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1889 - Simon David opened in Dallas as a specialty food/gourmet retailer.
1906 - Charles Von der Ahe founded Von's Groceteria in Los Angeles, CA.
1914 - Sam Seelig launches a chain of 4 stores in CA named Seelig Grocers.
1915 - Samuel M. Skaggs moved his family from Missouri to Idaho and opened a grocery store (Skaggs Cash Stores).
1918 - Dominick's Finer Foods is founded by Italian immigrant Dominick DiMatteo in Chicago, IL.
1919 - The Skaggs brothers form a partnership named Skaggs United Stores.
1925 - Seelig renames his stores Safeway.
1926 - Seelig has 322 stores in Southern California and Skaggs has 673 stores in the Pacific Northwest.
1926 - Charles Merrill, a co-founder of Merrill Lynch, handles the merger of Skaggs United Stores and Safeway.  M.B. Skaggs
          is president of the merged company which takes the name Skaggs Safeway and shortly after named Safeway.
1928 - Pay 'n Takit stores become a part of SafewaySafeway has 2,020 stores.
1928 - Safeway acquires the west coast Piggly Wiggly stores.
1928 - Vons was sold to McMarr Stores.
1928 - Skaggs Safeway is renamed Safeway Stores and is the largest supermarket chain in the west.
1929 - Safeway moves its headquarters to Oakland, CA and expands into Canada.
1930's - Most acquired chains are renamed Safeway.
1930 - McMarr Stores is acquired by Skaggs Companies.
1931 - There are 3,527 Safeway stores in the U.S. and Canada.
1948 - J.R. Bost and Bob Cullum founded Tom Thumb in Dallas, TX.
1950 - Larry Carr opened a quonset hut grocery store in Anchorage.
1954 - Genuardi's open their first supermarket in Jeffersonville, PA.
1960's - Tom Thumb acquired Simon David stores.
1960 - Vons acquired Shopping Bag Food Stores.
1961 - Safeway exits the New York-New Jersey market by selling its 160 stores there to First National (Finast).
1961 - Simon David has 3 stores in Texas.
1962 - Safeway expands to the United Kingdom with the acquisition of the 11-store John Gardner Ltd. stores.
1963 - Safeway expands to Australia with the acquisition of the 3-store Pratt Supermarkets chain.
1963 - Simon David is acquired by Tom Thumb stores.
1964 - Safeway expands to Germany with the acquisition of several Big Bear stores.
1966 - In an anti-trust ruling, the US Supreme Court forces Vons to divest itself of Shopping Bag Food Stores.
1968 - With 18 stores, Dominick's is acquired by Fisher Foods of Cleveland, OH.
1969 - Household Finance Corp. acquires Vons.
1971 - The company sells its Super S drugstore chain.
1980's - Safeway has stores in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
1980 - Safeway is the most profitable grocery chain in the U.S.
1981 - The DiMatteo family repurchased Dominick's for $ 80 million.
1986 - Safeway sells its Southern California stores to Vons in return for a 30% stake in Vons.
1986 - In order to avoid a hostile takeover by Herbert Hart, Safeway is acquired by investment firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts &
          Co. for $ 5.3 billion and Safeway becomes a privately traded company.  Nearly half of Safeway's 2,200 stores are sold in
          order to pay off debt incurred by the takeover, including the Safeway stores in England and Australia.  The UK division is
          sold to Morrison's.  The Australia division is sold to Woolworth's Ltd.
1986 - Vons merged with Detroit-based Allied Supermarkets.
1987 - Safeway sells its Dallas, Salt Lake City, El Paso, Oklahoma and Liquor Barn stores.
1988 - Safeway sells its Kansas City, Little Rock and Houston divisions.  Safeway's national presence is limited to Northern
          California and Washington, DC.  The Houston stores are sold to Texas Supermarkets, Inc. and operated as Apple Tree.
1988 - Safeway sells most of its Southern California stores to Vons in exchange for a 30% ownership stake in Vons.
1990 - Safeway stores becomes a publicly-traded company once again.
1990 - Safeway acquires Alaska-based Carrs Quality Centers.
1992 - Apple Tree files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
1992 - Tom Thumb Stores and Simon David Stores merged with Randalls.
1993 - All remaining Apple Tree stores are sold to various competitors.
1995 - Dominick's is acquired by Los Angeles-based Yucaipa Companies.
1997 - Safeway acquires the Vons supermarket chain in Southern California.
1998 - Safeway acquires Chicago-based Dominick's Finer Foods from Yucaipa Companies.
1999 - Safeway acquires Texas-based Randalls and Tom Thumb stores.
2000 - Safeway acquires the Philadelphia-based Genaurdi's chain with stores in PA, NJ and DE.

Skaggs Companies

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SAFEWAY SUPERMARKETS

Click on images below to enlarge:

1930's - Camden, AR

1940's - Angel's Camp, CA

Source: Bruce Batton

Source: US Dept. of Energy

1960's - Oak Harbor, WA

Sacramento, CA - 2-story Safeway/Super S - Source: Pure Grocery Stores

1950's - Canoga Park, CA - Source: Pure Grocery Stores

1960's - Berkeley, CA - Source: Pure Grocery Stores

1960's - Washington - Source: Roadside Pictures

1950's - Santa Barbara, CA - Currently a Von's

1995 - Lovelock, NV - Source: Roadside Pictures

North Berkeley, CA

Oakland, CA

Estes Park, CO

San Francisco, CA

Baltimore, MD

1964 - Safeway Super S Store - San Jose, CA - Source: Pleasant Family Shopping

Safeway Super S - San Ramon, CA

San Jose, CA

Lakeview, OR

2008 - Phoenix, AZ - Source: Carl Cestaro

2008 - Scottsdale, AZ - Source: Carl Cestaro

Source: Roadside Pictures

Safeway Super S Beer - Source: Rusty Cans

Source: Roadside Pictures

Source: Root Beer World

Source: Luke Cole

Source: Luke Cole

Safeway Needlebook - Source: Roadside Pictures

Safeway Needlebook

Safeway Needlebook

Safeway Matchbooks

Ingredients For Life

Source: Doug MacKenzie

Source: John Schultz

Safeway Toy Train

Safeway Toy Truck

Hot Air Balloon - Source: Andrew Davids

2005 - Safeway celebrates 15 years on the New York Stock Exchange - Source: NYSE

 

 

SAFEWAY FUEL CENTERS

Click on images below to enlarge:

 

CARRS QUALITY CENTERS

1915 - J.B. Gottstein began supplying groceries and other staples to Alaskans.
1949 - Gottstein's son Barney assumed management of the company and expanded it into the region's largest wholesale grocery
          company.
1950 - Larry Carr opened a quonset hut grocery store in Anchorage.
1974 - Gottstein and Carr merge their companies and with 24 locations Carrs is Alaska's largest retail chain.
1990 - Carrs is acquired by Safeway.

Click on images below to enlarge:

Source: Carrs

Source: Carrs

 

DOMINICKS FINER FOODS
1918 - Dominick's Finer Foods is founded by Italian immigrant Dominick DiMatteo in Chicago, IL.
1934 - Dominick's opens a second grocery store.
1968 - With 18 stores, Dominick's is acquired by Fisher Foods of Cleveland, OH.
1981 - The DiMatteo family repurchased Dominick's for $ 80 million.
1986 - Dominick's launched its Omni Superstore discount grocery warehouse stores in Orland Park, IL.
1995 - Dominick's is acquired by Los Angeles-based Yucaipa Companies.
1996 - Dominick's Finer Foods launches its European style market format named Dominick's Fresh Stores.
1998 - Dominick's is acquired by Safeway.
2006 - Safeway Companies operates 96 Dominick's Finer Food Stores.

Click on images below to enlarge:

Source: Library of Congress

1956 - Chicago, IL - Source: Pleasant Family Shopping

1972 - Chicago, IL - Source: Pleasant Family Shopping

Source: Big Box Reuse

Source: Root Beer World

 

GENUARDI'S

1920 - Gaspare and Josephine Genuardi owned a farm near Norristown, PA.  The family delivered their fruits and vegetables to
          their neighbors.  Later the family opened a small suprette.
1954 - Genuardi's sons open their first supermarket in Jeffersonville, PA.
2000 - Safeway acquires Genuardi's.
2006 - Safeway operates 40 Genuardi's stores in PA, NJ and DE.

Click on images below to enlarge:

Source: Root Beer World

 

RANDALL'S / TOM THUMB / HINKY DINKY
1948 - J.R. Bost and Bob Cullum founded Tom Thumb in Dallas, TX.
1954 - Robert Onstead went to work for his father-in-law who owned a Randalls SuperValu store in Pasadena, TX.
1956 - There are 20 Tom Thumb stores.
1960's - Tom Thumb acquired Simon David stores, 34 Hinky Dinky stores in the Midwest and 17 Pantry Food Markets in CA.
1966 - Onstead partnered with Norman Frewin and R.C. Barclay to open a discount supermarket.
1980's - Tom Thumb stores partnered with Wal-Mart in opening hypermarkets.
1985 - Cullum Companies closes its 25-store Hinky Dinky chain.
1989 - Cullum sells its 50% interest in its hypermarket partnership with Wal-Mart stores.
1990 - The chain has 12 stores.
1991 - The company has over $ 1 billion in revenues, making it the fastest growing company in Houston.
1990's - Randalls expanded into Dallas, Fort Worth and Auston.
1992 - Cullen Companies (Tom Thumb Stores and Simon David Stores) merges with Randalls.
1999 - Randalls is acquired by Safeway.
2006 - There are 127 Randalls and Tom Thumb combination food and drug stores in Texas.

Click on images below to enlarge:

Source: Randalls

Source: Tom Thumb

Matchbooks

Matchbook

Needlebook

Needlebook

 

VONS / PAVILIONS
1906 - Charles Von der Ahe founded Von's Groceteria in Los Angeles, CA.
1928 - The company grew to 87 stores and was sold to McMarr Stores.
1930 - McMarr Stores is acquired by Skaggs Companies.
1932 - The Von der Ahe family reentered the food business and founded Von's Grocery Company.
1948 - Vons opens a self-service store.
1958 - Vons has 27 stores making it the 3rd largest grocery chain in the Los Angeles area.
1960 - The company acquires Shopping Bag Food Stores which is challenged by the Federal Trade Commission on antitrust
          grounds.
1966 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules against Vons forcing it to divest itself of Shopping Bag Food Stores.
1969 - Household Finance Corp. acquires Vons.
1984 - Vons is chosen as the official supermarket of the Summer Olympics.
1986 - Household Finance Corp spun off Vons in a leveraged buyout.  Vons merged with Detroit-based Allied Supermarkets.
1986 - Vons launched its Pavilions combination food and pharmacy format stores.
1987 - Vons is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1988 - Safeway sells most of its Southern California stores to Vons in exchange for a 30% ownership stake in Vons.
1997 - Safeway exercises its option to acquire a controlling interest in Vons.  Vons begins to operate as a Safeway company.
2006 - Vons celebrates 100th anniversary with 325 Vons stores operating in Southern California and Nevada and 32 Pavillions
          stores in Southern California.

Click on images below to enlarge:

Source: Vons

Vons Shoppig Basket

2003 - Los Angeles, CA - Source: Other Stream

2006 - Long Beach, CA

Santa Barbara, CA - Source: Santa Barbara Restaurant Guide

Santa Barbara, CA - Source: Santa Barbara Restaurant Guide

Las Vegas, NV

2008 - Las Vegas, NV - Source: Carl Cestaro

2008 - Las Vegas, NV - Source: Carl Cestaro

2008 - Vons Fuel Center - Las Vegas, NV - Source: Carl Cestaro

Vons Ad

Vons Cap

Vons Olympic Mug

Vons Olympic Pin

Vons Root Beer - Source: Root Beer World

Vons Toy Truck

Vons Toy Truck