Safeway Expands Gift Card Displays

DAN ALAIMO

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway will double the amount of display space for prepaid gift cards in more than 1,000 stores beginning today, said Teri Llach, vice president of marketing at Blackhawk Network, a subsidiary of the retailer.

A second 4-by-4-foot endcap will be installed in those stores in time for the holiday selling season, she said, and will remain up indefinitely. They will be on adjacent aisles in the stores.

This also introduces Blackhawk's effort to brand the program as the “Gift Card Mall,” and “gives us the space to expand categories and bring in new offerings, Llach said. Gift cards are one of Safeway's fastest-growing categories, she added.

Other chains serviced by Blackhawk also plan to expand their gift card displays, but Llach would not name them. In a relatively short time, Blackhawk has become the dominant player in supermarket gift card distribution, and is also in other channels.

“Consumers have reacted so well to the Gift Card Mall that they have been asking for more and more card choices. They also love the ease and convenience of shopping all cards on one endcap. Retailers are so excited about this new category that they have been enthusiastic about adding space to the program. So in the end everyone wins — more room for a new category that consumers demand means more space for more cards and categories of cards,” Llach said.