Safeway To Begin 63 Hours Of Continuous Operations on December 22

Dec. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Lanham, Md. – More than 90 mid-Atlantic Safeway stores will operate continuously – offering approximately 86 consecutive hours of continuous operation – leading into Christmas Eve beginning on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 5 a.m.  In addition, selected Safeway stores will also be open on Christmas Day.

Safeway’s two-and-one-half consecutive days of continuous operation will conclude at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve when all of its stores (including its 24-hour locations) will close.  A total of 91 stores will observe the 24-hour holiday shopping schedule.  This will be the second year that Safeway has offered continuous service prior to Christmas.

"The two plus days of 24-hour service provide our shoppers with the ultimate convenience of doing their holiday grocery shopping at any time that best fits their schedule,” said Eastern Division President Steve Neibergall.  “Customers will have peace of mind in knowing that Safeway will be readily available to serve them regardless of the time of day during this very busy season.

“We see this as an extension of the Christmas Day service we have offered for several years as we continue to be sensitive to the needs and desires of the very diverse base of customers and employees we serve and employ,” Neibergall continued.  All employees serving shoppers on Christmas Day elected to work voluntarily.

More than 100 Safeway supermarkets in the mid-Atlantic region will be open Christmas Day with some stores opening as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 12 noon.  All of Safeway’s Christmas Day retail activity will conclude at 5 p.m.  The pharmacies and SunTrust bank branches will not be open.

All mid-Atlantic region Safeways will operate on normal business hours (5 a.m. to 12 a.m.) on New Year’s Eve with 24-hour stores also closing at midnight.  All stores will resume their regular operating hours beginning at 7 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,678 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $43.6 billion in 2010. The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.

Safeway’s Eastern Division employs approximately 19,000 people and operates 125 stores with 66 Safeway stores in Maryland, 42 in Virginia, 13 in the District of Columbia and four in Delaware.