BERKELEY, Calif. -- A memorial service was pending here last week for Robert Lyness, a former executive at Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif., who died Oct. 2 at the age of 81. Lyness spent 33 years at Safeway working in store planning and construction. He retired in 1984 as senior vice president, retail engineering, and spent part of his retirement teaching classes in supermarket construction at JFK School of Business in Walnut Creek, Calif., and St. Mary's College, Moraga, Calif. -- "teaching store managers how stores are put together, why they're laid out the way they are and how to design stores to keep maintenance dollars down," Pete Marotta Jr., director of refrigeration and maintenance for Grocery Outlet here and a friend of Lyness, told SN. Marotta called Lyness "a giant in supermarket construction planning. He oversaw Safeway's huge expansion after World War II, and Safeway would not be what it is today without Bob." Lyness is survived by his wife Eleanor and five daughters.
