Safeway

When Safeway Inc. reported yesterday a whopper of a loss for last year, it was a measure of the indigestion the company has been suffering from the acquisition of Genuardi's and three other supermarket chains since 1998. Since Safeway bought Norristown-based Genuardi's from its founding family early in 2001, many longtime customers have complained that in-store service has slipped, the quality of produce and prepared food has fallen, and stores no longer stock some favorite brands.

The first day Jim DeGilio walked into Zagara's gourmet food store in Marlton more than four years ago, he fell in love - not with someone, but with the concept of what he calls "a restaurant inside a grocery store. " DeGilio, the former director of food service for Genuardi's Family Markets, may need to summon that emotion again for the task he has just taken on. As a new owner of Zagara's, one of the region's pioneering chains of high-priced specialty and natural-food stores, DeGilio knows he needs to find ways to bring once-devoted customers back to his stores.

Before there was Wegmans, there was Genuardi's Family Markets. And that's where the tragedy of what was once one of the region's most revered supermarket chains begins and ends. Few in the supermarket industry were surprised when Giant Food Stores L.L.C. announced Thursday that it was buying and converting 16 of the region's 27 Genuardi's locations - or that California-based Safeway Inc. was looking to unload eight others to prospective buyers, shut down three more, and leave Philadelphia entirely.

Weis Markets Inc. on Monday said it was buying three Genuardi's supermarkets from Safeway Inc. - locations on Ridge Pike in Conshohocken, Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown, and West Germantown Pike in Norristown. No sale price was disclosed. Weis said the suburban Philadelphia stores would operate under the Genuardi's name until the deal was finalized. The three stores being acquired by Weis are among eight supermarkets that Safeway, Genuardi's parent company, said it would try to sell.

It's mea culpa time at Genuardi's. Responding to a barrage of customer criticism and a decline in its market share, the supermarket chain has launched an advertising campaign to apologize for angering shoppers with sweeping changes made in its stores after Safeway Inc. acquired the company 21 months ago. "Despite our best intentions, not all of the changes we've made recently have gone smoothly, and we're sorry if your Genuardi's experience was...

It is no mere stroke of good fortune that three former Genuardi's supermarkets in the Philadelphia suburbs will reopen this weekend as Weis Markets. The stores — on Ridge Pike in Conshohocken, West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, and Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown — are part of a calculated strategy to expand a little-known name deeper into the Philadelphia region, where, despite the presence of many grocery options, new players can't seem to stay away. The Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis chain has been remaking itself for several years, rebranding all its holdings in its core central and north-central Pennsylvania markets: Mr. Z's stores in the Poconos and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area have become Weis Markets, as have King's stores in the Lehigh Valley and Scot's Lo Cost stores.

In what amounts to its biggest expansion move ever in the Philadelphia market, Giant Food Stores on Thursday announced it had acquired 16 Genuardi's supermarkets from Safeway Inc. for $106 million. The transfer of ownership to Giant of 16 of 27 Genuardi's stores in the region - coupled with the closing of three more stores and the hoped-for sale of the remaining eight - likely signals the end of the Genuardi's grocery name, which was among the region's most highly regarded before Safeway acquired the family-owned business in 2001.

Companies don't often admit their mistakes - such as taking a perfectly good part of their business and messing it up. But Karl Schroeder, Safeway Inc.'s eastern division president, stood between the freshly baked cakes and the pizza counter at his company's Genuardi's supermarket in Wynnewood last month and did precisely that. In the spring of 2002, after California-based Safeway bought the popular Genuardi's chain from its founding family, the parent moved swiftly - too swiftly, Schroeder and others say now - to cash in on its $500 million investment.

What's left? That was one question food industry representatives were asking after the announcement last week that Genuardi's Family Markets was being acquired by Safeway Inc. The planned sale leaves Clemens Markets, a 19-store chain based in Kulpsville, Montgomery County, at the top of a very short list of independents. Clemens has an estimated 4 percent of the regional grocery market. The list also includes individual owners of ShopRite stores with a combined 12.1 percent share; and individual owners of Shop N Bag and Thriftway markets, with a combined 6.3 percent share.

Dave Margavich was nervous and maybe a bit officious in his store-manager uniform as stragglers pushed shopping carts through barren grocery aisles like zombies scavenging for the last bites off a carcass. Their prey: the few discounted scraps that remained on shelves at the Genuardi's in St. Davids, a supermarket that opened on Lancaster Avenue as a jewel of the Main Line in 1992, but that on July 12 was mere minutes away from checking out its final customer. The lone populated produce island contained 13 potatoes, nine oranges, 10 green apples, a few bananas, some plantains, and an oddly plentiful basket of garlic.

It is no mere stroke of good fortune that three former Genuardi's supermarkets in the Philadelphia suburbs will reopen this weekend as Weis Markets. The stores — on Ridge Pike in Conshohocken, West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, and Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown — are part of a calculated strategy to expand a little-known name deeper into the Philadelphia region, where, despite the presence of many grocery options, new players can't seem to stay away. The Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis chain has been remaking itself for several years, rebranding all its holdings in its core central and north-central Pennsylvania markets: Mr. Z's stores in the Poconos and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area have become Weis Markets, as have King's stores in the Lehigh Valley and Scot's Lo Cost stores.

  Weis Markets Inc. on Monday said it was buying three Genuardi's supermarkets from Safeway Inc. - two in Montgomery County, on Ridge Pike in Conshohocken and on West Germantown Pike in Norristown, and a location on Old Dublin Pike in Doylestown, Bucks County. No sale price was disclosed. Weis said the suburban stores would operate under the Genuardi's name until the deal was completed. The trio of Genuardi's stores nearly doubles the Weis presence in suburban Philadelphia, raising its tally of stores to seven.

TUCSON, ARIZ. - This time, in the supermarket parking lot, there were softly ringing bells breaking the morning silence instead of the terrible sounds of gunfire and sirens. More bells tolled later yesterday at St. Augustine Cathedral as the names of the six people killed in the rampage were read. The day of remembrance began at 10:11 a.m., the exact time that the gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head and methodically moved down a line of people waiting to talk to her outside a Safeway on Jan. 8, 2011.

Before there was Wegmans, there was Genuardi's Family Markets. And that's where the tragedy of what was once one of the region's most revered supermarket chains begins and ends. Few in the supermarket industry were surprised when Giant Food Stores L.L.C. announced Thursday that it was buying and converting 16 of the region's 27 Genuardi's locations - or that California-based Safeway Inc. was looking to unload eight others to prospective buyers, shut down three more, and leave Philadelphia entirely.

In what amounts to its biggest expansion move ever in the Philadelphia market, Giant Food Stores on Thursday announced it had acquired 16 Genuardi's supermarkets from Safeway Inc. for $106 million. The transfer of ownership to Giant of 16 of 27 Genuardi's stores in the region - coupled with the closing of three more stores and the hoped-for sale of the remaining eight - likely signals the end of the Genuardi's grocery name, which was among the region's most highly regarded before Safeway acquired the family-owned business in 2001.

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Safeway Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter profit rose 6 percent as the grocery chain generated stronger revenue from gasoline sales and cost control efforts. Its shares rose more than 4 percent in premarket trading. The operator of the Philadelphia region's Genuardi's chain, as well as Von's, Dominicks, Safeway and other grocery chains, reported Thursday that its net income rose to $130.2 million, or 38 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 10. That's up from $122.8 million, or 33 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 7 percent to $10.06 billion from $9.4 billion.

Magnum ice cream bars, coated in thick Belgian chocolate and a favorite brand in Europe, are now available - and worth looking for - in the United States. In Classic, Almond, Double Chocolate, Dark, Double Caramel, and White Chocolate flavors, they're super-rich and kosher. Magnum Ice Cream Bars; $3.99 for a box of three; at Target, Safeway and Acme stores. - Dianna Marder Keeping it Cool On the trip home from the market, keep that ice cream and all your perishables cold in this smart, collapsible cooler.

PLEASANTON, Calif. - National grocery operator Safeway Inc.'s second-quarter net income fell 40 percent and the company lowered its outlook on Thursday in the face of tough competition and declining retail prices. The chain, which is the parent of the Philadelphia region's Genuardi's stores, doesn't expect prices to rebound until the fourth quarter. Quarterly net income fell to $141.3 million, or 37 cents per share, matching the average expectation of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.