Safeway Lifestyle Plan Stays on Track

PLEASANTON, CA-The Safeway supermarket chain plans to open two dozen more of its new Lifestyle units this year, following the opening of just one of the new formats in the first quarter, company officials said Thursday in discussing the chain’s quarterly financial results. For the first quarter ended March 24, the company reported higher income and sales, crediting the Lifestyle format with an important role in boosting sales.

Safeway chairman, president and CEO Steve Burd, commenting in a conference call with financial analysts, noted that some skeptics wondered if the Lifestyle stores would be able to hold their sales gains in their second and third years of operations. The Lifestyle format has not only held its gains, it has built on them, Burd said, crediting the new format with helping to increase sales at the chain as part of the chain’s overall “re-energizing strategy.”