Month: November 2019

Nearly two decades ago, Callingwood Safeway Store Manager, Chris Wilkes, was asked by an employee if he would be willing to volunteer at a local high school to read stories to students with disabilities. He eagerly accepted the opportunity, unknowing that it would lead to an 18-year partnership with the school that still continues today.

Every year on Customer Appreciation Day, up to 30 students from L.Y. Cairns School, along with a teacher and two school aides, visit Chris’ Safeway store in Edmonton. For a few hours, the students support with jobs such as bagging groceries, facing shelves, returning shopping baskets, and other tasks around the store.

While at the store, Safeway teammates and the students’ teachers provide positive encouragement and direction. The various in-store tasks, along with the interaction with fellow employees and customers, have helped nurture the students’ self-confidence and social communication skills. 

“I’ve seen kids go from facing the shelves and needing supervision, to bagging groceries and wishing customers a nice day within months. They are so proud of what they do and always leave with a smile on their faces,” said Erin, one of the students’ teachers. “The bonds they’ve developed with employees has changed their lives,” she added. “I have one student who, two years after leaving my program, still asks me regularly about his favorite produce manager, Frank. Other students have chosen horticulture as their vocational class because of Marlene in the floral department. And we have other students who choose to apply for career opportunities at Safeway because of how the program has made them feel.”

When the partnership began, the school found it difficult to arrange transportation for the students. Chris rallied his store team and organized a fundraiser through the Because We Care community program. Employees rode on more than 20 stationary bikes in a mall for 24 hours to raise enough money to help buy a bus to transport the students. Donations were higher than expected, and the same bus is running today!

Customers approach Chris to express how much they appreciate the store supporting the students.  The store and employees have received the City of Edmonton Mayors Award twice for working with persons with disabilities, most recently in 2014. Chris says his team has learned a lot from the students, and “far more than they will ever learn from us; it’s been extremely gratifying.”​ Congratulations to the entire Callingwood Safeway team for your unwavering commitment to serving your community – way to go!

Last month, Safeway operations leaders and backstage partners gathered to kick off the exciting holiday season with our annual ‘Holiday Show and Sell’. The team stepped away from their stores to regroup on brand strategy, purpose, culture and values, all while keeping our holiday approach and departmental direction top of mind.

Scott Chollak, VP, Alberta Operations, kicked things off with an Alberta business update. Together, we will continue to focus on our common goals – driving sales and growth, winning market share, winning the season and strengthening customer loyalty. Our industry leading customer service will continue to distinguish us from our competitors – both our conventional grocery retail competitors, and our untraditional competitors that are new to the market, like food delivery services and the influx of restaurant options.

Stacey Morgan, Manager, Alberta Retail Operations Customer Experience/L&D, joined Scott to announce the highly anticipated Care Service program, as well as the New Hire On-boarding Program.

The Care. Service program highlights four key service essentials necessary to delight our customers – communicate, assist, resolve, and educate – and provides helpful tips on how we can welcome and connect with every customer that enters our stores.

The New Hire On-boarding Program guarantees a memorable on-boarding experience for new teammates, deeply immersing every new employee in our proud Safeway culture. The Program extends from pre-start through to a 90-day check in with Department Managers, keeping new teammates engaged long beyond their first shift. The program will also introduce Training Mentors, key teammates in every store who will help sustain long term on-boarding take-aways and act as leaders in driving future initiatives. Finally, with a new lens on role-based training for non-management roles, every non-management employee will learn the ins-and-outs of their role in a more consistent and organized manner, supported with training checklists and regular check-ins.

Both the Care. Service program and the New Hire On-boarding Program will roll out to stores across the country and help amplify our purpose while driving our strong culture of pride, inclusivity, support and innovation. With a more harmonized approach to how we operate, we will continue to focus on proudly celebrating our teams and our impeccable ability to serve our customers.

Our Department MRO’s were also on site to share their exciting holiday strategies. MRO’s highlighted new hero items, such as the Festive Meal Deal in HMR and Sterling Silver Roasts in the meat department, while speaking to the larger holiday assortment and the incredible merchandising necessary to outshine our competitors and win the season. Not only will our top products shine through outstanding merchandising, but Safeway’s new holiday marketing direction and enhanced POS kits are sure to brighten our stores, welcome our customers, and spread a little extra holiday cheer.

Finally, Store Managers and Operators were invited to stop by Safeway Beltline, where Store Manager, Kevin Wilson, and his incredible team showcased the enhanced decor package and POS kit. Congratulations to the entire Beltline team for a phenomenal job well done in preparing your store for the viewing pleasure of the larger Safeway team. And a special shout out to Bill Owen and the Safeway Aspen team for hosting the very first holiday walkthrough in July, where we checked out the POS kit for the very first time. This was a crucial step in ensuring the final POS kit was just right for our stores, and it couldn’t have come to life at Beltline without your support.

The holiday season is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to see all of our teams celebrate the joy of the season at Safeway!

Team,

Today, November 11, is an important day for Canadians from coast to coast.

I would like to pay respect to our country’s soldiers and veterans, both past and present. As we gather to commemorate this day with our families, friends, colleagues, and in our communities across the province, I encourage you to pause and reflect on the courage, bravery and sacrifice of those who have served – and continue to serve – Canada during times of conflict. Let us never forget the courageous men and women who have sacrificed for our country, and continue to honour our Canadian heroes who defend our values and freedoms today.

To those who have fought for this beautiful country, and to those with friends and family members that may still be doing so, we thank you. We will be wearing our poppies with pride today.

We will read the following script over the PA system in our stores at 11:00 am this morning to observe a moment of silence:

“Good morning shoppers.  As we all stand here in peace and safety, we pay our respects to all of the fallen, all of the wounded and all who served in conflict over the last 100 years. Today, we remember those who volunteered, sacrificed, served, fought, and died, for our freedom. We thank you, and salute those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We will never forget. We will remember you.

Kind regards,

Scott Chollak

VP, Alberta Operations

This week, the Company’s bargaining committee was back at the table with UFCW 401. Both parties continued to discuss potential language changes to the collective agreement, and while progress is slow, items are being agreed upon and refined. Our bargaining goals remain the same; fair and competitive collective agreements. Our business goals remain the same; to invest in the future of Safeway and introduce FreshCo in the right Alberta markets.

We’ve been open with you regarding the challenges that some of our Safeway stores are facing in the province. It’s no secret that the Alberta economic climate is changing – and it will continue to change. It’s up to us to be agile and innovate to change alongside it so we can continue to serve our communities.

With the changing economy, many of our Safeway stores are simply in the wrong markets. We’re seeing more value driven shoppers who are focused on getting the best items at the most affordable costs. No matter how hard we work, we simply cannot meet the needs of these discount shoppers with our full-service Safeway model. We can, however, exceptionally serve these same customers with our proven Discount model. FreshCo has been well received across Western Canada. Our B.C. and Manitoba customers are embracing the new stores, and we’re certain our Saskatchewan customers will this summer. We’re confident that Alberta customers will welcome FreshCo, too.

We believe in Safeway, and we know that it is still the right fit in many communities. We’re committed to continuing investing in Safeway and bolstering our brand in the markets where it makes sense, providing customers with the shopping options they’re looking for.

In uncertain times, we need to be able to compete with a fair collective agreement in order to achieve success. We take collective bargaining seriously and we’re committed to moving the conversation forward so we can win, together. As we’ve shared with you before, should a strike take effect, it could continue for a long time. This means frustrated customers, happy competitors, damage to our reputation, significant lost sales, no capital investment, and at the very core, teammates who are forced to disrupt their lives and face financial insecurity for their families. A strike will not solve the key issue we face – many of our Safeway stores will still be in the wrong markets. Striking will simply worsen an already challenging situation.

Thank you for your continued hard work in our stores and commitment to our customers. We look forward to sharing more progress with you soon on Safeway Talks.