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Safeway, the Start-Up In 1915, M.B. Skaggs, an ambitious young man in the small Idaho town of American Falls, purchased a 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 MB listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. MB 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 Expands Today M.B.Skagg's value vision still drives Safeway, though on a dramatically larger scale. There are approximately 1,700 Safeway stores across the US and Canada. These include 329 Vons stores in Southern California and Nevada, 132 Randalls and Tom Thumb stores in Texas, 42 Genuardi's store in the Philadelphia area, as well as 21 Carrs stores in Alaska. 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 more than 2,500 products including Safeway, Lucerne and Mrs. Wright's. An additional 1,250 premium products are marketed under the award-winning Safeway SELECT label. Community Partnerships Our customers are also our neighbors. Safeway has always made giving back to the community a priority. In 2002 we donated approximately $100 million, money as well as merchandise, including $6 million to Second Harvest food banks and $25 million to local schools. Our employee efforts to help the disabled have raised more than $65 million for Easter Seals since 1985. Environmental Leadership Safeway has a continuing history of environmental responsibility, starting with cardboard recycling in 1960. Our environmental policy has included replacing ozone-depleting CFC´s in our store refrigeration systems. In addition our customers have helped us recycle several million pounds of shopping bags. Even more remarkable than Safeway's community leadership and growth to 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.com (Opens New Window) Source: Safeway |
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