Safeway CEO Is Second Most Influential In Food Retail, Supermarket News List Says

Safeway CEO Robert Edwards is ranked number 2 in the Supermarket News’ 2013 Power 50 list of the most influential people in the food retail market. Edwards has led Safeway’s efforts to right-size itself which include selling its stores and manufacturing facilities in Canada to Sobeys for US$5.7 billion. Safeway plans to use most of the proceeds from the sale to retire $2 billion in notes due in August 2014 and most of the remaining funds to buy back stock. Edwards also said some of the proceeds may be used to invest in growth opportunities, mostly in-house initiatives aimed at increasing operating income in its grocery business.