Safeway.com Deals and Safeway.com Discounts

Safeway Supermarket Chain Moves Aggressively into Organic... By David Goll East Bay Business Times... Safeway didn't become a virtual synonym for supermarket in the American vernacular by ignoring consumer trends. And organic food has become a bona fide 21st-century retail hit. In 1976, consuming food produced by organic farmers was cutting edge, a counter-cultural reaction to the pervasive use of pesticides and herbicides by family farmers and agribusiness alike. In 2006, having been embraced by mainstream consumers, organics have become a big business, with annual sales in the United States zooming from $1 billion in 1990 to $20 billion in 2005. The Organic Trade Association of Greenfield, Mass., says sales of organic products will increase 18 percent annually through 2008, although they still constitute only 2 percent of grocery sales nationwide. The knock on organic products? Most consumers complain they are usually more expensive than conventionally produced food. Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. set out to change perceptions and capture market share in December, when it quietly rolled out "O Organics." Now, Safeway is planning a more aggressive campaign to promote the private-label line. The 150 organic products include beverages, bakery goods, cereals, canned and frozen foods, dairy products and snack items. The difference from national organic product lines? Prices are comparable or even below those for conventional products in some cases. Beginning this month, the organic line became widely available throughout Safeway's chain of 1,775 stores in the United States and Canada. James D. White, Safeway's senior vice president of corporate brands since October, is quick to point out the advantages of the organic line. "These are of similar to better quality than national brands or other store brands," he said. "They have developed a very loyal and vocal following. People really appreciate the combination of quality and value." He said the line also offers the broadest range of organic products offered by a major retailer, with the exception of a company that has built its business on natural and organic products: Whole Foods Market. White said that although Safeway gets products from outside suppliers, some are manufactured by Safeway. He added that its existing plants are expected to handle the ramp-up in production. White said Safeway hopes to appeal to a broader range of shoppers by making it possible for them to "avoid additional shopping trips" by buying conventional and organic products in one place. As such, O Organics represents an acceleration of Safeway's competitive efforts to counter the dramatic growth of Whole Foods, which attracts a demographic group of shoppers similar to its own. While the supermarket's rivalry with industry behemoth Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has attracted most of the attention in recent years, Whole Foods Market Inc., based in Austin, Texas, has been expanding in major metropolitan areas important to Safeway's business: The Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Ore., Seattle, Chicago and Washington, D.C., among others. Surveys conducted by the Organic Trade Association reveal about two-thirds of American consumers have bought organic products at least once. About 15 percent to 20 percent purchase them on a regular basis. The association's surveys conclude that consumers between 45 and 54 are most likely to buy organic. Safeway's White said O Organics seem to be popular with shoppers of all ages, but especially those under 45. He noted the move toward organic foods began and gained momentum among younger people in urban centers and university towns and that shoppers in their 20s and 30s, who tend to have less disposable income than middle-age consumers, are attracted to the new line's moderate prices. White said shoppers of all ages have reacted positively to O Organics at stores throughout the chain, with sales brisk on the West Coast, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and the Middle Atlantic states. Although White said company officials have high hopes for the sales potential of O Organics, he would not discuss specific revenue predictions. © 2006 East Bay Business Times

Don't Forget Your Safeway Card......Georgetown residents may have received a card in the mail recently from Safeway promising 10% off groceries when you purchase them at various area stores. A quick tip: make sure to bring your Safeway Club Card. When you present it to any of the area Safeways, the discount is automatically applied (assuming you signed up for the Club Card with a 20007 zip code). Just today, GM saved 30 bucks on a $160 of groceries by using the Club Card. Between free delivery and huge discounts, getting our Safeway knocked down is turning out to be the best thing to happen to Georgetown grocery shoppers in a long time.

Safeway, the Start-Up
In 1915, M.B. Skaggs, an ambitious young man in the small Idaho town of American Falls, purchased a tiny grocery store from his father. 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 was operating 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 (formerly Selig) stores. Two years later M.B. listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. M.B. did not let the difficulties of the Great Depression dilute his pioneering focus on value for customers. In the 1930's Safeway introduced produce pricing by the pound, open dating on perishables to assure freshness, nutritional labeling, even some of the first parking lots.

Safeway Classic Store

Safeway Expands
Today M.B. Skagg's value vision still drives Safeway, though on a dramatically larger scale. There are 1,775 Safeway stores across the US and Canada. These include 312 Vons stores in Southern California and Nevada, 112 Randalls and Tom Thumb stores in Texas, 37 Genuardi's store in the Philadelphia area, as well as 17 Carrs stores in Alaska.

Safeway Classic Store

Not Just a Store, a Brand
A key ingredient in Safeway's success has been the introduction of one of the most extensive private labels programs in North America. Our customers can choose from some 3,000 products including Safeway, Lucerne and Mrs. Wright's. An additional 1,250 premium products are marketed under the award-winning Safeway SELECT label.

Safeway Classic Store

Community Partnerships
Our customers are also our neighbors. Safeway has always made giving back to the community a priority. In 2005 we donated millions of pounds of merchandise to America's Second Harvest food banks and other hunger-relief organizations. We also contributed more than $25 million to schools through eScrip and other educational programs. In addition, we donated a combined $15 million through major fundraising campaigns to support breast and prostate cancer research, treatment and education and to further the fine work of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Easter Seals. We also raised more than $3.6 million to assist victims of the devastating tsunami in South Asia and Eastern Africa, and $3.7 million for Hurricane Katrina victims in the Gulf Coast region. In addition, our employee efforts to help the disabled have raised more than $75 million for Easter Seals since 1985.

Environmental Leadership
Safeway has a continuing history of environmental responsibility, starting with cardboard recycling in 1960. Today we typically recycle over 450,000 tons of material per year. In addition, through a partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, we have become one of the nation's largest commercial buyers of renewable energy. Our environmental policy has also included replacing ozone-depleting CFC's in our store refrigeration systems. Safeway's emergence as one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America is that it has not come at the expense of M.B. Scagg's vision. His strong sense of customer value that proved so innovative in American Falls in 1915, continues to work successfully in a new century.

SAFEWAY PARTNERS WITH EPA TO BUY WIND ENERGY FOR FUEL STATIONS, SAN FRANCISCO STORES AND CORPORATE OFFICES

270 Fuel Stations, 15 San Francisco Stores and Corporate Offices to be Powered by Renewable Energy

PLEASANTON, CA (September 14, 2005) - Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) announced today that it will purchase 100% renewable energy to power the company's 270 fuel stations in the United States, its 15 stores in San Francisco, and the Safeway corporate campuses in Pleasanton and Walnut Creek, California. Through a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Safeway becomes one of the largest buyers of green energy in the United States and an EPA "Green Power Partner." EPA's Green Power Partnership is a voluntary partnership between the EPA and organizations that pledge to replace a portion of their electricity consumption with renewable energy.

"Protecting the environment and conserving our nation's valuable energy resources is something that Safeway and our customers care deeply about," said Executive Vice President Larree Renda. "By powering our fuel stations, stores and corporate offices with wind energy, we are taking a leadership role and setting the example of why using cleaner sources of electricity is important in helping the environment and helping conserve energy."

Under the partnership, Safeway has agreed to purchase 78 million kilowatt hours in the form of wind energy. By doing so, the company not only becomes one of the nation's largest buyers of green energy in the U.S. but also becomes California's largest buyer of renewable energy. Safeway is now the only retailer to purchase enough renewable energy to power 100% of its fuel stations.

"The EPA applauds Safeway's fuel stations for being among the largest commercial purchasers of green power in the United States," said Blaine Collison, program director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership. "Safeway is leading by example and setting a standard for environmental partnership."

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The EPA, using average avoided carbon dioxide emissions nationally, estimates that Safeway's purchase is equivalent to avoiding more than 85 million pounds of carbon dioxide, comparable to planting more than 10,500 acres of trees. Each store reduces carbon dioxide emissions by an equivalent of planting 200 acres of trees. The emissions reduction per fuel stations is equivalent to planting 24 acres of trees.

HOW IT WORKS
EPA's Green Power Partnership, a voluntary partnership between the EPA and organizations that pledge to replace a portion of their electricity consumption with renewable energy. Renewable energy, including wind energy, is electricity generated from sources that are more environmentally friendly than traditional fossil fuels. Renewable energy benefits the environment by displacing non-renewable power sources like nuclear, coal and other fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas linked to global warming. The wind energy purchased by Safeway will come solely from newly constructed wind turbine generators, encouraging a cleaner, greener environment.

As a result of this investment, wind power will be supplied to the power grid, replacing electricity generated from less environmentally friendly sources. Electricity from a wind turbine acts the same as electricity generated from any other source. Once the energy leaves the generator and goes into the power grid, it displaces the same amount of non-renewable power. Purchasing green power in the form of energy certificates decreases the need for non-renewable power and thus promotes a cleaner environment. Safeway has committed to meeting all electricity needs of its U.S. fuel stations and Pleasanton and Walnut Creek corporate offices with green power.

About Safeway
Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 50 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America based on sales. The company operates 1,801 stores in the United States and Canada and had annual sales of $35.8 billion in 2004. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY

When did Safeway start its Greenhouse Gas and Sustainability Initiative?

In 2006 Safeway laid the formal framework for its Greenhouse Gas and Sustainability Program in response to California's AB-32 legislation. The Company coupled several existing environmental projects with a number of new strategic initiatives aimed at significantly reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

What is the purpose of the Greenhouse Gas and Sustainability Initiative?

As a large private-sector employer and commercial consumer of energy, Safeway strives to be a leader in forging innovative solutions to achieve a cleaner, healthier environment. We launched a comprehensive, long-term Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Sustainability Initiative with the goal to reduce our company's carbon footprint and improve air quality and the environment in the communities we serve. Toward that end, we set out to determine Safeway's current carbon baseline so we could implement cost-effective measures to reduce the baseline, improve profitability and achieve environmental sustainability.

What are Greenhouse gases?

Gases that trap the heat of the sun in the Earth's atmosphere, producing the greenhouse effect. The two major greenhouse gases are water vapor and carbon dioxide. Other greenhouse gases include methane, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide. Greenhouse Gases are transparent to solar radiation but opaque to long-wave radiation. Their action is similar to that of glass in a greenhouse. For the purposes of the Kyoto Protocol, GHGs are the following six gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydroflurocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

What government and private agencies has Safeway partnered with to develop its GHG and Sustainability Program?

Safeway partners with leading governmental and private entities to reduce our carbon footprint, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and California Climate Action Registry (CCAR), to name a few.

What were the results in 2006 of the Greenhouse Gas and Sustainability Initiative?

Results in 2006 surpassed our expectations. All told, we implemented measures that reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 320,000 metric tons or 700 million pounds. That's equivalent to removing 69,000 cars from the road annually or 267,000 acres of pine or fir trees storing carbon for a year. These reductions included approximately:

* 120,000 metric tons through strategic electricity purchases;

* 79,000 metric tons through the application of technology, process improvements and education;

* 55,000 metric tons through renewable energy purchases; and

* 66,000 metric tons through a wide range of efficiency initiatives and technologies with our truck fleet.

What is the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)?

The world's first and North America's only voluntary, legally binding rules based greenhouse gas emissions allowance trading system. CCX members reflect a cross-section of major public and private sector North American enteritis. Safeway is the first retail sector member to join CCX.

What is the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR)?

California's only official registry for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction projects. CCAR will have an active role in California's implementation of AB-32.

What is Renewable Energy?

Renewable Energy (or 'green' power) is electricity generated by resources that can be easily restored and produce zero to little pollution. Wind, solar, biomass and low-impact hydro are just a few examples of green power.

What is Solar Power?

Energy generated from using sunlight either to create electron flow in a photovoltaic cell or to heat a fluid that is used in the operation of a turbine-generator or engine.

How does Solar Power fit into Safeway's energy portfolio?

Safeway is currently developing approximately two dozen solar projects across the State of California. When complete the projects should provide approximately 10,000 MWh's of solar energy per year. There are a myriad of pieces that must fit together to make solar economics work with no two projects being exactly the same. Safeway will gain experience with a couple dozen installations to help determine how solar power will enhance the long-term energy portfolio.

What is Wind Energy?

Energy generated from turbine generator powered by wind. Safeway's wind energy comes from newly constructed wind turbine generators. Instead of using conventionally generated electricity, which is one of the largest causes of air pollution, we use environmentally friendly wind generated power as our renewable energy electricity source.

How much Wind Energy has Safeway purchased and what is our commitment?

Safeway has committed to purchase 87 million KWh of renewable wind energy a year through 2008. This is enough energy to power 100% of Safeway's 300+ Fuel Stations, our corporate facilities and all of our San Francisco and Boulder stores. Safeway began its green power program in 2005 and is the only gasoline retailer in the U.S. to power all its fuel stations with 100% renewable wind energy.

Why is Safeway buying Wind Energy?

By reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, Safeway is taking action to reduce the company's carbon footprint, address climate change and reduce air pollution. For every kilowatt hour of renewable power Safeway uses, it displaces an equal amount of conventional or 'brown' power and the associated pollutants. Safeway is committed to investing in the communities we serve. Improving the environment is one way that Safeway gives back to the community.

Where does Safeway buy its wind power?

* San Gorgonio Pass, about 18 miles west of Palm Springs, California

* Montezuma Hills, Rio Vista Area in California

* Near Lamar and Springfield, Colorado

* Waymart, Pennsylvania

* Near Edgeley and Kulm, North Dakota

* Near Kennewich, Washington

* Custer County, Oklahoma

* Abilene, Texas

What impact does our wind energy purchase have on the environment?

Safeway's annual purchase removes 55,000 tons of carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas, from the air we breathe. This is the same as planting 45,000 acres of trees.

How does Safeway's green power purchase of wind energy compare to other retail customers?

Safeway is the 5th largest retail purchaser of green power in the U.S., joining the elite group of companies on the EPA Green Power Partnership's Top 25 list.

What has Safeway done with its- Transportation Fleet?

Safeway joined EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary public/private alliance established to increase fuel efficiency while reducing GHG and other air pollutants. We enrolled our entire 900-truck transport fleet in the program. The technologies and initiatives implemented saved over 6.5 million gallons of diesel fuel and conserved scarce natural resources.

In addition, we turned our transportation fleet in California and Arizona to B20 Biodiesel, a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. The biodiesel is grown and manufactured domestically from 100% virgin soybean oil. By using B20 in California and Arizona, 69% of our diesel purchase is now B20.

B20 Biodiesel reduces sulfur, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and particulate emissions. This program reduces Safeway's CO2 emissions by 23,021 metric tons per year.

This is equivalent to one of the following:

* 4,983 passenger cars not driven for one year

* 2,955 households electricity consumption for one year

* 19,184 acres of pine or fir forests storing carbon for one year

Does Safeway recycle and what are the positive benefits of this program?

Safeway retail and support facilities participate in a comprehensive set of recycling programs and share best practices across the company. These programs divert solid waste from landfills to recycling centers and re-use programs. In California, we divert over 85% of our stores- solid waste from landfill disposal. Nationally, our recycling programs diverted almost 500,000 tons of waste. We have participated in the California Integrated Waste Management Board's annual Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) continuously since 1994, receiving WRAP awards in each of the last five years, and were named a WRAP of the Year (WOTY) award winner in 2005.

How does employee education fit into Safeway's GHG and Sustainability Program?

No strategy would have long-term sustainability without employee understanding and support. To that end, Safeway is implementing an ongoing, continuously updated employee communication and education program regarding GHG emissions, environmental stewardship and the company's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Our 'Power to Save' employee education initiative includes 10 easy energy-saving tips for employees who work in our stores. Each month a different energy-saving strategy is played via video in a continuous loop in employee break rooms. We also include periodic environmental video spots and stories in the electronic and print versions of the organization's employee newsletter, In Focus.

What does the future hold for Safeway's GHG and Sustainability Initiatives?

Sustaining environmental benefits is just as important as achieving the initial results. Mindful of this, we have implemented a multi-pronged strategy to keep the organization moving forward. A central focus of this strategy is employee awareness of climate change and the tools to help manage its impacts. Employee education, energy conservation, process improvement, efficient building design, recycling and other key elements of responsible environmental stewardship are critical to managing the future performance of our sustainability efforts.

Safeway has demonstrated its long-term commitment to addressing climate change. We were the first and only retailer to join both the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the world's first and North America's only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction registry and trading program, and the California Climate Action Registry, the state&'s official registry for GHG reduction projects in 2006. Currently we are working with both organizations to develop our carbon baseline. Through CCX we legally committed to reduce our carbon footprint by 6% from our 2000 baseline by 2011.

Has Safeway been recognized for its environmental efforts?

Absolutely. We received the EPA Green Power Purchaser of the Year Award in 2005, the City of San Diego Recycler of the year Award in 2006, WRAP (Waste Reduction Award Program) Awards in 2002 - 2006 and a 2007 California Flex Your Power Award for energy efficiency, to name a few.