Believe it or not, one of Canada's largest privately owned companies, The Jim Pattison Group, began in 1961 as a single car dealership.
Today the conglomerate has interests in grocery stores, entertainment, advertising, magazine distribution, broadcasting, and automotive retailing, among other industries. Its holdings include Ripley Entertainment (more than 60 attractions in about 10 countries worldwide), the Overwaitea Food Group (including Save-On-Foods), food wholesaler and retailer Buy-Low Foods, Canadian Fishing Company (which produces Gold Seal salmon), and the News Group (North America's second-largest magazine and newspaper distributor).
Billionaire, founder and CEO Jim Pattison owns the company.