SAFEWAY TO LEASE DISTRIBUTION CENTER TO C&S

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway here said last week it has agreed to lease its Maryland distribution center to C&S Wholesale Grocers, Brattleboro, Vt., which will subsequently supply Safeway's 123 Eastern division stores.

eeks, Safeway officials told SN.

"This arrangement will allow C&S to focus on its business, which is distribution and logistics, and allow us to focus on retail," a Safeway spokesman said.

He said the Maryland facility has been underutilized, "and C&S will be able to utilize it more fully because it can serve other customers."

However, he declined to pinpoint how much of the warehouse capacity Safeway is using to supply its Eastern stores in Baltimore, Md.; Washington, and northern Virginia.

Safeway uses a third party -- Tibbett & Britten Group North America, Toronto -- to run its distribution centers in Tracy, Calif., and Vancouver, British Columbia. Safeway owns the Tracy facility and leases it to T&B, as it will do in Maryland with C&S, while in Vancouver, T&B owns the warehouse.

C&S officials could not be reached for comment last week.

C&S operates 12 distribution centers in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Maryland; its major customers include Pathmark Stores, Grand Union, A&P, Big Y, BJ's warehouse clubs and all East Coast Wal-Mart supercenters.