Safeway Plans EDLP Rollout Campaign

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway here said it plans to roll out a rebranding campaign division-by-division to focus on its new everyday-low-pricing program. The campaign was launched earlier this month in the chain's 253-unit northern California division, which encompasses western Nevada.

During a conference call with analysts late last week Steve Burd, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the rollout will proceed geographically, though he declined to say where it would land next, nor even to acknowledge it had already begun.

Concerning pricing, Burd said Safeway is “exactly where we want to be” in half its divisions — “equal to or lower than the pacesetter in each market and lower than everyone else in those markets.” He also said the chain is “very close” to that positioning in three other markets, "though we have a little more work to do in the balance.”

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