Steve Atanas Stavro, CM (September 27, 1926 – April 23, 2006; born Manoli Stavroff Sholdas)[1] was a Macedonian-Canadian businessman,[2] grocery store magnate, Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, sports team owner, and a noted philanthropist.

Knob Hill Farm's Cambridge location, founded in 1991, had the honour of being the largest grocery store in the world at the time of its opening.

[7] 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.

Knob Hill Farms advertised heavily in Toronto area newspapers and customers flocked to the stores for prices, wide selection and the unique experience.

As a result of Knob Hill Farms large individual store sales volumes and the frequent occurrence of customers leaving with bulky orders, Knob Hill Farms adopted a company-wide policy of providing their customers first with large, re-usable, cardboard boxes (for five cents each) and then with sturdy, re-usable plastic baskets, to take their groceries home.

This initiative represented one of the first examples of a retailer abandoning plastic and paper bags in favour of a reusable and environmentally friendly alternative.

[8] In addition to purchasing local products, Knob Hill Farms developed relationships with brokers, wholesalers and suppliers around the world to cater to Toronto's rapidly growing multicultural immigrant communities.

With each store opening it became customary for Stavro to hold events for large industry groups, including brokers, wholesales and manufacturers.

The terminal was located at Lansdowne Avenue and Dundas Street West, on a site previously occupied by a National Cash Register plant.

The site was previously an industrial building dating back to the 1930s and was used for the assembly of airplanes (de Havilland Mosquitos) by Massey Harris during World War II.

The store also featured John Richmond's 1,300 foot (400 metre) mural depicting the history of food from Prometheus to Marc Garneau.

This plan, however, was opposed by some members of the local community and led by the area alderman, a real estate broker, who felt the terminal would be “too disruptive to the existing fabric of development”.

The final store — the Weston site — closed in February 2001 and Stavro ensured that all debts were repaid in full, including termination payments to all employees.

The following year the English Football Association stepped in and banned players from playing for other teams during their summer breaks, which ended Toronto City's strategy of acquiring big name stars.

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

The Kentucky farm was used for training in the winter, but more importantly, served as the main location for Knob Hill Stables breeding operations.

In the early part of the season Benburb upset Queen's Plate winner Alydeed on a muddy track to win the Prince of Wales Stakes.

The win was the highest stake victory a Knob Hill Horse had ever achieved and helped to cement Stavro as one of the premiere Canadian stable owners.

At the end of the 1992 season Benburb was selected as the Sovereign Award winner for the Canadian Horse of the Year as well as Champion 3-year-old male honours.

Thornfield started six races and won three, including the major Canadian International Stakes which carried a US$1 Million purse.

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

Leading the charge was the Knob Hill Stables bred three-year-old Alezzandro, a derivative of the name of Stavro's hero, Alexander the Great.

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

In the same year, Stavro repaid a $20 million loan that had been extended to Ballard in 1980 by Molson Brewery, which also owned the Leafs’ bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.

Then, on February 12, 1998, after years of difficult negotiations, Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. purchased 100% of both the Toronto Raptors and the new arena that was under construction, from Allan Slaight and the Bank of Nova Scotia.

In the same year MLG Ventures Limited purchased all the remaining publicly traded shares of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. and took it private.

[34][31] In contrast to Harold Ballard, who gained much media attention for his cantankerous behaviour and tendency to micromanage the Leafs, Stavro was a dignified man who preferred to stay out of the limelight.

One of the more prominent projects was the establishment at Mount Sinai hospital of the “Steve Atanas Stavro Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry”.

In 1987 the Stavro foundation provided funding for the construction of the “Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit” of the Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, Israel.

The neo-natal unit was a major medical advance for the community as it allowed premature newborns to receive a much higher standard of care post birth, greatly increasing their odds of survival.