Sobeys

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced it plans to get rid of its 72 Dominick's stores in the Chicago area, exiting the market in early 2014.

Safeway’s decision comes after Dominick's had a net loss of $8.4 million for the third quarter, ended Sept. 7, compared with a loss of $6.2 million in the year-ago period, and a net loss of $21.5 million for the year to date, compared with $16.8 million for the year- ago period.

Safeway plans to exit the Chicago market where it operates 72 supermarkets under the Dominick’s banner by early 2014 after posting third quarter profits that were roughly half those of the comparable period the prior year.
The decision to exit Chicago follows similar move earlier this year when Safeway announced the sale of its Canadian operations.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced that it has adopted a one-year stockholder rights plan, or a “poison pill,” to discourage an unfriendly takeover.

The company adopted the plan after it became aware that unnamed investors had accumulated “a significant amount” of its stock. The investor turned out to be hedge fund company Jana Partners, which disclosed in a filing that it has accumulated a 6.2% stake in the supermarket retailer.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway and Food Network host Marcela Valladolid have unveiled a Safeway-exclusive Marcela Valladolid brand, which offers an assortment of Mexican food products.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway, Inc. has reached a $600,000 settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in regard to violations of the Clean Air Act. The government alleges that Safeway neglected to repair leaks of heat-trapping gas HCFC-22 from its refrigerators in a timely manner or keep proper records of refrigerator maintenance.

New York -- Drugstore operator Duane Reade in late August passed an important milestone: It surpassed 1 million Twitter followers. The drugstore chain, which is owned by Walgreens, is most-followed retailer on Twitter in the food, drug and mass arena.

Duane Reade has garnered five times more Twitter followers than its parent company Walgreens (180,390 followers), the second-most followed drug store retailer. CVS/pharmacy, No. 3, is followed by 117,931 Twitter followers.

Widening competition for commodity grocery sales is changing grocery-anchored shopping centers.

Supermarket-anchored shopping centers haven't changed much since the invention of suburbia. Find a good location, sign a grocery anchor, get a construction loan and some inline local, regional and maybe national retailers, and you're in business.

Today, however, supermarkets are beginning to change, and supermarket-anchored shopping centers, of course, must follow along.

Why are grocers changing? Competition from all sides.

By Jeff Weidauer, [email protected]

NEW YORK — Soupman Inc., the parent company of The Original SoupMan, is about to see "the soup that made 'Seinfeld' famous" hit shelves at nearly 500 Walmart stores. 

The brand's soups, which are already sold in more than 4,000 supermarkets nationwide, include the classic soups that made the company famous: lobster bisque, chicken noodle, lentil and tomato bisque. 

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway and the Safeway Foundation are holding an annual fundraising campaign together with the Muscular Dystrophy Association to support individuals and families affected by muscle disease.