[6] The American company Safeway Inc. entered the Australian grocery market in 1962 with the purchase of three Pratt's Supermart stores in Victoria.

"Bill" Pratt purchased his father's supermarket in Frankston in 1946,[8][9] and he also owned stores in Mornington (acquired from John Fyffe's estate in 1946),[10] and Chelsea (opened in 1953).

[13] The chain expanded to New South Wales in 1971, where the shops were called "Red S" due to a trademark conflict with Saveway which was owned by Woolworths.

[14] Safeway further expanded into Queensland 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.

[16][18] In 1987, Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets launched "The Fresh Food People" campaign, adopting a uniform slogan and marketing strategy for both brands.

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.