Month: August 2017

Update on B.C. Quarterly Review Process

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

Safeway’s on your side

As the backbone of our operations in British Columbia we wanted to update you on the status of our quarterly review process.

We believe the UFCW locals have a right to their views. But here is how we see it, as people dedicated to the future of this company.

To ensure a strong, viable company that can continue to provide thousands of stable jobs, we need to be competitive. That means we need to be the place our customers want to shop at, at a level of cost that allows us to operate.

And that’s why we’re looking at all our costs, at every level and in every detail of the company.

Wisely, our collective agreement provides for exactly this kind of review, when it is needed to keep this company operating. Delay will just make change more difficult and costly for everyone. We must tackle our challenges and we must do it now.

Here is what is happening:

Safeway is a proud Western Canadian brand, and we are proud of our employees

  • Sobeys has operated for more than 110 years in the grocery business with many of our stores in western Canada including British Columbia
  • We are in our stores every day, we know our markets and our customers and we continue to listen, learn and act

Yes, we have made some mistakes but we are taking action, including:

  • Investments in lower prices to better compete;
  • Work to update our product offerings to better reflect customer needs;
  • Updates to our Planograms and have better communication about stock to stores;
  • Continue to invest in remodels and renovations to attract more customers

Our operating and specifically our labour costs are a serious issue, and they’re putting stores at risk.

  • Safeway is not immune to the economic realities we are all facing in the West
  • We are facing tough competition especially from discounters and big-box stores that are driven by price and low costs
  • We are taking actions to lower costs across our operations, including reducing our back office costs by over $500 million, but we must tackle our labour costs in our stores and we must do it now

We have to act quickly and work together to build a strong Safeway if we are to continue to provide good, sustainable jobs in the future.

  • We all want to return Safeway to its place as one of the best grocery stores in Western Canada and we are all working hard to make this happen
  • We ask you to urge the union to work with us to tackle these challenges
  • Only by working together can we build a strong future for everyone who works here

SPEAK UP. MAKE SAFEWAY STRONG AND STABLE

There aren’t enough employees in-store to adequately serve our customers. Customers are noticing we’re short staffed. Are there any changes that can be made or plans to ensure we have enough staff in store so our customers get superior service?

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

Staffing stores to serve our customers is one of the most important jobs we have. We know our employees are critical to ensuring customers leave our stores satisfied and stay loyal to the Safeway brand. To make sure we get that right balance we work with our Department Managers, Store Managers and Directors of Operations. In addition, we also rely on technology.

We use a sophisticated tool called “Workforce Management” (WFM) to connect the right number of employees to the tasks that require their skills at the right time to meet our customers’ needs.

It is our goal to balance the right level of staff to provide the customer service we expect while managing our labour costs. Even though we have the tools to help us manage our workforce, the reality is that scheduling is tied to the financials of our stores. We face a competitive market – with constant pressures on costs. And our labour costs are still too high for industry standards. We must address our labour costs and sales performance to improve our viability. We have to be the best place to shop, again.

If we do not address these challenges, we will not be able to make our stores profitable.

How is Safeway competing in the area of online shopping and home delivery?

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

The grocery and shopping landscape is changing quickly and we are working to ensure we keep up with the demands of our customers.

We currently offer online shopping services at some of our stores and banners, and we are looking to expand to other banners. It is our priority to get Safeway back to being one of the top grocers in Western Canada. To do this, we will have to continue to look at where the industry is going and what our customers want. While online shopping in the grocery industry is getting some attention, it is interesting to note that with the acquisition of Whole Foods, even Amazon understands that they need bricks and mortar to sell groceries.

We have no timelines at this point, but are looking forward to how we can make online shopping a more expansive part of our business at Safeway to better serve our customers.

We often have products in our flyers that are not on the shelves. This continues to be a problem in our stores and we are regularly apologizing to our customers for our out-of-stock items. What are we doing to fix this issue?

Posted on by Sudhanshu Rewari

We understand that having out-of-stocks is extremely frustrating for you, especially when such products are advertised.

In Grocery, the more significant issues that we face are:

  • Forecasting: Following the acquisition, we had to integrate our systems resulting in changes to tools and processes.  People needed to be retrained.  Our RSCs were consolidated which led to logistical issues.  All of this led to shortages on our shelves.  We continue to work hard to improve the collaboration between our Buyers, our Category Managers and our Vendors.
  • Delisted items: In some cases, stores are ordering delisted or seasonal items that are no longer available.  We are working very hard to update our POGs (Planograms ) and getting better at communicating our delists to the stores.
  • Vendor shortages: We are experiencing a number of problems with vendor shortages that are higher than usual.
  • Frozen Food was a major issue a couple of months ago when we consolidated several of our frozen RSCs. Our service levels are recovering although we are still not where we need to be.

In the case of Fresh:

  • Our produce service levels have been challenged by the growing conditions in California, which have been worse this year than in previous years.
  • The supply of beef has been very tight so, if the stores sell more than forecasted, we run into problems getting replacement stock. Even if we find product, our standard of 21 days of aging means that we likely can’t ship it even if we have it.

In warehousing, we have made a significant investment in leading-age technology at our Rocky View warehouse. This warehouse is one of the most sophisticated and smart warehouses in the country and will position us well in the future.

So, while it is true that we are still experiencing problems with out-of-stocks, we are happy to hear that the stores are reporting progress every week. As time goes on and our people become more familiar with their new systems, tools and processes, we will continue to see improvements in our stock levels in our stores.  This is a priority for us and it will continue to receive the highest level of attention and focus it deserves.