Safeway Stores (Ireland) was a

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 that operated in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

between 1996 and 2005. 12 of the 13 stores were acquired by

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

, itself owned by

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 ...

; whilst the remaining store was sold to Mr John Miskelly and Mrs Helen Miskelly. Despite its name, it did not operate any interests in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

History

Joint venture

Safeway entered the Northern Ireland market in 1996, by forming a joint venture between

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 ...

and

Sir Anthony O'Reilly Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly (born 7 May 1936) is an Irish former businessman and international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009,Dublin, Ireland, ...

's Fitzwilton Group, owners of the

Wellworths Wellworths was a supermarket chain, owned by the Fitzwilton trading in Northern Ireland until 1997. Along with Stewarts/Crazy Prices it was one of the two main supermarkets in Northern Ireland until English-based retailers moved into the mar ...

supermarket chain. Larger Wellworths stores became part of this joint venture, with smaller stores being sold to the

Musgrave Group Musgrave Group Ltd. is an Irish food wholesaler, founded in Cork by the Musgrave brothers, Thomas and Stuart in 1876. It is currently Ireland's largest grocery distributor, with operations in Ireland and Spain with estimated annual sales of ove ...

and rebranded Wellworths-Supervalu. Despite only partial ownership by

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 Morriso ...

, stores were operated as any other Safeway outlet in the UK, offering a full range of Safeway own-label products and produce local to Northern Ireland.

Taking full ownership

In 2002, Safeway (UK) took full ownership of the group.

Morrisons takeover

Following

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 ...

' takeover of Safeway UK in March 2004, Safeway stores in Northern Ireland continued to operate under the Safeway name, while Safeway stores in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

were gradually re-branded as Morrisons stores. Safeway did, though, switch to Morrisons' packaging in Northern Ireland and started to phase out Safeway

own 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 ...

products in favour of the Morrisons label. It was becoming apparent, however, that Morrisons did not see a long-term future in Northern Ireland. Despite this, Morrisons continued with plans to open a supermarket in Bangor, Co Down, the last new Safeway store to open in the UK, and the only one opened after the Morrisons takeover.

Sale of Irish interests

Along with a number of other former Safeway UK interests, Morrisons disposed of its interests in Northern Ireland in 2005. On 6 June 2005, 12 of the 13 outlets were acquired by

for £73.6 million. The stores, (which included their Bangor store), changed to the ASDA brand over the course of the next year. On 2 November 2005, Morrisons announced the sale by Safeway Stores (Ireland) Limited of its remaining store at

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...

to Mr John Miskelly and Mrs Helen Miskelly. The store had gross assets of £14,745,388. The sale was completed on 19 November 2005. The way the sales were structured means that the legal entity Safeway Stores (Ireland) Limited was not actually sold to Asda Stores Limited, but remains as a dormant wholly owned subsidiary of Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, through its subsidiary Safeway Limited (formerly Safeway plc).

Supermarket locations

Each was sold to and re-branded as ASDA in 2005 unless otherwise stated. *

Ballyclare Ballyclare () is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,953 according to the 2011 census, and is located within the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It sits on the river Six Mile Water. The town ...

* Bangor *

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

- Shore Road *

- Westwood *

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

Cookstown Cookstown ( ga, An Chorr Chríochach, IPA: �anˠˈxoːɾˠɾˠˈçɾʲiːxəx is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of 11,599 in the 2011 census. It, along with Maghe ...

(sold to Mr John Miskelly and Mrs Helen Miskelly in 2005, re-branded as ASDA in 2007) * Dundonald *

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...

* Kilkeel *

Newtownards Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtownard ...

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

Strabane Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...

References

{{Albertsons Companies, No Collapse Supermarkets of Northern Ireland Safeway Inc. Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1996 Retail companies disestablished in 2005 1996 establishments in Northern Ireland 2005 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Walmart