Safeway's Portland President Adds Seattle Division

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway here said Tuesday that Steve Frisby, president of its Portland, Ore., division, will assume added responsibility for the chain's Seattle division, succeeding Greg Sparks, who is leaving the company.

Safeway declined to indicate if this represents a permanent combination of its two Pacific Northwest divisions.

The Portland division, which Frisby has headed since 2008, has 116 stores; the Seattle division, encompassing locations in Washington and Alaska, has 203 stores.

Frisby joined Safeway in 1972 and, after approximately 20 years at the store level, worked at the corporate office in the early 1990s on a special assignment in retail operations; he was subsequently named vice president, retail operations, in the chain's Northern California division and later the Portland division before being named president of Safeway's Texas division in 2002 and of the Portland division in 2008.