. Media and entertainment operations include Canadian radio and television assets, Pattison Outdoor Advertising, periodical distribution activities, Ripley's Believe It or Not! attractions, aquariums and other visitor experiences, and ownership of Guinness World Records following its 2008 acquisition. The group has also held interests in industrial and infrastructure businesses, including Westshore Terminals, a major coal-export terminal in British Columbia. Jim Pattison remains the group's chairman, chief executive, and sole owner. The business is known for long-term private ownership, decentralized operating divisions, and reinvestment through acquisitions. Because it is privately held, comprehensive consolidated financial disclosures are not routinely available. Its present identity is best understood as a diversified Canadian business group whose brands and divisions operate independently across retail, services, manufacturing, media, entertainment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
History
Jim Pattison Group was established on May 8, 1961, after Jim Pattison purchased a General Motors dealership in Vancouver. The acquisition was financed with a $40,000 bank loan secured by personal assets, including Pattison's home and life-insurance policy. The dealership provided the foundation for an expanding privately owned business group. The first major diversification came in the 1960s. In 1965, the group received a licence to operate Vancouver radio station CJOR. It subsequently acquired Neon Products and Seaboard Outdoor Advertising in 1967, Overwaitea Foods in 1968, and Provincial News in Edmonton in 1969. These transactions established the pattern that would define the group: combining automotive retail with food, media, advertising, and distribution businesses. During the 1980s, the company added a real-estate arm and expanded into publishing, seafood, and entertainment. British Columbia Magazine and Canadian Fishing Company were acquired in 1984, followed by Ripley's Believe It or Not! in 1985. In the 1990s, the group entered or enlarged its presence in food-service packaging, flexible packaging, corrugated plastic, and aluminum and laminate packaging. It also created a financial-services division, acquired Westshore Terminals in 1994, bought Buy-Low Foods in 1995, launched Select Media Services, and acquired Cooper's Foods in 1999. The entertainment portfolio grew in the early 2000s with Ripley's aquariums and other attractions in the United States. The group also acquired broadcasting, produce distribution, packaging, signage, periodical distribution, and automotive-leasing businesses. These additions broadened its geographic reach across Canada and the United States and increased the proportion of business-to-business operations in the portfolio. In the mid-2000s, the group acquired or invested in seafood, automotive dealerships, packaging, radio, outdoor advertising, banking, and periodical businesses. It acquired Guinness World Records in 2008 and supported Vancouver's Peak Performance Project in 2009. The group continued to build its food and consumer-products operations through the acquisition of Ocean Brands in 2011 and Sun-Rype in 2013. It also expanded its agricultural-equipment dealership network through purchases of John Deere dealerships and created Pattison Agriculture in 2017 by combining JayDee AGTECH and Maple Farm Equipment operations. The group continued reshaping its portfolio through selective divestments and acquisitions. It sold Sun-Rype to Lassonde Industries in 2019 and acquired additional Canadian magazine and book-distribution operations from Metro360 in 2020. In 2017, it took a controlling interest in Quality Foods and acquired Choices Markets, which was placed under Buy-Low Foods. In 2024, the acquisition of Save Mart Companies added a substantial Northern California grocery platform and related wholesale operations. The organization has remained privately owned and controlled by Jim Pattison, who has served as chairman and chief executive. Its operating model consists of numerous divisions and subsidiaries, allowing businesses to retain sector-specific management while benefiting from common ownership and capital allocation. The group has been headquartered in Vancouver, including at the building formerly known as Shaw Tower, later renamed Rogers Tower after the Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications transaction. Its current portfolio spans retail, automotive, packaging, food distribution, media, entertainment, agriculture, advertising, leasing, and infrastructure.
- 2024
Expansion into Northern California grocery retail
[1]The group acquired Save Mart Companies and its Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, and Yosemite Wholesale operations.
- 2017
Creation of Pattison Agriculture
[1]JayDee AGTECH and Maple Farm Equipment were combined into Pattison Agriculture.
- 2008
Acquisition of Guinness World Records
[1]Jim Pattison Group acquired Guinness World Records from HIT Entertainment.
- 1994
Acquisition of Westshore Terminals
[1]The group acquired the British Columbia coal-export terminal business.
- 1985
Acquisition of Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[1]The group acquired the Ripley's Believe It or Not! entertainment franchise.
- 1968
Entry into grocery retail
[1]The acquisition of Overwaitea Foods marked an important expansion into food retail.
- 1965
Entry into radio broadcasting
[1]The group received a licence to operate Vancouver AM station CJOR.
- 1961
Group founded through dealership acquisition
[1]Jim Pattison established the group after purchasing a General Motors automobile dealership in Vancouver.
Products and positioning
A privately owned, acquisition-led Canadian conglomerate emphasizing operational diversification, long-term ownership, and locally managed businesses across consumer, industrial, media, and infrastructure sectors.
Food retail
Save-On-Foods and related grocery banners
The group's food-retail portfolio includes Save-On-Foods alongside banners such as PriceSmart Foods, Urban Fare, Buy-Low Foods, Choices Markets, Nesters Markets, Nature's Fare, Quality Foods, and other regional operations. These businesses serve conventional grocery, specialty, natural-food, wholesale, and premium-food segments across Canada. The 2024 acquisition of Save Mart Companies added Save Mart, Lucky, and FoodMaxx stores in Northern California.
Automotive retail and services
Jim Pattison Auto Group
The Jim Pattison Auto Group operates franchised automobile dealerships and related collision, glass, and service operations. Its dealership portfolio has represented brands including Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Subaru, Volkswagen, Volvo, Hyundai, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Audi, and others. The business is concentrated mainly in Western Canada and is complemented by leasing and fleet-management activities.
Packaging manufacturing
Jim Pattison Packaging Group
The packaging platform serves food-service, graphics, industrial, and consumer-product customers. Its businesses have included GenPak, an independent food-service-packaging supplier; Coroplast, a producer of corrugated plastic sheet used in graphics and reusable packaging; and Montebello Packaging, which makes collapsible aluminum and laminate tubes, marker tubes, and rigid aluminum aerosol containers.
Broadcasting and media
Pattison Media
Pattison Media operates radio and television properties in multiple Canadian provinces. Its holdings have included stations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and other markets, together with related local media activities. The division reflects the group's long-standing presence in Canadian broadcasting, dating back to the CJOR licence obtained in 1965.
Outdoor advertising and signage
Pattison Sign Group
Pattison Sign Group provides illuminated signs and related outdoor-advertising products and services. The business traces part of its history to the group's acquisition of Neon Products and Seaboard Outdoor Advertising in the 1960s and has operated as one of Canada's significant domestic out-of-home advertising platforms.
Entertainment attractions
Ripley Entertainment
Ripley Entertainment manages attractions associated with the Ripley's Believe It or Not! brand and related visitor-experience businesses. The group acquired Ripley's Believe It or Not! in 1985 and later expanded its attraction portfolio with aquariums and sightseeing operations in the United States.
Publishing and entertainment · 2008
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records is a global records-information and publishing brand acquired by Jim Pattison Group from HIT Entertainment in 2008. It operates as an entertainment and publishing property rather than as a conventional manufactured product line.
Agricultural equipment dealerships · 2017
Pattison Agriculture
Pattison Agriculture operates agricultural-equipment dealerships in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The business was formed in 2017 through the amalgamation of JayDee AGTECH and Maple Farm Equipment and has represented John Deere equipment and related farm-support services.
Resource infrastructure · 1994
Westshore Terminals
Westshore Terminals is a British Columbia coal-export terminal and bulk-material handling business. Acquired by the group in 1994, it provides export infrastructure and is distinct from the group's consumer and retail operations.
Marketing campaigns
- 2009Peak Performance Project
Canada
Jim Pattison Group funded the Peak Performance Project, a Vancouver music-development initiative intended to support emerging artists and provide performance and career-development opportunities.
Brand decisions
2024
Acquisition of Save Mart CompaniesM&ABackground
The group pursued further growth in grocery retail and entered a larger position in Northern California.
Action taken
Jim Pattison Group acquired Save Mart Companies, including Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, Yosemite Wholesale, and associated office operations.
Aftermath
The transaction expanded the group's food-retail footprint beyond Canada and added a major United States grocery platform.
2019
Divestment of Sun-RypeM&ABackground
After several years of ownership, the group decided to exit the juice and beverage business.
Action taken
Sun-Rype was sold to Lassonde Industries in an all-cash transaction.
Aftermath
The sale transferred the Canadian beverage brand to Lassonde and narrowed Jim Pattison Group's direct consumer-products portfolio.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/jim-pattison-group · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled