It is in 1992, in the city of Matane, a small town in the province of Quebec (Canada) that Larry Rossy opens a small dollar store that will become in two decades a big chain of stores all over Canada with more than 1400 locations !
But if we go more back into history, the first all-dollar store was founded in Montreal in 1910 by Larry’s grandfather Salim Rassy, a lebanese immigrant. With time, Rassy became Rossy. Salim’s son, George, took over the business in 1937. The business name ? Rossy S inc.. George Rossy was in charge of the company from 1937 untill his death in 1973 leaving behing more than 20 stores ! In 1992, under the leadership of Larry Rossy, the retailer was up to 44 stores. It is then, in 1992, that Larry decides to open an all-dollar store named “Dollarama” in “Les promenades du St-Laurent”, a shopping centre in Matane, Quebec. By the end of the 90’s, Dollarama was becoming so successful that Rossy S stores were converted into Dollarama locations or closed.
The chain “Dollarama” was so successful that in November 2004, 80% of the chain was sold for $850 million US to Bain Capital, a private equity fund from Boston, Massachusetts (USA). On October 9, 2009, Dollarama went public with its initial public offering. In the meanwhile, young Larry was continuing to open new Dollarama store locations reaching more that 1000 stores in 2015 !