Safeway moves head merchant into ops role

Safeway president of merchandising, Kelly Griffith, was named to a new operational position, filling a void created by the retirement of EVP of retail operations Bruce Everette.

Everette spent 44 years with Safeway and began his career with the company in 1968 as a clerk at a store in Virginia. In choosing Griffith as his successor, Safeway opted for another seasoned executive. Griffith brings 33 years of experience to the operations role and after working through a working his way through a range of retail store management assignments he was assigned to corporate retail operations in 1999. He was named vp of operations for the Seattle region the following year. He later returned to the corporate office as SVP of produce and floral and was named president of Safeway’s Portland division in 2005. He became president of perishables in 2008 and was named president of merchandising in 2010.

"Over the years Kelly has assumed increasing responsibility at both division and corporate levels," said Safeway president Robert Edwards. "He is a well-rounded executive with a deep background in marketing and retail, and he is ready to lead our retail operations to further success. I am extremely pleased to have an executive with Kelly's experience ready to step up to fill this important role."

Commenting on Everette’s retirement, Safeway chairman and CEO Steve Burd said, "we are deeply grateful to Bruce for his significant and lasting contribution to our company's success. He is the consummate operating executive whose results and people-oriented approach to the business leave an unmistakable imprint on who we are as a company."

Safeway ended 2012 with 1,641 stores in the United States and western Canada and annual sales of $44.2 billion.