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Penton's Supermarket News Names Safeway As Winner of Its 5th Annual Retail Excellence Award

Posted on: Monday, 15 October 2007, 12:00 CDT

Penton's Supermarket News®, the leading information source for the $566 billion U.S. food retailing sector, today named Safeway as the winner of its fifth annual Retail Excellence Award. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based supermarket giant was selected for its success in reinventing and marketing its consumer positioning. The Retail Excellence Award winner is showcased in the October 15 edition of Supermarket News' weekly magazine and on the Web at www.supermarketnews.com, featuring an exclusive interview with Safeway's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Steve Burd.

SN's editors selected Safeway for the chain's bold merchandising and marketing initiatives. These included converting its store base to a "lifestyle" format; designing a new branding campaign; developing proprietary lines of natural and organic products and a premium line of signature perishables to enhance sales; and creating a highly successful gift-card business. In addition, the company has committed itself to the environment and adopted a market-based approach to health care. Safeway was chosen for the award by SN editors following an industry nominations process conducted on the publication's Web site.

The award will be presented to Safeway on October 23 during the Food Industry Leadership Center Executive Forum in Portland, Oregon. Prior winners of SN's Retail Excellence Award included H.E. Butt Grocery, Kroger, Hannaford Bros. and Hy-Vee.

"This year's Retail Excellence Award recognizes the success of Safeway's multi-level, multi-year effort to transform its positioning in response to consumer and industry trends," said Dan Bagan, senior vice president of Penton's Food Retail Group. "We're delighted to recognize the achievements of another industry leader with this coveted award."

Founded in 1952, Supermarket News is the preferred weekly news magazine of senior executives and decision makers in the food retailing industry. It provides coverage of news, events, trends and topics across the industry, including management, productivity, pricing and marketing issues related to fresh foods, grocery items and home health. The news magazine also produces its polybagged Supermarket News Whole HealthTM supplement, focused on the organic, whole health and wellness markets, five times a year. The magazine's Web site, www.SupermarketNews.com , is the industry's leading online destination, providing original content, e-newsletters and online seminars for visitors.

Penton Media, Inc. is the largest independent business-to-business media company in the U.S., serving more than six million business professionals every month. The company's market-leading brands are focused on 30 industries and include 113 trade magazines, 145 Web sites, 150 industry trade shows and conferences, and more than 500 information data products. Headquartered in New York City, the privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its coinvestors. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.

Source: Business Wire

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