Four Safeway locations in Saskatchewan are closing next year to be converted to FreshCo stores.
Empire Company Limited announced Wednesday the first four locations in the province for the expansion of its FreshCo discount banner into Western Canada.
The four future FreshCo store locations in Saskatchewan are as follows:
- Regent Park – Regina;
- Confederation – Saskatoon;
- 33rd Street – Saskatoon; and
- Market Mall – Saskatoon.
These current Safeway locations will close in March 2020.
Renovations and construction are expected to take four to five months with locations reopening as FreshCo stores in the summer of 2020, depending on the timing of schedules and permits.
All four stores have pharmacies, which will remain open during the renovations in temporary pharmacy locations located at the current Safeway locations. The new FreshCo locations will open with pharmacy departments.
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Empire announced plans in fiscal 2018 to convert approximately 25 per cent of its underperforming Safeway and Sobeys locations over a five-year period.
With these four locations in Saskatchewan, the company has now confirmed 22 of roughly 65 locations in Western Canada.
Headquartered in Stellarton, N.S., Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through Sobeys, and related real estate.
With approximately $25.1 billion in annualized sales, the company and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ roughly 123,000 people.