29 Facts About Steve Stavro

Under the leadership of Steve Stavro, what began as a single produce store in the east end of Toronto in 1954 grew into Knob Hill Farms, one of Canada's largest grocery chains all with only 10 locations in and around Toronto.

Steve Stavro's interests began in 1967 with the purchase of two yearlings and the founding of Knob Hill Stables.

Steve Stavro was a man that followed his passions and a man of self-made success coming from hard work and determination.

Steve Stavro worked in his father's store, Louis' Meat Market, in Toronto's east end at Queen Street and Coxwell Avenue and left school after Grade 10 to work full-time.

Steve Stavro said he took the name from a box of produce from California.

Steve Stavro, founder of Knob Hill Farms, was a serial innovator and one of the early adopters of the concept of a big box retailer.

Steve Stavro brought a focus to purchasing from local farms, where seasonally appropriate, both to decrease transportation costs and to support local business.

Steve Stavro opened his first food terminal in December 1963.

In 1966 Steve Stavro helped form the United Soccer Association and entered a team called Toronto City in the new league.

Steve Stavro sold his team back to the league for $160,000.

However, it wasn't until the early 1980s that Steve Stavro became passionate about thoroughbreds.

Steve Stavro had begun to take a bigger interest in not only racing horses, but breeding them as well.

That year Steve Stavro was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame.

The 2006 season would prove to be successful for the stables largely due to one of the horses Steve Stavro purchased at the Keeneland Yearling Sale, Leonnatus Anteas.

Steve Stavro was a winterbook favorite for the Queens Plate race; however, he unfortunately could not race due to an infection in his pastern.

That year Alezzandro won the Prince of Wales Stake and finished second in the Queen's Plate, a goal that Steve Stavro strived for his entire life.

Together with the other two Maple Leaf Gardens' directors, Don Giffin, and Don Crump, Steve Stavro served as an executor of the Ballard estate following Ballard's death on April 11,1990.

At that time, Steve Stavro became chairman of the board of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd.

In return for repaying the loan, Steve Stavro was granted an option to buy Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd.

The purchase from Molson Brewery closed in 1994, and shortly thereafter Steve Stavro bought the Ballard estate's shares for $34 a share, totalling $75 million.

Steve Stavro personally took the lead in significantly revising and upgrading the arena as a top tier entertainment venue.

In contrast to Harold Ballard, who gained much media attention for his cantankerous behaviour and tendency to micromanage the Leafs, Steve Stavro was a dignified man who preferred to stay out of the limelight.

Steve Stavro was known in the local Macedonian community to have a friendly competition with fellow Macedonian Mike Ilitch who owned a rival NHL hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings.

Steve Stavro stepped down as Chairman of MLSE in 2003 in favour of Tanenbaum, as part of a restructuring plan that saw his ownership stake sold to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Steve Stavro took over the Maple Leaf organization at a time when they had lost respect for their rich heritage.

Steve Stavro was well known for his contributions to many major infrastructure projects in Toronto based hospitals.

Steve Stavro was a frequent donor to various programs at the Mount Sinai and Wellesley hospitals in Toronto.

Steve Stavro was strongly committed to various multicultural communities within the Toronto region.

Steve Stavro was a director of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, a member of the executive committee of the Economic Council of Canada, a trustee of the Ontario Jockey Club, and honorary campaign chairman of Toronto East General Hospital Emergency Critical Care Fund.