I’m from England, and I’ve recently moved to Australia. I’ve had a lot of fun learning the differences between our cultures and dispelling certain myths (oh, such as the Australians I’ve met thinking Vegemite came before Marmite :rolleyes: ).
Woolworths though, I’m a bit confused over. In Britain we have Woolworths Group who are a high street retailer.
In Australia they have Woolworths Limited, who own a company called Safeway.
But…in Britain, Safeway never had anything to do with Wooloworths as far as I’m aware, and were taken over by Morrisons.
I’m also aware of a Woolworths and a Safeway in North America. Does anybody know how it all fits together? Are they all related companies? I can’t seem to find any information whether or not they are.
Woolworths and Safeway used to be separate competing companies back when I packed bags and collected trollies at Safeway. They merged some time after that, and rebranded over time. In most states, Safeway stores became Woolworths, but in the state of Victoria, where I live, Woolworths supermarkets were all changed to Safeway.
I have a hunch they’re getting ready to rebrand in Victoria soon.
The UK and Australian Safeways, OTOH, are descended from subsidiaries of the US company, which was formed in 1925 from an earlier supermarket chain, and quickly merged with Skaggs, a name US readers may recognize. They expanded into Australia and the UK in the 60s. Eventually they sold both subsidiaries - their Australian interests were sold to (Australian) Woolworth’s, and the UK one was sold to Argyll, which eventually renamed itself Safeway, plc.