{{Short description|Supermarket chain}} {{Redirect|Red S|the sports syndrome|RED-S}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Use Australian English|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox company | name = Australian Safeway Pty Ltd | logo = Safeway.svg | image = Safeway at Bayside Shopping Centre.JPG | image_caption = Safeway and Safeway Liquor stores at Bayside Shopping Centre | type = Subsidiary | industry = Retail | founded = {{Start date and years ago|1963|df=yes}}<ref name="woolworths-story">{{cite web |url=https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/The_Woolworths_Story/How_We_Were_Founded/ |title=Our History: The Woolworths Story |website=Woolworths Group |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref> | defunct = {{Start date and years ago|2017|df=yes}}<ref>{{cite news |publisher=SmartCompany |date=6 June 2017 |accessdate=16 June 2019 |title=Last Safeway shuts up shop... GDP growth at 0.3%... Kogan has plans for NBN market |url=https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/breaking-gdp-growth-at-0-3-kogan-has-plans-for-nbn-market-last-safeway-shuts-up-shop/ |first=Dominic |last=Powell}}</ref> | fate = Rebrand to Woolworths announced {{Start date and years ago|2008|df=yes}}<ref name="vic-announcement">{{cite web |publisher=Woolworths Limited |title=Farewell to Safeway. Welcome to Woolworths. |date=22 August 2008 |access-date=23 August 2008 |url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/resources/safeway+supermarkets+rebranding+to+woolworths.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920150716/http://www.woolworths.com.au/resources/safeway+supermarkets+rebranding+to+woolworths.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 September 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Safeway-discontinued">{{cite news |newspaper=The Age |date=21 August 2008 |access-date=21 August 2008 |title=Woolies shelves Safeway brand |url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/woolies-shelves-safeway-brand-20080820-3ywj.html |first=Ari |last=Sharp}}</ref> | hq_location_city = Mulgrave, Victoria | parent = Woolworths Limited | hq_location_country = Australia | num_locations = 187 stores<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Woolworths Group |date=22 September 2008 |accessdate=16 June 2019 |title=Woolworths Limited Annual Report 2008 |url=https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/icms_docs/183555_Annual_Report_2008.pdf}}</ref> | num_locations_year = 2008 }} '''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.<ref name="woolworths-story"/> On 22 August 2008, Woolworths Limited announced it would discontinue the Safeway name, and former Safeway stores were rebranded to Woolworths or closed.<ref name="vic-announcement"/><ref name="Safeway-discontinued"/> The final Safeway store to be rebranded was Wodonga, occurring on 6 June 2017.<ref name="Wodonga-store-rebranded">{{cite news |url=http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/4713811/jobs-created-as-woolworths-opens-photos-video/ |title=Wodonga Place Woolworths opens its doors |last=Boyd |first=Sophie |newspaper=The Border Mail |date=7 June 2017 |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 February 2018}}</ref>
==History==
===Early years=== The American company Safeway Inc. entered the Australian grocery market in 1962 with the purchase of three Pratt's Supermart stores in Victoria.<ref name="smh-rebrand">{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/woolworths-expands-its-brand-20080822-40ek.html |title=Woolworths expands its brand |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |last=Sharp |first=Ari |date=23 August 2008 |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref> J.R.W. "Bill" Pratt purchased his father's supermarket in Frankston in 1946, and he also owned stores in Mornington (acquired from John Fyffe's estate in 1946), and Chelsea (opened in 1953).<ref name="hansard">{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=Victoria |house=Legislative Assembly |date=8 February 2011 |volume=2 |speaker=Shaw, Geoffrey Page |position=Member for Frankston |page=103 |title=Governor's Speech |url=https://hansard.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/daily-hansard/Assembly_2011/Assembly_Daily_Extract_8_February_2011_from_Book_2.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mpnews.com.au/2016/08/29/tennis-history-traces-125-years-of-on-court-love/ |title=Tennis history traces 125 years of on-court 'love' |newspaper=Mornington Peninsula News |date=29 August 2016 |last=Hast |first=Mike |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.morningtoncemetery.com/Denominations/Presbyterian/Fyffe/Fyffe-John.shtml |title=John Fyffe |website=Mornington & District Historical Society Inc. |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Check out the future |newspaper=Mordialloc-Chelsea Leader |date=18 November 2009 |last=Hostking |first=Wes |publisher=News Corp Australia |page=3}}</ref> He became a pioneer of retail strategies and self-service in supermarkets.<ref>{{cite book |title=My Safeway Story: Making it Happen |last=Pratt |first=Bill |year=2006 |publisher=Brolga Publishing |isbn=9781920785840}}</ref> thumb|267x267px|Australia's first Safeway, Forest Hill (1964) 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. The stores continued to operate as Pratt's Supermart for two years until a copyright dispute was resolved.<ref name="smh-rebrand" />
Australia's first Safeway-branded store was at the Forest Hills Shopping Centre in Melbourne's outer east.<ref name=":92">{{Cite news |date=8 July 1964 |title=Forest Hill Opening "Fantastic" |url=https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/61SLV_INST/1sev8ar/alma9910250903607636 |work=City of Nunawading Gazette |pages=23}}</ref><ref name=":142">{{Cite news |date=1 July 1964 |title=Opening of Forest Hills |work=The Age |pages=6}}</ref> Opened by Graham Kennedy on 30 June 1964, it was the country's largest all-food supermarket.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 June 1964 |title=TV star at new centre's opening |work=Eastern Times |pages=10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=24 June 1964 |title=Forest Hill Drive-in Shopping Centre grand opening 11am, June 30 by Cr. O. Goldsborough, Mayor of Nunawading |url=https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/61SLV_INST/1sev8ar/alma9910250903607636 |work=Nunawading Gazette |pages=10}}</ref> The second supermarket opened to similar fanfare at Croydon's Arndale Shopping Centre on 9 November 1964. Unlike Forest Hills, the Croydon supermarket was built with Safeway's iconic "Marina style" curved roof.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 1964 |title=New-type shopping centre for Victoria |work=Property |pages=4}}</ref> thumb|342x342px|Supermarket staff (1965) Pratt continued to work at his stores, and in 1967 became the head of the Australian division of Safeway Inc.<ref name="hansard" />
===Expansion=== 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106955620 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |title=Auditors refuse to approve accounts |date=5 January 1967 |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref> 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.<ref name="timeline-victoria">{{cite web |url=https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/safeway-supermarkets/ |website=Australian Food History Timeline |title=1963 Safeway supermarkets arrive in Victoria |access-date=21 November 2019 |last=O'Connell |first=Jan|date=20 September 1960 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="timeline-victoria" /> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Woolworths' Mulgrave distribution centre sold for $91m |url=https://www.realcommercial.com.au/news/woolworths-mulgrave-distribution-centre-sold-for-91m |date=8 November 2017 |access-date=21 November 2019 |last=Wilmot |first=Ben |newspaper=realcommercial.com.au |publisher=REA Group}}</ref> ===Acquisition by Woolworths=== 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.<ref name="timeline-acquisition">{{cite web |url=https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/woolworths-buys-safeway/ |title=1985 Woolworths buys Safeway |website=Australian Food History Timeline |access-date=21 November 2019 |last=O'Connell |first=Jan|date=24 September 1980 }}</ref><ref name="report-1985">{{cite web |title=1985 Annual Report |author=Safeway Stores, Inc. |url=https://archive.org/stream/safewaystoresannualreports/safeway1985 }}</ref> The purchase included 126 stores in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=How Woolworths Started & Grew |url=http://www.perishablepundit.com/docs/woolworthshistory.pdf |date=2 November 2007 |access-date=21 November 2019 |last=Prevor |first=Jim |website=Perishable Pundit |page=31 |archive-date=30 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330075838/http://www.perishablepundit.com/docs/woolworthshistory.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="report-1985" /> thumb|264x264px|Iconic "Marina style" roof, Boronia (1967) The annual profit of Woolworths Limited rose from $8 million to $136 million in two years as they served 10 million customers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/AboutUs/OurStory/ |title=Our Story |website=Woolworths Supermarkets |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913012011/http://www.woolworths.com.au/AboutUs/OurStory/ |archive-date=13 September 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref> Following the purchase by Woolworths, the Safeway stores in New South Wales and Queensland were renamed as Woolworths Supermarkets.<ref name="vic-announcement" /> 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).<ref name="woolworths-story" />
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.<ref name="timeline-acquisition" /><ref name="history" /> In 1987, Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets launched "The Fresh Food People" campaign, adopting a uniform slogan and marketing strategy for both brands.<ref name="woolworths-story" />
===Rebranding of Safeway to Woolworths=== [[File:Woolworths - Chadstone Shopping Centre.jpg|thumb|Melbourne's first newly branded Woolworths supermarket and Woolworths Liquor in Chadstone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.realestatesource.com.au/Victoria/Gandel-and-Colonial-Open-$140-Million-Wing-of-Chadstone-Shopping-Centre.html |title=Gandel and Colonial Open $140 Million Wing of Chadstone Shopping Centre |access-date=5 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125121316/http://www.realestatesource.com.au/Victoria/Gandel-and-Colonial-Open-%24140-Million-Wing-of-Chadstone-Shopping-Centre.html |archive-date=25 January 2009}}</ref>|263x263px]]thumb|Safeway branding at Pacific Epping |265x265pxOn 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.<ref name="vic-announcement" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Woolworths Limited |title=Woolworths supermarkets to launch fresh new look after 21 years |date=22 August 2008 |access-date=23 August 2008 |url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/resources/woolworths+launches+new+look+after+21+years.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920150725/http://www.woolworths.com.au/resources/woolworths+launches+new+look+after+21+years.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 September 2008 }}</ref>
Woolworths indicated that Safeway supermarkets at Camberwell and Preston would be among the first to be re-branded.<ref name="vic-announcement" /> However, a newly constructed supermarket at Chadstone Shopping Centre became the first location of the rebranded Woolworths to open in the state.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Colonial First State Property Management Pty Ltd |accessdate=28 October 2008 |url=http://cms.cfspm.com.au/Assets/Files/Chad_OpeningOffers.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224083213/http://cms.cfspm.com.au/Assets/Files/Chad_OpeningOffers.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2012 |url-status=dead |title=Opening Offers |date=15 October 2008 }}</ref>
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 Dingley Village,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Google Earth|title=Centre Dandenong Rd, Dingley Villlage |date=April 2015 |access-date=18 February 2025 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.9835741,145.1326538,3a,75y,60.62h,92.21t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1ssF-2UAPinl5_BTrWCXtiQA!2e0!5s20150401T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-2.209018853549935%26panoid%3DsF-2UAPinl5_BTrWCXtiQA%26yaw%3D60.62171333628772!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIxMi4wIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDU1SAFQAw%3D%3D}}</ref> Monbulk,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Google Earth|title=Main Rd, Monbulk |date=August 2014 |access-date=24 February 2022|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8756133,145.408454,3a,75y,27.6h,83.12t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOAhIDJSjVnKN5XyFcY9bdg!2e0!5s20140801T000000!7i13312!8i6656}}</ref> Carnegie,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Google Earth|title=Kokaribb Rd, Carnegie |date=June 2013 |access-date=24 June 2020 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8876129,145.0560738,3a,75y,30.51h,79.78t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7PjNLXjhfdGe4kO66Vt4vw!2e0!5s20130601T000000!7i13312!8i6656}}</ref> Balaclava,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Google Earth|title=Carlisle St, Balaclava |date=June 2013 |access-date=28 August 2021 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/220+Carlisle+St,+Balaclava+VIC+3183/@-37.868485,144.9911089,3a,75y,18.85h,95.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCErlwRnITUNWeBrj_326wQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x6ad66844d9dcc8b1:0x2381f369c001ea27!8m2!3d-37.868177!4d144.9912179}} </ref> North Blackburn,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Google Earth|title=Williams Road, Blackburn North |date=September 2014 |access-date=24 June 2020 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8114826,145.1515305,3a,75y,170.66h,88.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4oKxBvJmu_3518q227smHw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656}}</ref> and Dandenong Plaza.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Google Earth|title=McCrae St, Dandenong |date=August 2015 |access-date=24 June 2020 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.9880315,145.2176049,3a,75y,67.08h,108.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0J9qXzUpcb8p6P0Q_Y9BEA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656}}</ref> On 6 June 2017, the final Safeway supermarket in Wodonga was rebranded as Woolworths, ending the Safeway brand after 54 years in Australia.<ref name="Wodonga-store-rebranded"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Safeway (Australia)}}
{{Supermarkets in Australia}} {{Woolworths}} {{Albertsons Companies}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct supermarkets of Australia Category:Safeway Inc. Category:Woolworths Group (Australia) Category:Companies based in Melbourne Category:Retail companies established in 1963 Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2008 Category:2008 disestablishments in Australia Category:Australian grocers Category:Australian companies established in 1963