Safeway is an American
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
chain founded by
Marion Barton Skaggs
Marion Barton Skaggs (April 5, 1888 – May 8, 1976) was an American businessman and leading member of the Skaggs Family of retailers who expanded the predecessor of Safeway into a major supermarket chain.
Career
Skaggs was an advocate of the c ...
in April 1915 in
American Falls, Idaho
American Falls is a city in and the county seat of Power County, Idaho. The population was 4,457 at the time of the 2010 census.
History
American Falls was a landmark waterfall on the Snake River, named after a party of American trappers whose b ...
. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
Albertsons
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
after being acquired by
private equity investors
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
led by
Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American private equity firm,Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Quayle, Chairman, Cerberus Global Investments, LLC". specializing in distressed investing. ...
in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
with some stores located in the
Mid-Atlantic region of the
Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in
Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 200 ...
, with its parent company, Albertsons, headquartered in
Boise, Idaho
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...
.
Safeway stores operate under the logo of a stylized white "S" inside a rounded red square with the slogan "Ingredients for life". Following the
organics trend, the stores have expanded the number of organic fruits and vegetables in the produce section and offer other items under the "O Organics" label. Stores may have a
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
, a deli counter, a meat department, a produce section, a flower department, a bakery, a pharmacy, a liquor section, and/or many
aisles
Aisles is a six-piece progressive rock band originally from Santiago, Chile. The group was formed in 2001 by brothers Germán (guitar) and Luis Vergara (keyboards), and childhood friend Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar). Later on, it expanded to incl ...
of
nonperishable
Food preservation includes processes that make food more resistant to microorganism growth and slow the oxidation of fats. This slows down the decomposition and rancidification process. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit ...
items. The stores offer many in-house
private label brand
A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...
s as well as
name brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
s across all product categories.
History
In 1915, S.M. Skaggs, a
Baptist minister
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
, was convinced that the prevailing system of allowing customers to buy food from stores on credit increased prices, because grocers and storekeepers had to wait to get paid, and it made the customers overly dependent on those grocers and storekeepers. He described selling items on credit as "the growing evil of installment purchasing". S.M. Skaggs established a store in
American Falls, Idaho
American Falls is a city in and the county seat of Power County, Idaho. The population was 4,457 at the time of the 2010 census.
History
American Falls was a landmark waterfall on the Snake River, named after a party of American trappers whose b ...
called Skaggs, and he sold groceries for cash at the time of sale. Skaggs was also against the prevailing high-cost system of the grocer having clerks serving all the needs of each customer. He was an early proponent of the self-service concept. Items were kept within the customers' reach, on shelves that hugged the walls, with aisles clear for customers to walk comfortably. Customers picked up baskets as they entered the store, selected what they wanted from the shelves, and paid for their purchases at a checkout counter.
[Ashcraft, Betty (April 24, 1963).]
Burley Store Springboard for Huge Safeway
. ''The Herald-Bulletin'' (Burley, Idaho). p. 1C.
When S.M. Skaggs decided he wanted to focus on his Baptist ministry, his son
M.B. Skaggs purchased the grocery store from him for $1,088 (). His second store opened in
Burley, Idaho
Burley () is a city in Cassia and Minidoka counties in southern Idaho, United States. The population was 10,345 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Cassia County.
Burley is the principal city of the Burley, Idaho, Micropolitan ...
, in 1918. By 1921, M.B. Skaggs owned multiple stores in
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
and
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
.
[
M.B. Skaggs moved to ]Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
in 1921, and he established four groceries in town that year, in part by buying a grocer and a coffee company. The chain, which operated as two separate businesses, Skaggs Cash Stores and Skaggs United Stores, grew quickly, and Skaggs enlisted the help of his five brothers to grow the network of stores. M.B.'s business strategy, to give his customers value and to expand by keeping a narrow profit margin, proved spectacularly successful. By 1926, he had opened 428 Skaggs stores in 10 states. M.B. almost doubled the size of his business that year when he merged his company with 322 Sam Seelig Company stores and incorporated as Safeway, Inc., because he thought that a chain that would outlive him should not carry his name.
The point of the name was that the grocery operated on a cash-and-carry basis – it did not offer credit, as grocers traditionally had done. It was the "safe way" to buy food because a family could not get into debt via its grocery bill (as many families did at the time, a contributing cause of the Great Depression).
In 1926, Charles E. Merrill
Charles Edward Merrill (October 19, 1885 – October 6, 1956) was an American philanthropist, stockbroker, and co-founder, with Edmund C. Lynch, of Merrill Lynch (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.).
Early years
Charles E. Merrill, the ...
, the founder of the Merrill Lynch
Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
brokerage firm, saw an opportunity to consolidate the West Coast grocery industry. Towards this end, he purchased the 322-store Safeway chain of W.R.H. Weldon, who wished to exit retailing and concentrate on wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
. Then, in June 1926, Merrill offered Skaggs either $7 million outright or $1.5 million plus 30,000 shares in the merged firm. Skaggs took the latter. On July 1, 1926, Safeway merged with the 673 stores from Skaggs United Stores of Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
and Skaggs Cash Stores of California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. On completion of the Skaggs/Safeway merger, M. B. Skaggs became the Chief Executive of the business.[Safeway Annual Report 1966, p2] Two years later, Skaggs listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. In the 1930s, Safeway introduced produce pricing by the pound, adding "sell by" dates on perishables, nutritional labeling, and some of the first parking lots.
The merger instantly created the largest chain of grocery stores west of the Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
.[Alternate Link]
via ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...
. In the 1930s, Charles E. Merrill
Charles Edward Merrill (October 19, 1885 – October 6, 1956) was an American philanthropist, stockbroker, and co-founder, with Edmund C. Lynch, of Merrill Lynch (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.).
Early years
Charles E. Merrill, the ...
temporarily left Merrill Lynch to help manage Safeway. At the time of the merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
, the company was headquartered
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...
in Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
. In 1929, it was relocated to a former grocery warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
in Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
. Safeway headquarters remained there until the move to Pleasanton, California in 1996.
In the late 1930s, the New Negro Alliance boycotted the Sanitary Grocery Company (then a Safeway subsidiary) to pressure store owners to employ black people, especially in predominantly black neighborhoods. The Sanitary Grocery Company successfully sought an injunction against the New Negro Alliance, which was upheld by the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals. This led to the 1938 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of ''New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co.
''New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co.'', 303 U.S. 552 (1938), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court which affects US labor law, safeguarding a right to boycott and in the struggle by African Americans against discriminatory hiring ...
'', which defended the right to peaceful protest in the resolution of labor disputes.
In 1969, the Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
and the United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
launched simultaneous boycotts of Safeway grocery stores, which were the largest grocery store chain in the U.S. West at that time. The Panthers
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...
boycotted due to Safeway's refusal to donate to their Free Breakfast for Children Program, created to serve daily hot breakfasts to underprivileged children throughout the U.S. The United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
boycotted Safeway because the chain continued to sell California grapes despite the union's nationwide boycott. The Panthers
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...
and United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
also acted in solidarity with each other's goals in boycotting Safeway, including during a 1973 Panthers
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...
demonstration outside an Oakland Safeway store documented by KPIX Eyewitness news, in which protestors carried signs that read "Boycott Safeway, Boycott Grapes."
Expansion
The initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
price of Safeway stock was $226 in 1927. A five for one split in 1928 brought the price down to under $50. Over the next few years, Charles Merrill, with financing supplied by Merrill Lynch
Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
, then began aggressively acquiring numerous regional grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...
chains for Safeway in a rollup
A rollup (also "roll-up" or "roll up") is a process used by investors (commonly private equity firms) where multiple small companies in the same market are acquired and merged.
The principal aim of a rollup is to reduce costs through economies o ...
strategy. Early acquisitions included significant parts of Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable f ...
chain as part of the breakup of that company by Merrill Lynch and Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
.
Most transactions involved the swap of stock certificates, with little cash changing hands. Most acquired chains retained their own names until the mid-1930s.
In 1929, there were rumors of a Safeway-Kroger
The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.
Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...
merger.[Alternate Link]
via ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...
.
The number of stores peaked at 3,400 in 1932, when expansion ground to a halt. The Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
had finally impacted the chain, which began to focus on cost control. In addition, numerous smaller grocery stores were being replaced with larger supermarket stores. By 1933, the chain ranked second in the grocery industry behind The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain store, chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and, until ...
and ahead of Kroger.
In 1935, Safeway sold its nine stores in Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
"because of the inconvenience of proper supervision".[Alternate Link]
via ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...
. Also in 1935, independent groceries in California convinced the California legislature to enact a progressive tax on chain stores. Before the act took effect, Safeway filed a petition to have the law put to a referendum. In 1936, the California electorate voted to repeal the law.
In 1936, Safeway introduced a money back guarantee on meat.
In November 2016, Safeway Inc. agreed to buy Andronico's remaining stores, which were based primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
. When Andronico's closed as an independent company, it had a total of nine locations: three in Berkeley (Solano Avenue, Telegraph Avenue, and Shattuck Avenue); one in the Rancho Shopping Center in Los Altos; one on Irving Street San Francisco; one at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was estab ...
; one in Walnut Creek; one in Danville; and one in town of San Anselmo
San Anselmo () is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). It is located about north of San Francisco. The town is bordered by San Rafael t ...
in Marin County. The stores began closing in January 2017, with the North Berkeley, California store closing first. In February 2019, Safeway said that it was considering bringing back the Andronico's name. By February 2020, six Safeway stores were operating under the Andronico's Community Market label, with a seventh planned. Four Andronico’s stores in the Bay Area were renamed Safeway Community Market after the 2016 acquisition, though the flagship store in the Sunset District kept the Andronico’s name. Another store in Monterey opened in January 2019 as Andronico’s. In February 2020, four locations of Safeway Community Markets returned to the Andronico’s name - two in Berkeley, one in Los Altos, and one in San Anselmo.
International expansion
The company expanded into Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in 1929 with 127 stores (which became Canada Safeway
Safeway (also referred to as Canada Safeway) is a Canadian supermarket chain of 135 full service supermarket stores mostly operating in the western provinces in Canada. It was established in 1929 as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., bef ...
Limited and which was sold to Sobeys
Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...
in 2013); into the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 1962 (which became Safeway plc
Safeway is a British brand owned chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. Founded in 1962 by the American Safeway Inc., before being sold to Argyll Foods in 1987. It was later listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was purchased by Morrison ...
); into Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1963 (which became Safeway Australia
Australian Safeway Pty Ltd (trading as Safeway Supermarkets) was a chain of supermarkets in Australia from 1963 to 2017. The supermarkets were initially part of Safeway Inc. but were absorbed by Woolworths Limited (now Woolworths Group) in ...
); and into West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
in 1964. The company also has operations in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
in a licensing and management agreement with the Tamimi Group
The Tamimi Group of Companies, sometimes called the al-Tamimi Group, is a large Saudi Arabian conglomerate of companies involved in supermarket chains, hotels, catering, real estate, oilfield services & supplies, road construction, transportation ...
during the 1980s. In 1981, it acquired 49% of Mexican retailer Casa Ley
Casa Ley is a Mexican grocery store chain based in Culiacán founded in 1954 by Juan Ley Fong. Most of its stores are located in western Mexico, in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Coahuila, Durango, ...
.
Safeway usually achieved international expansion by acquiring one or more small chains in a given country. It expanded into Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, however, through a joint venture. This initial nucleus of stores received Safeway systems and technology and then expanded organically. International chains acquired include:
1940s–1970s
In 1941, Marion B. Skaggs retired from the Safeway board of directors.
In 1947, the company's sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time. By 1951, total sales had reached nearly $1.5 billion. The company adopted the S logo, which it still uses, in 1962.
In 1955, Robert A. Magowan became Chairman of the Board of Safeway. Magowan had married Charles Merrill's daughter, Doris. Magowan also assumed the title of President in 1956. He remained President until 1968, and a member of the board until 1978. In 1966, Robert A Magowan brought his star Meat Processing Plant Manager, Michael F. Concannon to Oakland to become the Head of Meat Processing in North America. He retired in 1978 as well. Mike was instrumental in opening the Stockton plant. The Wichita plant and Meat Processing in Canada began in the 1970s.
In 1959, Safeway opened its first store in the new state of Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
—the first major food retailer to enter that market. The company opened three stores in Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
and one in Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
over the next several years. The store in downtown Fairbanks was built on the site of a red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...
, known as ''The Line,'' which operated for close to a half century. Most of these stores were in buildings constructed by Anchorage real estate developer Wally Hickel
Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1 ...
, who later became governor of Alaska
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
and U.S. Secretary of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...
.
Also in 1959, the firm also opened the first "marina-style" store on the Marina in San Francisco. Hundreds of stores in this barrel-vaulted-roof style opened during the next decade.
In 1961, the company sold its New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
operations to Finast
Finast was a retail supermarket brand that started in the northeastern United States, with headquarters in Somerville, Massachusetts. Finast was an acronym for FIrst NAtional STores. Commonly referred to as "The First National", the stores ope ...
. In 1963, Safeway again opened stores in Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, having exited this market in 1934. It leased one store in Culver City to animator/filmmaker Don Bluth
Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including ''The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), ''An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...
, who used it as a theater until 1967.
In 1969, Safeway entered the Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
market in Canada and the Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
market in Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
through opening new stores, rather than by acquisition. The firm ultimately failed against entrenched competition in both these markets.
In 1977, Safeway management instituted a program to fight counterfeit $100 bills by, among other things, telling employees that bills that lacked the words "In God We Trust
"In God We Trust" (also rendered as "In God we trust") is the United States national motto, official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing ("Out of many, one"), whic ...
" were counterfeit. Because Safeway had not sufficiently investigated the history of $100 bills, it was unaware that some bills still in circulation did not have the phrase. Eventually, an innocent shopper was incorrectly reported to Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, police for passing a "counterfeit" bill. He was arrested and strip-searched before Oakland police contacted the Treasury Department and realized the error. The 1981 jury verdict of joint and several liability for $45,000 against Safeway Stores and the City of Oakland was upheld in full by the Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
on December 26, 1986.
In 1979, Peter Magowan
Peter Alden Magowan (April 5, 1942 – January 27, 2019) was an American businessman. He was the managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball from 1993 to 2008. He was the chief executive officer of Safeway Inc. ...
, son of Robert Magowan and grandson of Charles Merrill, was appointed chairman and CEO of Safeway. Magowan managed Safeway for the next 13 years—presiding over the dramatic decline of the firm in terms of store numbers
1980s: Takeover and sell-offs
Following a hostile takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...
bid from corporate raid
In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to t ...
ers Herbert
Herbert may refer to:
People Individuals
* Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert
Name
* Herbert (given name)
* Herbert (surname)
Places Antarctica
* Herbert Mountains, Coats Land
* Herbert Sound, Graham Land
Australia
* Herbert ...
and Robert Haft
Robert Michael Haft is an entrepreneur, primarily in health care, and became a household name in the Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Los Angeles markets for his Crown Books television commercial tagline, "Books cost too much ...
, the chain was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...
(KKR) acting as a white knight
A white knight is a mythological figure and literary stock character. They are portrayed alongside a black knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literatu ...
in 1986. With the assistance of KKR, the company was taken private and assumed tremendous debt. To pay off this debt, the company began selling off a large number of its operating divisions.
The divested domestic divisions of Safeway proved to be problematic for almost all those who acquired them. Essentially every purchasing entity hit financial troubles and either went bankrupt or was later acquired. (Hy-Vee and Fareway are the exceptions with the locations they acquired, having made them work.)
The international stores were more successful for their acquirers. Safeway plc
Safeway is a British brand owned chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. Founded in 1962 by the American Safeway Inc., before being sold to Argyll Foods in 1987. It was later listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was purchased by Morrison ...
, the operator of the UK stores, was sold to Argyll Foods
Argyll Foods plc was the fourth biggest supermarket operator in the United Kingdom, through its acquisitions of a number of smaller supermarkets. In 1987 the company acquired Safeway Inc.'s UK subsidiary and in 1996 it changed its name to Saf ...
, which itself was ultimately absorbed by Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...
in 2004. Safeway Australia
Australian Safeway Pty Ltd (trading as Safeway Supermarkets) was a chain of supermarkets in Australia from 1963 to 2017. The supermarkets were initially part of Safeway Inc. but were absorbed by Woolworths Limited (now Woolworths Group) in ...
was sold to the Australian-based Woolworths Limited
Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian trans-Tasman retailer headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney, with extensive operations throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest company in Australia by revenue and the second-largest in N ...
in 1985.
Safeway sold its stores in Southern California, including those in established markets like Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, to The Vons Companies in 1988 in exchange for a 30 percent interest in the company. Safeway also scaled back its operations in Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
, Modesto
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
, Stockton, and Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
. Save Mart Supermarkets
The Save Mart Companies is an American grocery store operator founded and headquartered in Modesto, California. It owns and operates stores under the names of Save Mart, Lucky, Lucky California, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value Foods. The stores are loc ...
purchased the few remaining Fresno Safeway stores in 1996.
Many stores in the Eastern Division were also closed or sold in the 1987–1989 timeframe, including many recent additions in the DelMarVa Eastern Shore area.
Safeway's national presence was now reduced to several western states and Northern California, plus the Washington, D.C. area. Altogether, nearly half the 2,200 stores in the chain were sold.
Expansion in the 1990s
The company was taken public again in 1990, with the Jordan stores sold to the Masri family in 1991. In December 2003, the Masri family sold it to The Sultan Center
The Sultan Center (TSC) (Arabic: مركز سلطان) is a retail store chain from Kuwait.
History
The four-decade-long story of The Sultan Center was founded by Jamil Sultan. In 1981, he established the first self-service retail store in K ...
of Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. The late 1990s and early 2000s once again saw Safeway rapidly expand into new territories under a variety of regional names. In 1997, Safeway bought out the rest of The Vons Companies, giving it Southern California stores once more. In 1998, Chicago-based Dominick's Finer Foods was acquired from Yucaipa Companies
The Yucaipa Companies, LLC is an American private equity firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle. It specializes in private equity and venture capital, with a focus on middle-market companies, growth capital, industry consolidation, leveraged buy ...
. While Safeway had stores in Alaska, in 1999 they bought Carrs-Safeway
Carrs–Safeway (formerly Carrs Quality Centers) is a supermarket chain that is based in Anchorage, Alaska, and is a subsidiary of Albertsons. It was acquired in April 1999 by former parent Safeway from an employee ownership group, who itself h ...
, with the same year bringing the purchase of Houston-based Randall's Food Markets
Randalls operates 32 supermarkets in Texas under the ''Randalls'' and ''Flagship Randalls'' banners. The chain consists of 13 stores located around the Houston area and 15 stores located around the Austin area as of May 2020. Randalls today forms ...
, which also had stores in Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. Randalls also had stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area through Randalls' other brand, Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangl ...
, along with gourmet grocery store Simon David
Until its closing in 2010, Simon David was the oldest gourmet and specialty foods store in Dallas, Texas. Simon David was a long-time specialty retail brand and division of Tom Thumb (grocery store), Tom Thumb Supermarkets. Tom Thumb became a di ...
. The purchase of Randalls also started the practice of Safeway-owned gas stations, as Randalls already had stations at their stores.
In 2000, Safeway started grocery delivery operations and in 2001 acquired the family-owned Genuardi's
Genuardi's Family Markets L.P. was a chain of supermarkets located in the Northeastern United States. Family-owned until purchased by Safeway in 2000, Genuardi's had its headquarters in the Bentwood Executive Campus in East Norriton Townsh ...
chain, with locations in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, and Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
. While Safeway also created the subsidiary Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. is an American privately held company that operates in the Debit card#Prepaid debit cards, prepaid, gift card and payments industries. It sells branded physical and digital gifts, phones, prepaid debit, and incent ...
, a prepaid and payments network, a card-based financial solutions company, and a provider of third-party prepaid cards, around this time, Genuardi's would be the last grocery purchase Safeway would make.
Lifestyle stores
By the early 2000s, Safeway's expansion beyond the West Coast had been poorly received, citing Safeway's brands and West Coast-based buyers, with Dominick's
Dominick's was a Chicago-area grocery store chain and subsidiary of Safeway Inc. Dominick's distribution center was located in Northlake, Illinois, while its management offices were located in Oak Brook, Illinois.
History
Founding
Dominick DiMa ...
on the sale block, and Randalls and Genuardi's losing market share.
To reinvigorate the flagging divisions, increase brand involvement, and to differentiate itself from its competitor, Safeway began a $100 million brand repositioning campaign labeled "Ingredients for life" in 2005.
The launch included a redesigned logo, a new slogan "Ingredients for life" alongside a four-panel life icon to be used throughout stores and advertising, and a web application called "FoodFlex" to improve consumer nutrition. Many locations are being converted to the "Lifestyle" format. The new look was designed by Michigan-based PPC Design. In addition to the "inviting decor with warm ambiance and subdued lighting", the move required heavy redesign of store layout, new employee uniforms, sushi and olive bars, and the addition of in-store Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
kiosks (with cupholders on grocery carts). The change also involved differentiating the company from competitors with promotions based on the company's extensive loyalty card database. This would be the design going forward for new and remodeled stores.
At the end of 2004, there were 142 "Lifestyle" format stores in the United States and Canada, with plans to open or remodel another 300 stores with this type of theme the following year. "Lifestyle" format stores have seen significantly higher average weekly sales than its other stores. By the end of 2006, shares were up, proving this rebranding campaign had a major impact on sale figures.
In July 2007, the company stock rose on speculation that Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...
was seeking to purchase Safeway.
Decline and sale to Albertsons
In 2012, the company dissolved the Genuardi's chain in the Philadelphia metro through a combination of store selloffs and closures. Giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
acquired 15 of the chain's stores and made an offer for a 16th which was instead sold to a local chain, McCaffrey's, as part of an antitrust settlement. Weis also bought three Genuardi's locations. A number of unprofitable Genuardi's units also had closed in 2010 and 2011 as their leases expired.
The Genuardi's stores in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, were converted to the Safeway name in 2004 due to legal issues stemming from a union contract signed by the management of early Safeway stores in Delaware that closed in 1982. The current Safeway locations in Delaware are served by division offices in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, where Safeway has long been a major grocer.
In 2011, Safeway signed an agreement with UNFI
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is a Providence, Rhode Island–based natural and organic food company. The largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the United States and Canada, it is Whole Foods Market
...
, for the distribution to all of Safeway's banners in the United States for non-proprietary natural, organic and specialty products effective October 2011.
In 2013, it was announced that Cerberus Capital Management were exploring a deal for all or part of Safeway. On June 12, 2013, Sobeys
Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...
announced it would acquire Safeway's operations in Canada for CAD$
The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can ...
5.8 billion, subject to regulatory approval. The move will bolster its presence in Western Canada, where Safeway was predominant. Sobeys completed the sale five months later while keeping the Safeway banner on its newly acquired stores while changing private labels to be more inline with those used by its new parent.
In October 2013, Safeway announced that it would close and sell its remaining Dominick's stores in the Chicago area by early 2014. The announcement spurred its competitors to seek employees and desirable store locations they could purchase. One location would remain open in Bannockburn, Illinois
Bannockburn is a village in West Deerfield and Vernon townships in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 1,013. The village is generally considered part of the Chicago area's North Shore region. The Fri ...
until January 25, 2014.
On February 19, 2014, Safeway began to explore selling itself. On March 6, 2014, longtime rival Albertsons
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
, backed by Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American private equity firm,Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Quayle, Chairman, Cerberus Global Investments, LLC". specializing in distressed investing. ...
announced it would purchase Safeway for $9.4 billion in a deal expected to close in the 4th quarter of the year. Many of Safeway's private brands and IT systems were integrated and replaced Albertsons legacy equipment. As part of the purchase, Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. is an American privately held company that operates in the Debit card#Prepaid debit cards, prepaid, gift card and payments industries. It sells branded physical and digital gifts, phones, prepaid debit, and incent ...
was spun off into an independent company. Blackhawk remained Safeway's sole gift card provider until 2021, when Albertsons switched to InComm for branded gift cards and network activation. Blackhawk still provides Safeway with store gift cards and store credit.
Safeway as a supermarket brand
On January 30, 2015, the merger between Safeway and Albertsons was finalized. As part of the merger, Bellingham, Washington-headquartered grocery chain Haggen
Haggen Food & Pharmacy is a grocery retailer in Washington State.
Haggen is headquartered in Bellingham, Washington, where it started in 1933 when Ben Haggen, Dorothy Haggen, and Doug Clark opened the first store on Bay Street in Bellingham. Fo ...
announced it would buy 146 Vons, Albertsons, and Pavilions stores across Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona as part of anti-monopoly requirements following the merger. Some of the major metropolitan areas affected were Los Angeles, Portland, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Bakersfield, Seattle, and Las Vegas. Other stores in the West Coast, along with the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex market, also saw divestments.
Following the purchase, Safeway and its remaining brands, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Vons, and Pavilions, along with their respective divisions, were integrated into the operations of Albertsons, and Safeway's proprietary food products were distributed in all of the Albertsons-Safeway banners, replacing Albertsons' SuperValu branded products. All former Albertsons banners had their telephones and NCR POS systems replaced with Safeway's Toshiba/IBM hardware.
On January 11, 2016, it was announced that the three remaining Albertsons stores in Florida, located in Largo, Altamonte Springs
Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metro ...
and Oakland Park, would be re-bannered as Safeway; this marks the first time that the Safeway brand would exist on a supermarket operation in Florida. These stores were short lived, as Albertsons later abandoned their Florida operations and sold the stores to Publix
Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...
in 2018.
Beginning in 2018, Safeway and Albertsons began remodeling stores with a new theme that moved away from the "Lifestyle" decor first introduced in the early 2000s. The new theme features brighter colors and tiled backsplashes on department signage. The company has also begun to replace most of its lighting setup in favor of LEDs. Most older stores used fluorescent tubes in the main aisles with halogen
The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of five or six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At), and tennessine (Ts). In the modern IUPAC nomenclature, this group is ...
spotlights in the departments or to accent display cases for a relaxed ambiance. The new standard is LED retrofit tubes for the old fluorescent fixtures, and completely replacing the halogen spot lamps with LED strips or office-style ceiling fixtures that focus on overall illumination instead of targeted, accented lighting. They also replaced lighting in employee areas and offices throughout 2021.
In August 2021, Safeway launched FreshPass, a paid subscription service that allows for free unlimited delivery/pickup and gives members exclusive discounts and offers. The program was launched with a refreshed mobile app that supports scan-and-pay shopping in select markets. Safeway also activated QR payments and digital receipts with the updated mobile app. The "Just for U" rewards program (commonly branded J4U), first launched in 2012, was simplified to "for u" as part of the FreshPass launch.
Other Albertsons stores in various markets have rebannered as Safeway, including Denver and Seattle.
Private brands
"Signature Select" is the company's signature private label that offers an everyday range of products. "Signature Reserve" is the company's private label for more upscale products. The label "Primo Taglio" is used for upscale deli products and "Lucerne" is the main dairy line for the company. In 2006, Safeway introduced an organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
ally grown and processed line of products named "O Organics". A number of prepared dishes and soups are available under "Signature Cafe". After its acquisition by Albertsons
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
, the combined company adopted Safeway's private label brand program, previously named "Safeway Select".
Brand list
Some of the brands in use are:
* Signature Select - Main line of grocery products
* Signature Reserve - Premium alternative to products in the Signature Select line
* Value Corner - Cheaper alternative to products in the Signature Select/Lucerne line
* O Organics - Organic products
* Open Nature - 100% natural products
* Lucerne Dairy Farms - Main dairy brand, used for ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and milk
* Signature Cafe - Brand used for food sold at the deli counter, soups, and refrigerated food made by the deli and sold in the Deli Department
* Signature Farms - Produce Department brand for fresh fruits and vegetables
* Signature Care - Home and wellness products
* Primo Taglio - Deli brand for meat and cheese
* Debi Lilly Design - Floral and home décor products
* waterfrontBISTRO - Frozen seafood products
Signature Select / Refreshe Brand Cola is produced by Cotts Beverages for Safeway; it is bottled in San Bernardino, California. Safeway Refreshe brand bottled water is bottled by Advanced H2O, LLC in Stockton, California. Safeway closed its water bottling plant in downtown Los Angeles in January 2012.
Safeway grocery delivery
Safeway has offered online grocery delivery service in select markets starting in the American Northwest region in 2000. The service grew to deliver in six states and the District of Columbia, mostly along the west and east coast. Fueled by rising demand from the COVID-19 pandemic, Safeway has been rapidly expanding the number of locations offering contactless curbside pickup (marketed as "DriveUp & Go"), and continues to offer traditional prescheduled delivery services along with on-demand deliveries filled via Instacart
Instacart is an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States and Canada. The company offers its services via a website and mobile app. The service allows customers to order groceries from participatin ...
. In early 2020, Safeway began offering deli department items and prepared-to-order sandwiches on DoorDash
DoorDash, Inc. is an American company that operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It went public in December 2020 on NYSE and trades under the symbol DASH.
With a 56% mar ...
, and eventually began offering grocery delivery as well once they introduced DoorDash Marketplace. Curbside pickup orders are processed by Store Employees with items off the shelf in a manner similar to Instacart.
In January 2021, Albertsons announced that it would be laying off union company-employed grocery delivery drivers at Safeway stores in the Northern California region, stating that they would be transferring those services to app-based delivery platforms, such as Instacart. This decision only affected employees working in the 'traditional' scheduled delivery department inside the stores, and all employees were offered other positions within the company. This announcement came several weeks after Proposition 22 was passed in California, which allowed app-based services to classify their employees as independent contractors instead of full-time employees.
Past concepts
Safeway throughout the decades has ventured and experimented with different concepts and themes for its locations and stores.
In 1963, Safeway developed the Super S format—which combined a general merchandise and drug store and a new Safeway supermarket in the same building. The stores shared a common entrance, but operated as separate businesses with their own checkstands. The first outlet opened in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1965, 22 existing Super S stores were sold to Skaggs Drug Stores
Skaggs Companies was the predecessor to many famous United States retailing chains, including Safeway, Albertsons, Osco Drug, and Longs Drugs. The company owned several drugstore chains, but all of them were sold. Skaggs Cos. became American St ...
. Safeway sold the remaining stores in 1971. Some of these stores, such as #1526 outside the Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, were walled off and subdivided to allow chain drugstores to sign leases while the Safeway remained operating in its original configuration.
In 1964, Safeway opened a trial two-level International Store at 12th and F Street in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, with a conventional Safeway downstairs and a gourmet store on the upper floor. The Safeway International Store range included wild boar steaks, snow hare, suckling pig, and reindeer steaks.
The company also made a number of attempts to repurpose older, smaller store sites, opening Food Barn, a discount grocery outlet, and Liquor Barn, a discount liquor outlet, in the 1970s. Safeway also trialed Town House in Washington, D.C., small stores targeting apartment dwellers, and a gourmet store concept, Bon Appetit in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and Tiburon, California.
In 1969, Safeway formed a joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with Holly Farms Poultry Industries (now part of Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
) to open Holly Farms Fried Chicken in an effort to diversify into fast food restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...
s and compete with KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
. The first store opened in Colonial Heights, Virginia in August 1969.
Safeway also acquired Pak 'n Save Foods, a box warehouse concept, as part of the 1983 purchase of Brentwood in Northern California. While these stores were initially distinct in price points and bulk sales, today they are functionally and operationally the same as regular Safeway supermarkets. As of 2021, only 3 remaining Pak 'n Save locations remain in San Leandro
San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...
, Emeryville Emeryville may refer to:
* Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...
, and Madera; all of the other remaining locations were either permanently closed or remodeled into standard Safeway locations.
Logos
* The S Medallion (1946–1982): The red "S" part was slightly thinned in the late 1950s, and remained that way through 1982.
* The Ribbon Leaf (1982–2006): Safeway used this logo from 1982 to 2006. The red stylized "S" was still in the center.
* The Yin-Yang – Life logo (2006–present): The stylized "S" is still located in the center of a red "tube TV screen-style" shape, but is now white.
File:Safeway Medallion.png, Safeway Medallion logo, 1946
File:Safewayfoodanddrug.svg, The Ribbon Leaf logo, 1982
File:Old_Safeway_logo.jpg, The Medallion logo in tile, July 2005
Slogans
* "An Admonition and an Invitation to Drive the Safeway, Buy the Safeway" (original)
* "People on the Go, Go Safeway" (pre-1969)
* "Since We're Neighbors, Let's Be Friends" (1969–1979) was probably the first Safeway advertising campaign to make use of a singalong jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
. This slogan was used by the U.S. stores until July 16, 1979, when the "Everything" slogan was adopted.
* "Everything You Want from a Store and a Little Bit More" (1979 – December 1981) was the campaign launched on July 16, 1979, and was adopted, perhaps, to reflect the image of Safeway stores as "one stop shopping centers". This campaign was used through December 1981, although it was in use in the UK into the 1990s.
* "Today's Safeway: Where You Get a Little Bit More" (January 1982 – 1983) was the first Safeway ad campaign to make use of the company's new "ribbon leaf" logo.
* "America's Favorite Food Store" (1983–1986)
* "I Work an Honest Day and I Want an Honest Deal" (1985–1987) and "America's favorite food store" tagline were used with this campaign through 1986, until the buyout and divestitures, which reduced the store count and made the "America's favorite" line inaccurate; it also featured a song.
* "Nobody Does It Better
"Nobody Does It Better" is a power ballad and the theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequenc ...
" (1992 – late 1990s): This campaign is unique for being adapted from a pop song. In this case, the song was a hit for Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...
in 1977. Simon sang it as the theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
to 1977's James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
movie, '' The Spy Who Loved Me''. The 1993 version used in the commercials was recorded by R&B Grammy Award–winning singer Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
.
* "Giving Our Best" (2001–2005)
* "Vons Is Value" (mid-to-late 1990s) was used only for Vons stores in Southern California. This was the first Vons ad campaign since Safeway took over ownership of the chain.
* "Ours Is Bigger Than Yours" (mid-1990s), in reference to the expansion of produce departments in Northern California.
* "Delivering Our Best" (late 1990s – 2005) was used only for grocery delivery
* "Ingredients for life" (2005–2015): Was introduced during the relaunch, as part of its lifestyle "branding".
* "fresh to your door" (2012–2019): used only for grocery delivery
* "It's Just Better" (2015–present): used by both Albertsons and Safeway as a combined company.
* "Fresh Foods, Local Flavors" (2019–present): used in Albertsons/Safeway Denver Division
Safeway corporate information
Safeway ATM Network
The Safeway ATM Network, run for Safeway by Cardtronics
Cardtronics is a global financial services technology company that provides automated teller machines to retailers, and operates the Allpoint interbank network. Since 2017, Cardtronics’ network counted over 200,000 affiliated ATMs and is the ...
, operates in Colorado, Oregon, Wyoming and Washington. Usually, one machine is located near the front of each store that has an ATM. Cirrus, Plus, Star, and NYCE are on the network. The network started late 1998 in Denver and expanded into Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon.
Support offices
* California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
**Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 200 ...
(Headquarters), Corporate Call Center, IT Support Services, Retail Pricing
* Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
**Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
(Offices, Safeway Security, Trucking)
* Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
**Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
(Offices, Accounting Offices, IT)
* Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
**Lanham, Maryland
Lanham is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census it had a population of 11,282. The New Carrollton station (the terminus of the Washington Metro's Orange Li ...
(Eastern US Headquarters)
*Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
**Manila, Philippines
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
(IT Support Services)
Safeway Category Optimization Process
Safeway transitioned from regional control of its product assortments to national category management, known as the Safeway Category Optimization Process (SCOP). With all dry grocery corporate buying done from Safeway's Pleasanton offices, it is said it will increase representation of manufacturers by experienced sales professionals with extensive product and category knowledge. Corporate produce buying offices are located in Phoenix, Arizona. This will mean consistency across the Safeway chain, meaning one could go into a store in Winnipeg or San Francisco and find the same products at the same price, as all negotiation is now done at the corporate level.
Animal welfare concerns
In 2012, Mercy for Animals
Mercy For Animals (MFA) is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999 by Milo Runkle. MFA's mission is to "prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies."
MFA has conducted mo ...
conducted an undercover investigation at Christensen Farms, a pork supplier to Safeway, Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
, Kroger
The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.
Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...
, and Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inc ...
. Before the public release of Mercy for Animals' investigation at Christensen Farms, Safeway announced it would begin requiring pork suppliers to phase out gestation crates
A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure in which a farmed sow used for breeding may be kept during pregnancy.Wilson G. Pond, Fuller W. Bazer, Bernard E. Rollin (eds.), ''Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture'', CRC Press ...
.
In 2008, Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
started ranking America's major supermarket chains on their seafood sustainability practices because, according to Phil Radford
Philip David Radford (born January 2, 1976) is an American activist who served as the executive director of Greenpeace USA. He is the founder and President of Progressive Power Lab, an organization that incubates companies and non-profits that bu ...
, Greenpeace U.S. CEO, "three quarters of global fish stocks are suffering from overfishing, and 90% of top marine predators are already gone". Criteria included the number of threatened fish species supermarkets sold, their seafood purchasing policies, and ocean legislation policies it supported. Greenpeace annual Carting Away the Oceans (CATO) report ranks supermarkets on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being least sustainable with seafood policies and 10 being the most sustainable with seafood policies. Safeway ranked second best (7.1 out of 10) on the 2013 CATO Report by ensuring that its store brand of canned tuna was sustainably fished and by lobbying for science-based ocean conservation policies.
In 2016, Safeway parent company Albertsons joined a growing wave of companies moving toward "cage-free" egg production and announced a planned shift to cage-free eggs by 2025 following campaigns by The Humane League
The Humane League (THL) is an international nonprofit organization that works to end the abuse of animals raised for food through institutional and individual change, including online advertising, Meatless Monday campaigns, and corporate outreac ...
, Mercy for Animals
Mercy For Animals (MFA) is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999 by Milo Runkle. MFA's mission is to "prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies."
MFA has conducted mo ...
, The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
, and others.
Safeway music
Safeway music is provided by InStore Broadcasting Network
InStore Audio Network (also known as ISAN) is a Utah-based retail media provider of narrowcast in-store music, in-store video content and audio advertising for delivery within supermarkets and drugstores. InStore Audio Network's music programmin ...
. The satellite network also beams commercials and advertisements for Safeway products and brands that play intermittently with the music.
See also
* List of supermarket chains in the United States
This is a list of supermarket companies in the United States of America and the names of supermarkets which are owned or franchised by these companies. For supermarkets worldwide, see List of supermarkets.
National chains
* Ahold Delhaize – ...
* List of online grocers
This is a list of notable online grocers. Online grocers are grocery stores that allow private individuals and businesses to purchase groceries and grocery products online. The companies then deliver the orders to consumers.
Online grocers
...
* Safeway (Australia)
Australian Safeway Pty Ltd (trading as Safeway Supermarkets) was a chain of supermarkets in Australia from 1963 to 2017. The supermarkets were initially part of Safeway Inc. but were absorbed by Woolworths Limited (now Woolworths Group) in 1 ...
—Sold to Woolworths Limited Australia in 1985. All locations renamed to Woolworths Supermarkets
Woolworths Supermarkets (colloquially known in Australia as "Woolies") is an Australian chain of supermarkets and grocery stores owned by Woolworths Group. Founded in 1924, Woolworths today is Australia's biggest supermarket chain with a mar ...
from 2008 to 2017.
* Safeway (Canada)
Safeway (also referred to as Canada Safeway) is a Canadian supermarket chain of 135 full service supermarket stores mostly operating in the western provinces in Canada. It was established in 1929 as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., bef ...
—Sold to Sobeys
Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...
in 2013. Continues to use the Safeway banner.
* Safeway (UK)
Safeway is a British brand owned chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. Founded in 1962 by the American Safeway Inc., before being sold to Argyll Foods in 1987. It was later listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was purchased by Morrison ...
—Sold to Argyll Foods
Argyll Foods plc was the fourth biggest supermarket operator in the United Kingdom, through its acquisitions of a number of smaller supermarkets. In 1987 the company acquired Safeway Inc.'s UK subsidiary and in 1996 it changed its name to Saf ...
in 1987. Continued to use the Safeway name until 2005, after they were acquired by Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...
in 2004.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Supermarkets of the United States
Superstores in the United States
Online grocers
Companies based in Pleasanton, California
American companies established in 1915
Retail companies established in 1915
1915 establishments in Idaho
Economy of the Western United States
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
1986 mergers and acquisitions
Skaggs family
Supermarkets based in California
2015 mergers and acquisitions