Australian Safeway Pty Ltd (trading as Safeway Supermarkets) was a chain of supermarkets in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from 1963 to 2017. The supermarkets were initially part of Safeway Inc. but were absorbed by

Woolworths Limited Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian multinational retail and finance company, primarily known for the operation of its retail chain Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia, Woolworths (previously known as Countdown) in New Zealand and ...

(now Woolworths Group) in 1985. On 22 August 2008, Woolworths Limited announced it would discontinue the Safeway name, and former Safeway stores were rebranded to Woolworths or closed. The final Safeway store to be rebranded was

Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...

, occurring on 6 June 2017.

History

Early years

The American company Safeway Inc. entered the Australian grocery market in 1962 with the purchase of three Pratt's Supermart stores in Victoria. J.R.W. "Bill" Pratt purchased his father's supermarket in Frankston in 1946, and he also owned stores in Mornington (acquired from John Fyffe's estate in 1946), and Chelsea (opened in 1953). He became a pioneer of retail strategies and self-service in supermarkets. Representatives of Safeway Inc. became interested in Pratt's growing business whilst on a trip in Australia, and in 1963 Pratt's three stores were purchased by Safeway Inc. The stores continued to operate as Pratt's Supermart for two years until a copyright dispute was resolved. The first Safeway-branded store appeared in

Forest Hill, Victoria Forest Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Whitehorse local government area. Forest Hill recorded a population of 10,780 at the 2021 census. ...

in 1964. Pratt continued to work at his stores, and in 1967 became the head of the Australian division of Safeway Inc.

Expansion

Australian Safeway Pty Ltd, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway Inc., reported losses in its first three years due to expansion and purchase of property. The chain expanded to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1971, where the shops were called "Red S" due to a trademark conflict with Saveway which was owned by Woolworths. The first New South Wales store was at

Cabramatta Cabramatta, also abbreviated as Cabra, is a suburb in South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local gove ...

, followed by

Merrylands Merrylands is a suburb in Western Sydney, Australia. Merrylands is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Cumberland Ci ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. By 1979, there were 12 Safeway stores in New South Wales and 52 in Victoria. Safeway further expanded into

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in 1981 and acquired supermarket chain Jack the Slasher (subsequently called Food For Less). By 1985 the chain had grown to 126 supermarkets trading under the Safeway banner across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The head office was formerly located adjacent to the distribution centre on Wellington Road,

Mulgrave, Victoria Mulgrave is an eastern suburb The purchase included 126 stores in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Bill Pratt, the chairman and managing director of Australian Safeway Pty Ltd, and Peter Magowan, the chairman and chief executive officer of Safeway Inc., were also appointed to the Woolworths board of directors. The annual profit of Woolworths Limited rose from $8 million to $136 million in two years as they served 10 million customers. Following the purchase by Woolworths, the Safeway stores in New South Wales and Queensland were renamed as Woolworths Supermarkets. However, the Safeway stores in Victoria retained their name, and Woolworths stores in Victoria were transferred to the Safeway banner (with the exception of the Victorian stores of

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

, Belgrave and Karingal). The store in the border town of

Albury, New South Wales Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

also remained as Safeway. During the 1980s and 1990s the Mildura stores moved from Woolworths to Safeway and back again, and the Karingal Woolworths store became Safeway in the late 1990s. In Victoria, the Safeway brand also followed Woolworths Supermarkets' progression into liquor trading as Safeway Liquor, and into petrol trading as Caltex Safeway. In December 1986, Safeway Inc. sold its share of 19.99%, and the naming rights of Safeway in Australia, to Rainbow Corporation of New Zealand. In 1987, Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets launched "The Fresh Food People" campaign, adopting a uniform slogan and marketing strategy for both brands.

Rebranding of Safeway to Woolworths

On 22 August 2008, Woolworths Limited announced it would rename all Safeway supermarkets in Victoria to Woolworths to unite all of its supermarkets under a common brand. The rebrand included a new logo and design for stores in all states, created by Hans Hulsbosch. The previous logo, which had been in use for 21 years, was replaced with a green apple peel emblem representing the "W" in Woolworths with the addition of a stylised leaf to suggest fresh produce. The company's slogan, "The Fresh Food People", which is known throughout Australia, was maintained as a part of the new branding. Woolworths indicated that Safeway supermarkets at

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

and Preston would be among the first to be re-branded. However, a newly constructed supermarket at Chadstone Shopping Centre became the first location of the rebranded

Woolworths Supermarkets Woolworths (colloquially known as "Woolies") is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Group (Australia), Woolworths Group. Founded in 1924, Woolworths is currently Australia's largest supermarket chain with a market share of 32.5% ...

to open in the state. The entire rebranding process of all 187 stores had an expected completion date of five years, but several stores were still operating as Safeway well past 2013 which included Dingley Village, Monbulk, Carnegie, Balaclava, North Blackburn, and Dandenong Plaza. On 6 June 2017, the final Safeway supermarket in Wodonga was rebranded as Woolworths, ending the Safeway brand after 54 years in Australia.

References

External links

{{Authority control Defunct supermarkets of Australia Safeway Inc. Woolworths Group (Australia) Companies based in Melbourne Retail companies established in 1963 Retail companies disestablished in 2008 2008 disestablishments in Australia Australian grocers Australian companies established in 1963