Why Is Safeway So Expensive? (9 Different Reasons)

For many years, people have been finding Safeway to be rather costly, despite the amount of discounts and coupons they regularly offer.

Safeway is also more expensive than Walmart, because Walmart is able to offer produce and grocery for much cheaper prices, because they buy a much larger quantity of groceries than Safeway.

This is why Safeway is so expensive. As a supermarket company, Safeway is not price sensitive. They could raise their prices to anyone who would just pay for it.

The other two problems with prices on Safeway’s website are that it does not seem organized at all and also that many items are offered at prices that seem to be a joke.

Why Is Safeway So Expensive In 2022?

1. Safeway Is A Unionized Company

The unionization of the company probably means they are charging high prices.

Becoming part of a union will affect a company in a large way, as it will increase the amount of money the company pays to its employees.

But this also means that the workers at the Safeway Store are paid more, and thus this costs Safeway money.

2. They Don’t Price Match

This means that Safeway doesn’t price match other grocery stores such as Save on Foods and No Frills. Unlike other grocery stores, Safeway does not offer price matching to their customers, keeping many of their high prices on groceries, produce, household wares, and other products static.

If the shoppers want a lower price on an item, they’ll either have to wait for a sale on that item, or they’ll have to go to a different grocery store. If they go to a different grocery store, they’ll have to pay the difference of the price.

3. High-Quality Service And Display

Safeway is generally considered a clean and organized grocery store. Safeway also has stores that are more affordable then their Walmart Superstore counterparts.

Safeway employees are very attentive and professional, and considerate.

When they receive positive customer feedback for their shopping experience, customers may be willing to pay a higher price for their groceries, and the restaurant may be less willing to re-evaluate their pricing.

4. Canadian Stores Don’t Have the Safeway Just For U Program

Canadian customers often have a hard time getting their hands on a store’s best bargains.

The Safeway store doesn’t currently have the rewards program, so they were given permission to do what they wanted with it.

Instead of only being offered in stores, the Safeway discount card also offers a low priced option at Safeway.ca.

The [Paraphrase] is a “boutique” retailer that sells clothing, shoes, and accessories.

Many stores are bringing the Just For U program to Canada, and the prices are higher than in the U.S.

5. They Have a Pharmacy

Also, if the drug store allows you to use a discount card, then you save even more.

The cost of hiring a full pharmaceutical team, purchasing drugs, keeping the pharmacy clean and clear, and buying the supplies to keep the pharmacy stocked adds up very quickly.

If one pharmacy department is much more profitable than another pharmacy, it could have an impact on the profitability of that department, and thus could influence how it prices their other products and departments.

If the pharmacy is making less money than they would like, Safeway will have to make up the loss through other products, which may result in higher prices.

6. Constant Sales and Discounts

Safeway is famous for offering numerous discounts and sales, such as their Two-for deals and percent-off discounts.

So, what they might do is to buy extra inventory of the non-perishables so that they have a big enough supply to sell at their price points.

It is a problem for the company to make sure that their products do not sell out, and if they do, that they do not overproduce it.

7. Starbucks Kiosk

After buying the company, Safeway changed the business model for Starbucks and other restaurants to focus more on food, which is similar to the coffee kiosk business model.

If you work for a company that sells groceries, you have to pay the electric bill for your employees’ refrigerators and freezers.

I think it is not only because Starbucks is very expensive for the stores, but also because they make good coffee.

Although Starbucks is unlikely to hurt the grocery stores in the short run, it is always possible Starbucks could one day become a real threat to the supermarket.

It’s possible that they will use their pricing to justify this extra cost, or they could justify it by the way they’re pricing their other products.

8. The Safeway Flower Department

Flowers are expensive, ranging anywhere from $5-$300 depending on the arrangement, the number of flowers, and the variety requested.

After reviewing your shopping list, I’m glad to say you’ve decided to pick out a present for a friend.

the large amount of these flowers are due to the farms from which they are purchased, as many farms charge a large amount for their produce.

Safeway would have to make up for the expense of stocking flowers by charging their customers higher prices to purchase those flowers.

9. Fresh Food Departments

Safeway has a bunch of shopping departments. They also have a bunch of different food products to choose from.

This is especially true for Safeway’s meat department, as it is the only department that is available in the store throughout the store. This department is kept stocked and refrigerated to ensure that the meat products remain fresh. This department is also the most expensive department within the store.

Now that you know about Safeway, you might also want to know about other grocery stores with a lower price point like Costco and Save-A-Lot.

Conclusion

Although a very large corporation, Safeway is unionized and therefore has to agree with the employees on how much to pay them.

Safeway pays its employees much more than other stores, which means that their employees have to use a lot of their own money for their health insurance, social security, and other benefits.