I wanted to take this opportunity to start a conversation with you, our Safeway employees. Safeway has been a leader in Western Canada for many years, and a big part of our success has been our people and the work you do each day to create exceptional experiences for our customers.

For the last 18 months, I’ve spent my time focused on integrating our Western operations. With the majority of that work now behind us, I’m turning my attention to getting to know this team better and understanding what’s happening in your stores.

You’ve told us you want to hear more from us, and we see an opportunity to improve the lines of communication. Our leadership group would love to speak to you all one-on-one, but we can’t be in every store, every day. But we can use technology to connect with every employee, from Vancouver to Thunder Bay.

That is why we’re re-launching SafewayTalks.ca

SafewayTalks.ca is a pilot project with a simple but critical goal: to open the lines of communication and share the spirit and community of our people and our stores.

This website allows us to share some of the things we are working on and get feedback directly from you. It will also help you understand how we’re tackling the challenges and issues in front of us.

This continues to be an unprecedented time for retailers. The competitive landscape has changed significantly and so have the needs and wants of customers. During the transition, we made some decisions that hurt the customer experience in our stores, which I know you felt first hand and had to deal with personally.

We have made some improvements in the last year, such as more competitive pricing and an improved offer that reflects what our customers are asking for, but more needs to be done. As we look forward to a competitive and successful Safeway with secure jobs for the future, we have to make further changes to ensure our stores are viable and that our products and services resonate with customers.

Our challenges are not small and changes will take time, but it’s something we must tackle together. You have an important stake in our future, so let’s keep the lines of communications open.

Sign up to join and stay informed. And let’s start the conversation today.

Regards,

Jason Potter
Executive Vice President, Operations