Safeway PLC History



Address:
6 Millington Road
Hayes
Middlesex UB3 4AY
United Kingdom

Telephone: 44 20 8848 8744
Fax: 44 20 8573 1865

Public Company
Incorporated: 1977 (as James Gulliver Associates)
Employees: 92,000 (2001 est.)
Sales: £9.4 billion (US$14.4 billion) (2001)
Stock Exchanges: London
Ticker Symbol: SFW
NAIC: 445110 Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores

Company Perspectives:

We believe that building sustainable advantage over our competitors can only be done through Safeway people. We are creating a business culture in which our people are passionate about our products, our stores and everything we do; have an unbreakable will to compete, and; have the skills, knowledge and resources to do their best, every day.

Key Dates:

1977:
Argyll Group PLC established.
1987:
Purchased 133 U.K. Safeway stores from Safeway Stores, Inc. in the UnitedStates.
1988:
Safeway launches aggressive growth program, converting Presto stores to Safeways.
1992:
Safeway celebrates 30 years in the United Kingdom.
1993:
Company split into Safeway, and Lo-Cost and Presto divisions.
1996:
Symbol Personal Shopping System with hand-held scanners appears in superstores.
1997:
Near merger with Asda.
1999:
Carlos Criado-Perez comes to Safeway from Wal-Mart.
2000:
Safeway web site launched.
2001:
Online shopping Internet ventures ended.

Company History:

Further Reading:

  • "1999 and All That," Super Marketing, December 17, 1999, p. 15.
  • Andrew, Don, "Jousting for The Crown," Super Marketing, September 25, 1992.
  • "Argyll Expands on Record Profits," Super Marketing, May 29, 1992, p. 8.
  • "Argyll Splits Retail Operations," Super Marketing, March 12, 1993, p. 12.
  • "Is Safeway Falling Too Far Behind?," Marketing, May 23, 2002, p. 17.
  • Lewis, Fiona, "Safeway Follows the Leader," Management Today, March 1997, p. 38.
  • "Safeway Speeds Up Expansion," Super Marketing, May 24, 1991, p. 10.
  • "Streamlined Safeway," Super Marketing, May 26, 1995, p. 5.
  • "Surfing USA; Tesco and Safeway Online: Tesco and Safeway Team Up Online," The Economist, June 30, 2001, p. 5.
  • "Tesco Won't Top Us, Insists Safeway," The Grocer, September 2, 1995, p. 69.
  • Wedbale, Jonathan, "Safeway's Online Plans Falter as Poster's Buys Wine Partner," New Media Age, August 23, 2001, p. 2.
  • Weiss, Todd R., "Safeway Turns to British Counterpart for Online Help," Computerworld, July 16, 2001, p. 39.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 50. St. James Press, 2003.

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