page_title: Safeway Inc.
section_title: Decline and sale
hierarchical_section_title: Safeway Inc. / Expansion / Decline and sale
caption_attribution_description: English: A new (and largest) Safeway in the mixed-use development "Carmel The Village" in the San Antonio neighborhood of Mountain View, Calif. This Safeway also features rooftop parking.
context_page_description: Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and feature a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the west with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, with its parent company, Albertsons, headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
  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.
context_section_description: In 2012, the company dissolved the Genuardi's chain in suburban Philadelphia through a combination of store selloffs and closures. Giant acquired 15 of the chain's stores and made an offer for a 16th which was instead sold to a local chain 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. Earlier, Zagara's, a small chain of upscale, gourmet supermarkets started by Genuardi's in 1990 was also shuttered in 2000, immediately following its parent company's acquisition by Safeway. The only Genuardi's in the northern half of New Jersey also closed soon after the merger with Safeway, and a location in Bensalem, Pennsylvania was sold to ShopRite in 2004.
  The Genuardi's stores in Wilmington, Delaware, 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, 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 announced it would acquire Safeway's operations in Canada for CDN$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 cease operating 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 until January 25, 2014.
  On February 19, 2014, Safeway began to explore selling itself. On March 6, 2014 Albertsons, backed by Cerberus Capital Management announced it would purchase Safeway for $9.4 billion in a deal expected to close in the 4th quarter of the year. As part of the purchase, Blackhawk Network was spun off into an independent company.
caption: The largest Safeway built from the ground up in the United States is part of a mixed-use development in Mountain View, California.
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