Content about Safeway Inc.

BUTLER, N.J. — An all-natural oat-based beverage recently made its market debut.

Sneaky Pete's, which officially made its debut back in March, utilizes a proprietary oat bran concentrate and features erythritol and rebaudioside-A as primary ingredients to provide consumers with a way to get their fiber intake via a great-tasting beverage, the company said.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Wednesday announced that it has transitioned to using reusable product containers, rather than corrugated boxes, to ship many types of produce from the farm fields, through the distribution channel and to the final store destination.

This transition eliminated the use of more than 17 million pounds of corrugated boxes, the grocer reported.

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets has closed on its purchase of three former Genuardi's stores and is slated to reopen them this weekend.

In advance of these store openings on June 16, located in Conshohocken, Doylestown and East Norristown, Pa., Weis said it will reopen each store's pharmacy Monday at 12 noon to minimize prescription service disruption.

Weis added that it has hired 218 former Genuardi employees and has added 150 positions, which will allow each store to double the number of cashiers it employs and increase front-end service.

PORTLAND, Ore., and SEATTLE — Safeway has launched an online and mobile shopping tool that is designed to give customers an easier way to save on groceries.

Just for U, launched in the chain's Oregon and Washington divisions, delivers targeted savings directly to a customer's Safeway club card. Deals are offered on items a shopper most frequently buys, as well as items they might be interested in — providing savings of up to 10% to 20% more than by using a Safeway club card alone, Safeway said.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Recent events, which have driven Wall Street analysts to speculate that Safeway is a buyout target, are not interrelated, Safeway chairman and CEO Steve Burd assured analysts Thursday morning during the grocer's first-quarter conference call.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Monday evening promoted Robert Edwards to president of the company. Edwards had served as Safeway's EVP and CFO since 2004.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway announced that it has tapped singer/songwriter and philanthropist Avril Lavigne to thank customers who support the retailer's annual Support for People with Disabilities fundraising campaign.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Tuesday joined forces with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion on an initiative to develop and promote dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — A former Safeway executive has joined Dollar General as its EVP store operations.

Effective March 19, Greg Sparks will assume all responsibilities for the operations of more than 9,900 retail stores in 38 states and serve on Dollar General's real estate and store development committee, the company said. Sparks will report to chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling.

Sparks most recently served as president of Safeway's Seattle division. His departure from the supermarket retailer was announced earlier this week.

WESTLAKE, Texas — Healthcare supply chain software developer Supplylogix has appointed a former Safeway executive as its director of product development.

Supplylogix announced the hiring of Glen Davis, saying he would help expand the company's suite of products that pharmacies and other healthcare providers use to improve supply chain performance.

MINNEAPOLIS — Kantar Media on Wednesday reported that overall retailer advertising expenditures increased 1.6% and retailer participation in Free Standing Insert coupon promotion pages increased 30.7% over calendar year 2011, versus the corresponding year-ago period. Additionally, digital coupon events increased 40.4% during this period across the leading retailer websites monitored by Kantar Media.

ORLANDO, Fla. — FMI will be hosting a new retail-pharmacy-focused panel here on March 18 during the association's Retail Food & Pharmacy Health & Wellness expo to be moderated by DSN's editor-in-chief Rob Eder.