Safeway Remodels Stores

For the third quarter ended Sept. 11, the company earned net income of $159.2 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with net income of $202.5 million, or 45 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2003. Without the impact of the strike in Southern California and contributions to two Northern California union health and welfare plans, this year's third quarter earnings would have been 48 cents per share, the company said. Total sales remained relatively flat at $8.3 billion in the third quarter of both 2004 and 2003.

The new and remodeled stores feature a redesigned format that Safeway has been introducing for some time. The new look features redesigned produce and perishables departments that "significantly improve the presentation of our fresh products, yet many of the new display fixtures in these storesrequire considerably less inventory than conventional fixtures," the company said in its most recent annual report. The supermarket chain's new perishables departments are part of an effort to distinguish it from competitors, and Safeway also has been working to narrow the gap in its everyday pricing versus discount operators.