Safeway (Australia)

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Safeway Supermarkets
Type	Subsidiary
Founded	1963
Headquarters	Sydney,  Australia
Key people	Michael Luscombe, CEO
Industry	Retail
Parent	Woolworths Limited
Website	www.woolworths.com.au

Safeway is the trading name used by Woolworths Limited for its supermarkets in Victoria, Australia. Elsewhere in Australia the trading name is simply Woolworths supermarkets.

[edit] Beginnings

US company Safeway Inc. entered the Australian grocery market in 1963 with the purchase of three Pratt supermarkets. Bill Pratt had taken over Pratt's Store in Frankston, Victoria in 1946 and was a pioneer of self-service and supermarkets in the 1950s. Pratt caught the eye of Safeway Inc. Bill Pratt took the helm of Australian Safeway in 1967.^[1]

The subsidiary Safeway Australia was created, and by 1985 the chain had grown to 126 supermarkets trading under the Safeway banner across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Safeway's stores in New South Wales were branded "Red S" because Safeway contravened a registered trademark of another supermarket called Saveway. The distribution centre located in Wellington Road, Mulgrave, Victoria formerly housed Safeway's head office.

[edit] Acquisition by Woolworths

In 1985 Australia's second largest supermarket operator Woolworths Limited successfully acquired Safeway Inc. Australian interests. In the agreement Woolworths Limited acquired all Safeway stores and the naming rights in exchange for a 19.99% interest in Woolworths Limited (which has since been sold). This transaction pushed the group’s grocery market share above Coles^{[citation needed]}, giving Woolworths Limited the title of Australia’s largest supermarket operator (which it still holds to this day).

Safeway stores in New South Wales and Queensland were re-branded as Woolworths Supermarkets. However Safeway stores in Victoria retained their name, and all Victorian Woolworths stores were transferred to the Safeway banner. Mr. J.W.R. Pratt, Chairman and Managing Director of Australian Safeway Stores and Mr. P.A. Magowan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Safeway Stores Inc (USA) were also appointed to the Woolworths Board.

In 1987 Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets launched “The Fresh Food People” campaign, adopting a uniform company logo and marketing strategy, which are still in use today 20 years later.

[edit] Safeway today

Safeway remains as the brand name used by Woolworths Supermarkets in Victoria. In 2007, aside from two Woolworths supermarkets trading in Mildura, all supermarkets in Victoria trade under the Safeway banner. During the 1980s and 1990s the Mildura stores moved from Woolworths to Safeway and back again, while the Karingal Woolworths store remained so until the late 1990s. The brand has also followed Woolworths Supermarkets' progression into liquor trading as Safeway Liquor, and into petrol trading as Caltex Safeway. At the end of 2005 there were 181 Safeway-branded supermarkets in Victoria.

In the early 2000s, the company's supermarket interests in the smaller state of Tasmania, which traded under Purity and Roelf Vos, were progressively re-branded as Woolworths Supermarkets (Tasmania and Victoria were the only states where the Woolworths name was substituted over the entire market). The transition was closely watched by the company and the market, and was used as a comparison to the possible effects of a name change in Victoria.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

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