The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and vehicle fuel centers.

Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States,[3] with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard.

[4][5][6][7] The point of the Safeway name was that the grocery operated exclusively on a cash-and-carry basis – it did not offer credit to customers, as American grocers traditionally had done.

In the 1930s, Safeway introduced produce pricing by the pound, adding "sell by" dates on perishables, nutritional labeling, and some of the first parking lots.

This led to the 1938 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., which defended the right to peaceful protest in the resolution of labor disputes.

[14][15] The Panthers boycotted due to Safeway's refusal to donate to their Free Breakfast for Children Program, created to serve daily hot breakfasts to underprivileged children throughout the U.S.[14] The United Farm Workers boycotted Safeway because the chain continued to sell California grapes despite the union's nationwide boycott.

The store in downtown Fairbanks was built on the site of a red-light district, known as The Line, which operated for close to a half century.

Most of these stores were in buildings constructed by Anchorage real estate developer Wally Hickel, who later became governor of Alaska and U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Also in 1959, designed by architects Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons,[24][25][26] the firm also opened the first "marina-style" store on the Marina in San Francisco.

The 1981 jury verdict of joint and several liability for $45,000 against Safeway Stores and the City of Oakland was upheld in full by the Supreme Court of California on December 26, 1986.

[37] In 2000, Safeway started grocery delivery operations[38] and in 2001 acquired the family-owned Genuardi's chain, with locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

In the years following the project termination, all of the spaces designed for Theranos' labs were either converted into Quest Diagnostics drug testing clinics or pharmacy waiting rooms for vaccine customers, or the stores in whole were permanently closed.

[45] On June 12, 2013, Sobeys announced it would acquire Safeway's operations in Canada for CAD$5.8 billion, subject to regulatory approval.

[46] Sobeys completed the sale five months later while keeping the Safeway banner on its newly acquired stores while changing private labels to be more inline with those used by its new parent.

On March 6, 2014, longtime rival Albertsons, backed by Cerberus Capital Management announced it would purchase Safeway for $9.4 billion in a deal expected to close in the 4th quarter of the year.

Some of the major metropolitan areas affected were Los Angeles, Portland, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Bakersfield, Seattle, and Las Vegas.

[57] In November 2016, Safeway Inc. agreed to buy Andronico's remaining stores, which were based primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[62] In February 2020, four locations of Safeway Community Markets returned to the Andronico’s name - two in Berkeley, one in Los Altos, and one in San Anselmo.

Beginning in 2018, Safeway and Albertsons began remodeling stores with a new theme that moved away from the "Lifestyle" decor first introduced in the early 2000s.

Most older stores used fluorescent tubes in the main aisles with halogen spotlights in the departments or to accent display cases for a relaxed ambiance.

In 2019, Safeway was ordered by a judge to pay a fine of $12 million after a Santa Clara County, California cashier was denied the right to sit.

[64] In August 2021, Safeway launched FreshPass, a paid subscription service that allows for free unlimited delivery/pickup and gives members exclusive discounts and offers.

[67] In October 2022, Albertsons and its competitor, Kroger, which also operates King Soopers and City Market stores, announced a merger agreement.

In February 2024, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit; he summarized consumer and worker opposition: the merger "would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service, and less resilient supply chains.”[70] In 2006, Safeway introduced an organically grown and processed line of products named "O Organics".

Safeway has offered online grocery delivery service in select markets starting in the American Northwest region in 2000.

[78] Safeway also acquired Pak 'n Save Foods, a box warehouse concept, as part of the 1983 purchase of Brentwood in Northern California.

[79] While these stores were initially distinct in price points and bulk sales, today they are functionally and operationally the same as regular Safeway supermarkets.

[82] In 2012, Mercy for Animals conducted an undercover investigation at Christensen Farms, a pork supplier to Safeway, Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and Kmart.

[83] Before the public release of Mercy for Animals' investigation at Christensen Farms, Safeway announced it would begin requiring pork suppliers to phase out gestation crates.

Safeway ranked second best (7.1 out of 10) on the 2013 CATO Report by ensuring that its store brand of canned tuna was sustainably fished and by lobbying for science-based ocean conservation policies.