Today, Sobeys Inc. announced the permanent closure of 10 underperforming Safeway stores in British Columbia. In addition to these closures, we also announced five stores that will be closing, but may reopen as FreshCo locations depending on the outcome of labour negotiations with the relevant B.C. labour unions.

The decision to close stores is never easy. The changes we are experiencing in the marketplace are a direct result of changing customer preferences. The reality is some of our locations continue to lose money despite the best efforts of both the hardworking teams in our stores and in the Company.

It’s no secret that many of our stores in British Columbia have struggled in recent years. It’s important that we take the right steps forward to ensure a strong future for Safeway. We must return our stores to profitable growth and have the flexibility to react quickly to market demands.

As always, we will work with impacted employees to provide support as they transition to work in other stores or onto new career opportunities. We will also be working closely with their respective unions to ensure the terms of their collective agreements are met.

Our operating costs are some of the highest in the industry, and we have to get our labour costs in line to remain competitive. If we don’t reduce our operating costs, more stores will need to be closed.

These tough decisions will help us move to a more secure position to grow our business and provide good, stable jobs for British Columbians and the more than 125,000 Canadians we employ across the country.

The stores that are closing are:

• # 4944 Safeway Lougheed Mall, Burnaby
• # 4907 Safeway City Square, Vancouver
• # 4904 Safeway Sunwood Square, Coquitlam
• # 4945 Safeway Point Grey, Vancouver
• # 4954 Safeway Royal Oak, Burnaby

Store that are closing but may reopen as FreshCo locations are:

• # 4949 Safeway Blundell, Richmond
• # 4957 Safeway Broadmoor, Richmond
• # 4964 Safeway Newton Town Centre, Surrey
• # 4935 Safeway Strawberry Hills, Surrey
• # 4951 Safeway Mission

The pharmacies in these locations will remain open through the negotiations and potential renovations. The intention is to have the pharmacies in the new FreshCo locations.

We believe we can return Safeway to its place at the centre of Western Canadian communities with strong and successful stores. But we must work together to move forward.

We’ll continue to keep you informed in your stores and on SafewayTalks.ca