The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Loblaw's Danish chief executive officer, Per Bank, brought a bit of Europe with him three years ago when he moved here to run the country's largest grocery chain. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that Mr. Bank says, "Small discount stores, I would probably say that's some of the things I brought to Canada." Loblaw's smaller 5,000-product stores have removed deli counters, live pizza stations and fresh bakeries typical of conventional stores, and shoppers are not complaining. Its transition to a quick in-and-out shopping experience at discount banners No Frills and Maxi has elevated the discount store concept. Now, many of its discount banners are downsized into something more like a corner store. When he took the helm, Mr. Bank said Loblaw had about 43 small-format stores under 20,000 square feet. Today, there are more than 75 across the country with an intentional strategy. "Now we have a plan to go for the small stores. And it's both urban and it's rural," Mr. Bank said. That's opened room for Loblaw to grow its discount footprint even in smaller communities with as few as 4,000 people, where a full-scale conventional grocer may not set up shop.