Safeway Helps Customers Turn Holiday Hectic to Happy Without Breaking the Budget

PLEASANTON, Calif., Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey(1) by Safeway (NYSE: SWY) revealed that 75 percent of women find perfecting their holiday decor and meal menus was among the most demanding aspects of holiday entertaining. To help transform the holidays from ordinary to extraordinary this year, Safeway is providing shoppers with a variety of fresh ideas, tips, and tricks from top experts. These experts include Debi Lilly, an entertaining and decor expert partnering with Safeway, and Jeff Anderson, executive chef of Safeway's Culinary Kitchens. Lilly's entertaining ideas, tablescape and home decor tips, and debi lilly design™ collection and floral arrangements are accompanied by Chef Jeff's favorite holiday recipes at Safeway's new Holiday Inspirations site. This inspiring online holiday destination also illustrates ways shoppers can save in store. Also available by download via the iTunes store is a proprietary Safeway Chef Assistant mobile application to help hosts save time and shine during the holiday season.  

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"We listened to our customers and set out to solve their challenges during this festive season by providing them with tips and recipes to make holiday entertaining easy, affordable and fun," said Mike Minasi, President of Marketing for Safeway. "Our survey results showed us that there's an opportunity to build broader awareness of all that Safeway has to offer to alleviate seasonal stress. With our new Holiday Inspirations website and the Chef Assistant mobile application, Safeway provides inspiring solutions to help with holiday menus and events – big and small."

Inspiring Solutions to Help with Holiday Decor Needs
Among the site's featured offerings are a wide range of new debi lilly design products. Her collection is available exclusively at Safeway stores, including Carrs, Dominick's, Genuardi's, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Vons, and features beautiful and inspiring floral arrangements and bouquets, elegant vases, contemporary scented candles, and a variety of other home decor and gift items.

Complementing the debi lilly design collection, Lilly provides tips for easily transforming the ordinary to extraordinary without spending a lot of money or time. In fact, the survey also revealed that 70 percent of women visit multiple stores when gathering food and decor for a holiday event. With the debi lilly design collection, the grocery list can now include elegant decor and gift items, alleviating the need to visit multiple stores for food and decor needs.

"As a working mom, I understand how busy this time of year can be," said Lilly. "With my new debi lilly design collection and simple tips, Safeway provides everything customers need to create affordable and unforgettable holiday events on the fly."

From the Safeway Shelf, to Convenient and Delicious Recipes
The Safeway Holiday Inspirations site also provides best-in-class holiday meal ideas that are easy and memorable. Featuring exclusive traditional and innovative recipes from Safeway's Culinary Kitchens – a think tank for creating superior food products and recipes – Safeway's Chef Jeff offers tips and tricks for holiday dinners and entertaining. This includes everything from holiday buffet ideas and wine pairings to combining ready-made products that make a holiday meal special.

According to the survey, 58 percent of women said their biggest holiday regret is being so busy that they don't get to enjoy the food or company. To win back some of the lost time, the Safeway's new Chef Assistant free mobile application shows how easy it is to prepare a flawless, moist and delicious turkey with an exclusive 2-Hour Turkey Recipe™. In addition to step-by-step instructions on how to prepare, cook and carve a turkey, the application features four custom timers and reminders to ensure steps aren't missed.

"Every holiday meal can be memorable and affordable with a trip to Safeway and a well-stocked freezer and pantry," said Chef Jeff. "Safeway makes it easy to create great meals with less fuss. The holiday site provides time-saving tips to help shoppers select the right cooking utensils and ingredients when at the store, as well as five ingredients or less delectable, easy recipes."

Affordable Inspiration Helps Holiday Budgets
Given that 40 percent of the women surveyed said their biggest holiday stress is accomplishing everything that needs to be completed within budget, Safeway delivers affordable solutions with an expansive selection. Whether it is Safeway SELECT ®, an exclusive collection of familiar foods made with a special twist, or Open Nature™, an all natural product line that includes sausage, dressings and breads among other foods, Safeway provides best-in-class food items to help families create better meals that are affordable.

At Safeway's Holiday Inspirations site, customers can find recipes that make the most out of their meals including creative Leftover Makeover recipes and tips. In addition, through daily and weekly featured deals and specials, Safeway offers savings throughout the season.

Visit Safeway's Holiday Inspirations site for more helpful tips and tricks and visit the App Store™ to download the free Safeway Chef Assistant mobile application. Follow Safeway on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Safeway and connect with Safeway on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Safeway.

About Safeway www.Safeway.com
Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,694 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $41.1 billion in 2010. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.

(1) In September 2011, Safeway surveyed 525 women who have hosted or are planning to host a holiday party via online provider, Zoomerang.

SOURCE Safeway Inc.