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Safeway (Australia)

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This article is about the former Australian supermarket chain. For other retail establishments of the same name, see Safeway (disambiguation).
"Red S" redirects here. For the sports syndrome, see RED-S.

Australian Safeway Pty Ltd (trading as Safeway Supermarkets) was a chain of supermarkets in Australia from 1963 to 2017. The supermarkets were initially part of Safeway Inc. but were absorbed by Woolworths Limited (now Woolworths Group) in 1985.[1] On 22 August 2008, Woolworths Limited announced it would discontinue the Safeway name, and former Safeway stores were rebranded to Woolworths or closed.[2][3] The final Safeway store to be rebranded was Wodonga, occurring on 6 June 2017.[6]

Australian Safeway Pty Ltd
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1963; 61 years ago (1963)[1]
DefunctAnnounced 22 August 2008; 16 years ago (2008-08-22)[2][3]
Rebrand completed 6 June 2017; 7 years ago (2017-06-06)[4]
Headquarters
Mulgrave, Victoria
,
Australia
Number of locations
187 (September 2008)[5]
ParentWoolworths Limited
Safeway and Safeway Liquor branding in use before being converted to Woolworths and BWS in May 2017 at Pacific Epping Shopping Centre in Epping, Victoria

History

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Early years

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The American company Safeway Inc. entered the Australian grocery market in 1962 with the purchase of three Pratt's Supermart stores in Victoria.[7] J.R.W. "Bill" Pratt purchased his father's supermarket in Frankston in 1946,[8][9] and he also owned stores in Mornington (acquired from John Fyffe's estate in 1946),[10] and Chelsea (opened in 1953).[11] He became a pioneer of retail strategies and self-service in supermarkets.[12]

Representatives of Safeway Inc. became interested in Pratt's growing business whilst on a trip in Australia, and in 1963 Pratt's three stores were purchased by Safeway Inc.[7] The stores continued to operate as Pratt's Supermart for two years until a copyright dispute was resolved. The first Safeway-branded store appeared in Forest Hill, Victoria in 1964. Pratt continued to work at his stores, and in 1967 became the head of the Australian division of Safeway Inc.[8]

Expansion

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Australian Safeway Pty Ltd, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway Inc., reported losses in its first three years due to expansion and purchase of property.[13] The chain expanded to New South Wales in 1971, where the shops were called "Red S" due to a trademark conflict with Saveway which was owned by Woolworths.[14] The first New South Wales store was at Cabramatta, followed by Merrylands and Liverpool.

By 1979, there were 12 Safeway stores in New South Wales and 52 in Victoria.[14]

Safeway further expanded into Queensland in 1981 and acquired supermarket chain Jack the Slasher (subsequently called Food For Less).

By 1985 the chain had grown to 126 supermarkets trading under the Safeway banner across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The head office was formerly located adjacent to the distribution centre on Wellington Road, Mulgrave, Victoria.[15]

Acquisition by Woolworths

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In 1985 Woolworths Limited successfully acquired the Australian subsidiary of Safeway, Inc. In the agreement, Woolworths Limited acquired all of the Safeway stores and the naming rights in exchange for a 19.99% equity interest in Woolworths Limited.[16][17] The purchase included 126 stores in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.[18] Bill Pratt, the chairman and managing director of Australian Safeway Pty Ltd, and Peter Magowan, the chairman and chief executive officer of Safeway Inc., were also appointed to the Woolworths board of directors.[17] The annual profit of Woolworths Limited rose from $8 million to $136 million in two years as they served 10 million customers.[19]

Following the purchase by Woolworths, the Safeway stores in New South Wales and Queensland were renamed as Woolworths Supermarkets.[2] However, the Safeway stores in Victoria retained their name, and Woolworths stores in Victoria were transferred to the Safeway banner (with the exception of the Victorian stores of Mildura, Belgrave and Karingal).[1] The store in the border town of Albury, New South Wales also remained as Safeway. During the 1980s and 1990s the Mildura stores moved from Woolworths to Safeway and back again, and the Karingal Woolworths store became Safeway in the late 1990s. In Victoria, the Safeway brand also followed Woolworths Supermarkets' progression into liquor trading as Safeway Liquor, and into petrol trading as Caltex Safeway.

In December 1986, Safeway Inc. sold its share of 19.99%, and the naming rights of Safeway in Australia, to Rainbow Corporation of New Zealand.[16][18]

In 1987, Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets launched "The Fresh Food People" campaign, adopting a uniform slogan and marketing strategy for both brands.[1]

Rebranding of Safeway to Woolworths

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Melbourne's first newly branded Woolworths supermarket and Woolworths Liquor in Chadstone.[20]

On 22 August 2008, Woolworths Limited announced it would rename all Safeway supermarkets in Victoria to Woolworths to unite all of its supermarkets under a common brand.[2] The rebrand included a new logo and design for stores in all states, created by Hans Hulsbosch. The previous logo, which had been in use for 21 years, was replaced with a green apple peel emblem representing the "W" in Woolworths with the addition of a stylised leaf to suggest fresh produce. The company's slogan, "The Fresh Food People", which is known throughout Australia, was maintained as a part of the new branding.[21]

Woolworths indicated that Safeway supermarkets at Camberwell and Preston would be among the first to be re-branded.[2] However, a newly constructed supermarket at Chadstone Shopping Centre became the first location of the rebranded Woolworths Supermarkets to open in the state.[22]

The entire rebranding process of all 187 stores had an expected completion date of five years, but several stores were still operating as Safeway well past 2013 which included Monbulk,[23] Carnegie,[24] Balaclava,[25] North Blackburn,[26] and Dandenong Plaza.[27] On 6 June 2017, the final Safeway supermarket in Wodonga was rebranded as Woolworths, ending the Safeway brand after 54 years in Australia.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Our History: The Woolworths Story". Woolworths Group. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Farewell to Safeway. Welcome to Woolworths" (PDF). Woolworths Limited. 22 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b Sharp, Ari (21 August 2008). "Woolies shelves Safeway brand". The Age. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  4. ^ Powell, Dominic (6 June 2017). "Last Safeway shuts up shop... GDP growth at 0.3%... Kogan has plans for NBN market". SmartCompany. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Woolworths Limited Annual Report 2008" (PDF). Woolworths Group. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  6. ^ a b Boyd, Sophie (7 June 2017). "Wodonga Place Woolworths opens its doors". The Border Mail. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  7. ^ a b Sharp, Ari (23 August 2008). "Woolworths expands its brand". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  8. ^ a b Shaw, Geoffrey Page, Member for Frankston (8 February 2011). "Governor's Speech" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 2. Victoria: Legislative Assembly. p. 103.
  9. ^ Hast, Mike (29 August 2016). "Tennis history traces 125 years of on-court 'love'". Mornington Peninsula News. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  10. ^ "John Fyffe". Mornington & District Historical Society Inc. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  11. ^ Hostking, Wes (18 November 2009). "Check out the future". Mordialloc-Chelsea Leader. News Corp Australia. p. 3.
  12. ^ Pratt, Bill (2006). My Safeway Story: Making it Happen. Brolga Publishing. ISBN 9781920785840.
  13. ^ "Auditors refuse to approve accounts". The Canberra Times. 5 January 1967. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  14. ^ a b O'Connell, Jan (20 September 1960). "1963 Safeway supermarkets arrive in Victoria". Australian Food History Timeline. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  15. ^ Wilmot, Ben (8 November 2017). "Woolworths' Mulgrave distribution centre sold for $91m". realcommercial.com.au. REA Group. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  16. ^ a b O'Connell, Jan (24 September 1980). "1985 Woolworths buys Safeway". Australian Food History Timeline. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  17. ^ a b Safeway Stores, Inc. "1985 Annual Report".
  18. ^ a b Prevor, Jim (2 November 2007). "How Woolworths Started & Grew" (PDF). Perishable Pundit. p. 31. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Our Story". Woolworths Supermarkets. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Gandel and Colonial Open $140 Million Wing of Chadstone Shopping Centre". Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  21. ^ "Woolworths supermarkets to launch fresh new look after 21 years" (PDF). Woolworths Limited. 22 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  22. ^ "Opening Offers" (PDF). Colonial First State Property Management Pty Ltd. 15 October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  23. ^ "Main Rd, Monbulk". Google Earth. August 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Kokaribb Rd, Carnegie". Google Earth. June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Carlisle St, Balaclava". Google Earth. June 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Williams Road, Blackburn North". Google Earth. September 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  27. ^ "McCrae St, Dandenong". Google Earth. August 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
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