Store hours are set individually for a number of reasons aside from the banner. Some of these factors are the needs of the community or neighbourhood, local bylaws, customer traffic and sales, so not all stores will have the same set of open hours. Creating a balance between customers’ needs and operating costs helps us to improve sales and our bottom line, helping us return to our spot as one of Western Canada’s leading grocery stores.
Author: Sudhanshu Rewari
We often hear from customers they are not interested in buying multiple products to receive a reduced price — they say they don’t need two of the item. What kind of alternative discounts are we offering customers to ensure they’re able to receive discount prices?
We offer our customers a variety of ways to save each time they shop with us so they can find a program that works best for their budget and lifestyle. Some of our programs include:
- Savings through our weekly flyers;
- Savings through our AIR MILES program (including Blue Friday);
- Savings through our Everyday Value program that offers even more value on certain key products that customers purchase on a regular basis; and,
- Savings through regular promotions such as Customer Appreciation Day and Dollar Days.
In addition to these programs, our Buy More Save More program provides a discount on a single item plus a further discount when more of the same products are purchased beyond a certain threshold.
All of these programs provide an excellent opportunity for employees to share price savings with their customers. We continue to listen and diversify our offerings to customers from the food on our shelves, to the way we help our customers save.
Safeway Talks Summer Contest wraps up with six winners
With the Safeway Talks Summer Contest finished, we’ve got great news for six lucky Safeway employees who entered to win by signing up for regular updates from Safeway Talks.
The winners are:
Grand prize ($1,500 gift card):
Janna Zielinski, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
Runners-up ($1,000 gift card):
Dixie Hallatt, Leduc, Alberta
Kaylee McLeod, West Vancouver, B.C.
Third place ($500 gift card):
Graham Clifton, Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Gail Lalonde, Abbotsford, B.C.
Helga Jensen, Camrose, Alberta
Please join us in congratulating our winners!
Keep checking in with us at Safeway Talks for news and updates, and stay tuned for future contests.
We’d like to thank everyone for joining the conversation and taking part in the contest. We encourage you to continue sharing Safeway Talks with your coworkers and keep communicating with us on Safeway Talks.
Your input is important to us, and we want to hear from you as we work together to build a stronger future for Safeway.
Alberta Court bans loyalty rewards on prescription purchases
On September 22, Alberta’s Court of Appeal released its decision on pharmacies’ ability to issue loyalty rewards to customers purchasing their prescriptions, banning all pharmacies throughout the province from offering a rewards programs, overturning the previous ruling by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. Sobeys Inc. initially applied for judicial review of the proposed incentive ban by the Alberta College of Pharmacist in 2014, and the matter has been before the courts.
This is a ruling that affects all banners across Alberta, and, as it’s our goal to provide the best value and experience for our shoppers, we are obviously disappointed with the outcome.
“In addition to the professional services and trusted advice provided by Safeway, Sobeys and IGA pharmacists, we believe that we contribute to better patient care by offering rewards that help increase loyalty, adherence and ultimately improved health outcomes. While this ruling has now taken away loyalty rewards from all Albertans, our pharmacists will continue to offer trusted professional advice and the best possible care to our patients,” said Jedd Wood, Vice President and General Manager of Sobeys National Pharmacy Group.
We encourage all our Safeway employees to continue their work in building stronger connections with customers and providing great service in store. As this decision comes into effect immediately, please inform customers with questions that:
- The ruling is province-wide, affecting all pharmacies
- AIR MILES can still be earned on groceries, health and beauty products and all non-prescription medications
- We still have a team of world-class pharmacists providing the same great level of service, advice and care as they always have
Our goal continues to be regaining our place as one of Western Canada’s leading grocery stores — a place that can provide good, stable jobs for thousands. And we’ll do this by ensuring our stores are simply best place for our customers to shop.
Financial Update For Employees
Safeway employees,
Last week, our CEO Michael Medline announced this year’s first quarter financial results for Empire Company Limited, the company that owns Sobeys and Safeway.
While the results are positive, there is much more work that we need to do. The grocery industry is tough, competition is growing and we aren’t even close to where we need to be in the Safeway brand if we are to be successful.
On the business side, we’re focused on Project Sunrise. This is about cutting costs and realigning our business so we can put ourselves in a leadership position once again. To put it simply, this is about making sure our back-stage structures and staff are better organized and equipped to support our stores, making it simpler for us to do business and easier for you to do your jobs. We still have a long way to go and we know change isn’t easy, but we will see it through.
For Safeway, this means we must continue to tackle our challenges. Even with the changes we’re making through Project Sunrise, we still face some of the highest costs in the industry. This must change!
We want Safeway to regain its place as one of the top grocery stores in Western Canada. We want customers to think of Safeway first when they choose where to shop. In order to do this, we must get our costs under control.
Project Sunrise is one piece of this puzzle, as we continue working at store level to improve our bottom line, all with the goal of building a successful Safeway with good stable jobs for the future.
Thanks for your hard work and dedication. Only by working together can we make Safeway a leader again.
Jason Potter
Executive Vice President, Operations
Update on B.C. Quarterly Review Process
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?
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?
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?
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.
Lawson Heights is moving on to bigger, better location
We are excited to announce we are relocating Safeway’s Lawson Heights location in Saskatoon to a newly-renovated space on the opposite end of the mall, in what was formerly a Target location. The official opening is expected to take place in early 2018.
We are working to determine staffing requirements for the new store. This includes relocating employees from the current location, which will continue serving the area’s shoppers until the move takes place.
This is one more step in our commitment to re-invest in our Safeway community, building and strengthening our business in an ultra-competitive market. We know our staff are working hard to provide the best service to our shoppers and we will continue these investments in our store network, offering a high-value shopping experience with a focus on quality products at affordable prices.
The updated, full-service Safeway store will be larger than the current Lawson Heights location, offering a better assortment of products and greater variety for our Saskatoon customers.
We still face extremely tough and growing competition from our competitors. If we want to return to our role as Western Canada’s leading grocery store — providing thousands of good, stable jobs — we must get our costs back into line. Considering the success we’ve seen with our franchised stores in Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, we plan to franchise this location when we have better insight on the sales in this new store. We believe that building a mix of both corporately owned and franchised stores is critical to the overall success of our business.
We will share more details on timing as they become available, and we are happy to answer any questions our employees may have. Lawson Heights staff can direct their questions to their Store Manager Jim Buzzard, Director of Operations Todd Leibel, or Human Resources Manager Cheryl Tomlinson.
This relocation is an exciting move for us, and one that will help us face and overcome our challenges as we move forward building a better Safeway future, together.