Miles of Aisles for Milk? Not Here

HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Like cars and homes, grocery stores are beginning to shrink.

After years of building bigger stores — many larger than a football field and carrying 60,000 items — retailers are experimenting with radically smaller grocery stores that emphasize prepared meals, fresh produce and grab-and-go drinks.

The idea is to lure time-starved shoppers who want to pick up a few items or a fast meal without wandering long grocery aisles or paying restaurant prices.

Safeway has opened a smaller-format store in Southern California, and Jewel-Osco is building one in Chicago. Wal-Mart plans to open four “Marketside” stores in the Phoenix area this fall, and Whole Foods Market is considering opening smaller stores.

And here in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, the grocery chain Giant Eagle opened a Giant Eagle Express last year that is about one-sixth the size of its regular stores. It has gas pumps, wireless Internet and flat-screen televisions in a small cafe, a drive-through pharmacy and an expansive delicatessen that offers sushi, rotisserie chickens and ready-to-heat dinners. . . . more

Safeway Opens in Downtown Washington

New “urban lifestyle” store in revived neighborhood is the retailer’s first in D.C. in 11 years

Safeway Inc. (Pleasanton, Calif.) will open a new, 58,000-square-foot supermarket in downtown Washington, D.C., today.

The store, the first one built by the retailer in the District in 11 years, is on the ground floor of the new CityVista complex in Mount Vernon Triangle, a $250 million project with 685 condominium and apartment units and 120,000 square feet of retail. The Safeway is located at 5th Street and New York Avenue NW, on the former site of a wax museum.

"This is just a very vibrant part of D.C.," Steve Neibergall, Safeway's eastern division president, told The Washington Post. "I think the community will be very pleased."

The store is Safeway's 17th in the city and one of only five in the company's eastern division with a nut bar, where shoppers will be able to grind their own cashew butter and other spreads. Dubbed an "urban lifestyle" store by the company, it also features an open-flame hearth oven and a large assortment of wine.

The once-blighted area is slowly attracting new retailers. Locally owned Fifth Street Hardware opened this summer, and popular bar and coffee house Busboys and & Poets is expected to open within two months. The Post said the neighborhood hopes to attract more retail and restaurants, though development has slowed with the economic downturn.

Source: VMSD.com

Safeway Continues Store Expansion

PLEASANTON, CA-Despite belief that 2008 will remain soft, Safeway is continuing to expand, executives said at the company’s first quarter conference call. For the year, the company expects to spend $1.7 billion to $1.75 billion in capital expenditures, opening 20 to 25 new Lifestyle stores and completing 250 to 255 Lifestyle remodels. Yet rising food prices are affecting the consumer, as shoppers pursue value.

“It doesn’t matter whether you make $30,000 a year or $150,000 a year, when prices go up, demand dampens,” said Steve Burd, chairman, president and CEO. Remodels likely will slow between 2010 and 2012, as the company has compressed its normal 10-year renovation cycle into six to move to the Lifestyle concept. After that, the next set of remodels will be less extensive, Burd said.

For the quarter, the company reported total sales of $10 billion, up 7.3% from the first quarter of 2007. Identical-store sales increased 4.5%, boosted by the shift of Easter from the second quarter to the first. Excluding the Easter shift, identical-store sales rose 2%. Net income was $193.4 million, compared to net income of $174.4 million for the same quarter in 2007. The company opened one new Lifestyle store, completed 22 Lifestyle remodels and closed four units. Safeway operates 1,740 stores in the US and Canada.

Source: GlobeSt.com

Safeway, Giant workers OK contr

Safeway Inc. and Giant Food LLC employees in the region approved a new labor contract Tuesday after more than a month of negotiations.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents about 26,000 employees in the D.C. and Baltimore areas, reached agreement with the leaders over the weekend. D.C. Giant and Safeway employees, represented by the UFCW's Local 400, voted at the D.C. Armory Tuesday.

The primary issues at the bargaining table were wages, pensions and health benefits. Under the new contract, the stores provided wage and pension fund increases.

As for health care benefits, new employees will now have to pay modest contributions under the contract, he said.

Source: Washington Business Journal