SAFEWAY SET TO BEGIN WORK ON MARYLAND SUPPLY DEPOT

LINDA PURPURA

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway here will start construction of a new 686,000-square-foot distribution center complex in Bowie, Md., this month, with separate buildings for perishables and dry grocery.

With the addition of a truck-repair garage, administration building and salvage warehouse, the facility will total more than 700,000 square feet. This new facility replaces a 1950s-era complex in Landover, Md., where perishables and dry grocery were housed in one building.

Craig Muckle, manager of public affairs at Safeway, said the new dry grocery facility will be 389,000 square feet, smaller than the previous facility. However, the facility will have a higher ceiling and therefore be capable of handling more pallets. The new building's ceiling will be approximately 30 feet, compared with a 19-foot ceiling in the existing building.

The new perishables facility will total 297,000 square feet, with several rooms of varying temperatures for storing different types of products, he added.

The facility will have rooms for ripening bananas, wet/dry flower storage at two different temperatures as well as meat and dairy storage, said Muckle.

Construction is set to begin once the final building permit is secured. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new complex is scheduled for later this month.

Safeway has distribution facilities in Bowie, Md.; Tracey, Calif.; Denver; Seattle; Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; and Phoenix.