Many who have seen Dominick's Finer Foods go from leading the Chicagoland market over the years to now representing about a 15 percent share of market believe the chain would do much better were it owned by some company other than Safeway. Steve Burd, the chairman, chief executive officer and president of Safeway, does not share that opinion and made clear last week that Dominick's is not for sale.
"We can make money with a 15 percent share," he told the Chicago Tribune.
Mr. Burd said Dominick's would continue to seek organic growth by renovating existing stores into the successful "lifestyle" format. He said it was not likely the company would look to grow in the market through an acquisition. All Dominick's stores should be converted to the lifestyle format within four years.
"We're determined to build that market share by growing the sales in existing stores and then begin the process of adding new stores," Mr. Burd told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Discussion Question: Does Safeway have the right plan in place for Dominick's in Chicago?