based supermarket corporation . for other uses see safeway disambiguation . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains embedded lists that may be better presented using prose . you can help by converting the list or lists to prose if appropriate . editing help is available . august 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message safeway inc. ingredients for life type subsidiary industry retail grocery founded april 1915 ; 101 years ago april 1915 american falls idaho u.s. founder marion barton skaggs headquarters pleasanton california u.s. number of locations 1 335 key people robert g. miller chairman & ceo bob gordon evp & general counsel products bakery dairy delicatessen dry cleaning frozen foods fuel grocery lottery pharmacy photographic processing produce seafood snack food liquor flowers and western union services supermarket number of employees over 250 000 2015 including albertsons parent albertsons website www.safeway.com safeway inc. is an american supermarket chain founded in 1915 . it is a subsidiary of albertsons having been acquired by private equity investors led by cerberus capital management in january 2015 . safeway s primary base of operations is in the western and central united states 1 with some stores located in the mid atlantic region of the eastern seaboard . the subsidiary is headquartered in pleasanton california with parent company headquarters in boise idaho . contents 1 history 2 expansion 2.1 international expansion 2.2 1940s 1970s 2.3 1980s takeover and sell offs 2.4 1990s 2.5 2000s and beyond 3 current operations 3.1 chains 3.1.1 former 4 private brands 5 lifestyle branding 6 safeway grocery delivery 7 safeway fuel 8 past concepts 9 logos 10 slogans 11 safeway corporate information 11.1 safeway atm network 11.2 support offices 11.3 safeway category optimization process 11.4 animal welfare concerns 11.5 safeway music 12 see also 13 references 14 external links history edit safeway headquarters in pleasanton california . in april 1915 marion barton skaggs purchased his father s 576 square foot 53.5 m2 grocery store in american falls idaho for 1 089 . 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 help 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 safeway stores and incorporated as safeway inc. 2 the original slogan was an admonition and an invitation to drive the safeway ; buy the safeway . 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 because a family could not get into debt via its grocery bill as many families did at the time especially during the great depression . in 1926 charles e. merrill the founder of the merrill lynch 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 . 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 . 3 on july 1 1926 safeway merged with the 673 stores from skaggs united stores of idaho and skaggs cash stores of california . on completion of the skaggs safeway merger m. b. skaggs became the chief executive of the business . 4 two years later m.b. 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 . 5 in the 1930s charles e. merrill temporarily left merrill lynch to help manage safeway . at the time of the merger the company was headquartered in reno nevada . in 1929 it was relocated to a former grocery warehouse in oakland california . safeway headquarters remained there until the move to pleasanton california in 1996 . expansion edit the initial public offering 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 then began aggressively acquiring numerous regional grocery store chains for safeway in a rollup strategy . early acquisitions included significant parts of piggly wiggly chain as part of the breakup of that company by merrill lynch and wall street . year firm of stores location 1926 h.g. chaffee grocery stores southern california 1926 skaggs cash stores 679 grocery stores idaho 1926 skaggs united stores in above california 1928 arizona grocery pay n takit stores 24 grocery stores ; 24 meat markets arizona 1928 newway stores 15 grocery stores ; 11 meat markets el paso texas 1928 sanitary grocery incl . some piggly wiggly 429 grocery stores ; 67 meat markets washington d.c. and virginia 1928 eastern stores inc. 67 grocery stores ; 127 meat markets baltimore maryland 1928 piggly wiggly pacific 91 grocery stores ; 84 meat markets oakland california 1928 bird grocery stores including some piggly wiggly 224 grocery stores ; 210 meat markets missouri texas arkansas iowa kansas nebraska 1929 piggly wiggly west 91 grocery stores ; 84 meat markets northern california hawaii colorado 1929 sun grocery 91 grocery stores ; 84 meat markets tulsa oklahoma 1931 macmarr stores grocery stores los angeles 1936 stores from kroger 53 grocery stores oklahoma 1941 daniel reeves 498 grocery stores new york 1941 national grocery 84 grocery stores new jersey 1958 thriftway stores iowa 30 grocery stores iowa most transactions involved the swap of stock certificates with little cash changing hands . most acquired chains retained their own names until the mid 1930s . safeway store number by state and province in 1932 in 1929 there were rumors of a safeway kroger merger . 6 the number of stores peaked at 3 400 in 1932 when expansion ground to a halt . the great depression 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 and ahead of kroger . in 1935 safeway sold its nine stores in honolulu hawaii ... because of the inconvenience of proper supervision . 7 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 . 8 change in number of safeway stores from 1925 to 1960 international expansion edit country year of stores canada 1929 213 2013 united kingdom 1962 131 1986 australia 1962 123 1984 west germany 1963 35 1984 mexico 1981 137 2007 saudi arabia 1982 6 1984 jordan 2003 6 2009 kuwait the company expanded into canada in 1929 with 127 stores which became canada safeway limited and which was sold to sobeys in 2013 ; 9 into the united kingdom in 1962 which became safeway plc ; into australia in 1963 which became safeway australia ; and into germany in 1964 . the company also has operations in saudi arabia and kuwait in a licensing and management agreement with the tamimi group during the 1980s . in 1981 it acquired 49 % of mexican retailer casa ley . 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 year firm of stores location 1929 9 grocery stores canada 1935 piggly wiggly canada 179 stores canada 1962 john gardner limited 11 stores united kingdom 1963 pratt supermarkets 3 stores melbourne australia 1963 mutual stores stores australia 1964 big b r basar big bear bazaar 2 stores west germany 1980 jack the slasher 31 stores queensland australia 1981 49 % of casa ley stores mexico 1940s 1970s edit safeway stores 1955 specimen stock certificate a marina safeway in hamilton montana built in 1962 an older store design from the 1970s and 1980s is seen in this san jose california safeway . in 1941 marion b. skaggs retired from the safeway board of directors . 4 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 1959 safeway opened its first store in the new state of alaska the first major food retailer to enter that market . the company opened three stores in anchorage and one in fairbanks over the next several years . the store in downtown fairbanks was built on the site of a red light district 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 who later became governor of alaska and u.s. secretary of the interior . also in 1959 the firm also opened the first marina style store on the marina in san francisco . hundreds of stores in this iconic barrel vaulted roof style opened during the next decade . 10 in 1961 the company sold its new york operations to finast . 11 in 1963 safeway again opened stores in hawaii having exited this market in 1934 . 12 it leased one store in culver city to animator filmmaker don bluth who used it as a theater until 1967 . in 1969 safeway entered the toronto market in canada and the houston market in texas 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 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 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 on