Rival Real Canadian Superstore purchased a full-page newspaper ad, offering to buy Safeway if there was such trouble. The company threatened to shut its stores if it could not reach a deal with the union. Safeway also experienced labour problems in Edmonton in the mid-1990s. However, Safeway's prices slowly crept back up as months passed, and within a couple of years, it abandoned the red arrow campaign altogether, and once again, Safeway regained its reputation for high prices. Safeway's new commitment to lower prices ignited a price war between supermarkets, much to the delight of consumers, that lasted for several weeks. They ended with a text message saying that something big was happening soon. These commercials made no reference to Safeway and consisted only of dark shots of several helicopters in-flight with the sound of helicopter motors as the only audio. The first ads aired a couple of weeks earlier, but were shrouded with much more mystery. The Woodward's brand name vanished from the Canadian retail landscape as a result.Ĭanada Safeway gained a reputation for high prices. In western Canada shortly before the Hudson's Bay Company purchased and then closed the Woodward's Department Store chain in 1993, Safeway rebranded Woodward's Food Floors and World of Food stores to Safeway stores, though the interior of some locations kept the World of Food decor for several years, before being renovated into full-fledged Safeways. Safeway closed Food Barn or re-branded stores as Safeway before the decade ended. These stores were later rebranded as Woodward's World of Food. In late 1987, Safeway acquired the 26 Woodward's Food Floors, which operated in the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia (16 stores) and Alberta (10). While prices at Food for Less were meant to compete with those of Real Canadian Superstore, and be lower than Safeway, this was not always true. One ad featured a man holding a rolled-up Safeway newspaper flyer, while promising viewers they would find lower prices at the Real Canadian Superstore. Upon the Real Canadian Superstore's opening, Loblaws produced television commercials with an aggressive tone, taking direct aim at Safeway's higher prices. Most Food for Less and Real Canadian Superstore locations were constructed within blocks of each other.
In the mid-1980s, the company launched Food for Less in the Alberta cities of Edmonton and Calgary, as a big-box, discount food store chain meant to compete with the Loblaws-owned Real Canadian Superstore, which had expanded to western Canada. Food Barn was similar to Safeway in terms of selection and prices, but the decor resembled a warehouse the size of an average Safeway store. Safeway also opened other supermarkets under the Food Barn and Food for Less names in Alberta and the Safeway Superstore name in British Columbia. It was the fifth store Safeway had closed in west Edmonton. In October 1986, the Canadian Press reported that Safeway Canada took an $8 million loss by closing a prime store at West Edmonton Mall, which, at that time, was the world's largest shopping centre. Some IGA stores housed in former Safeway buildings have operated successfully for decades, others ceased operation in recent years. A judicial inquiry restricted the number of stores Safeway could open, and forced the company to close or sell some locations to competitors like IGA. The company controlled 80 percent of the grocery market in Alberta in the 1970s, causing the government to accuse Safeway of having a monopoly on the supermarket business, resulting in unnecessarily high food prices. The firm ultimately failed against entrenched competition in this market.Ĭanada Safeway dominated the grocery store landscape in Western Canada in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1969, Safeway entered the Toronto market by opening new stores, rather than by acquisition. In 1935, it acquired the 179 Canadian Piggly Wiggly stores. established its Canadian operation as Canada Safeway Limited with nine stores in 1929 with headquarters in Winnipeg. A Safeway in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, 1961
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