The Safe Way in the Hat

Safeway, a landmark grocery chain in Medicine Hat, originated in the United States as a partnership of two independent grocers: Sam Seelig, who started in 1912 in Los Angeles and Marion Skagg, who started a store in American Falls, Idaho, in 1915. Seelig left the partnership in 1924 and there was a contest to find a new name. Safeway was derived from the slogan “Drive the Safe Way; Buy the Safe Way.” The “safe way” meant that the store did not offer credit, common at the time, thus “saving” customers from going into debt buying their groceries.

Safeway moved into Canada and Medicine Hat in 1929 with a store at 616 Third St. Customers provided a grocery list to clerks behind the counter, who would select the items and bag them and take cash payment. Until that time, groceries were typically purchased in neighbourhood stores, such as the Sharland Grocery, which did extend credit to their customers. The 1930s were difficult times and many customers couldn’t pay at the end of the month, with the result that the grocer couldn’t pay his bills either. In Medicine Hat, Altin’s Grocery on North Railway still had credit accounts for customers until 1987 when it closed.

In the mid-1940s, Safeway moved to 552 Third St. It was the new “supermarket” self-serve style with shopping carts and weigh scales to buy produce by the pound. As refrigerators replaced ice boxes, customers could purchase more groceries at a time. In 1952, the iconic red ‘S’ Safeway symbol was introduced. The downtown store operated until 1965.

Mayor Harry Veiner cut the ribbon on a new Safeway store in 1957 on Division Avenue S.E. in the area known as the Bassett Reserve and Memorial Park. Described as a “swank, ultramodern, extra outsize supermarket,” it was the first Safeway in Alberta with air-conditioning and automatically controlled doors that opened when the cart went onto the mat. It operated until 1993 when it and the Medical Arts Clinic were both demolished and a bigger, “swankier” Safeway built. Safeway in Crescent Heights was built in 1960 in the modern, highly-stylized Expressionist way. The company used this successful standardized plan throughout Alberta in the 1960s to consistently communicate their corporate identity as it expanded into suburbia. Other mid-sized stores such as the IGA, Solo, and OK Economy competed but most have since gradually disappeared. Even confectionaries (such as the Handy on Third Street downtown) have lost their niche with Sunday hours for the big stores.

Grocery stores grow ever bigger and Nova Scotia-based Sobey’s acquired all 213 Safeway stores in 2013, leading to the closure of the “small” Crescent Heights Safeway in December 2014. With Costco, Walmart, Superstore, Co-op and Sobey’s all duking it out for lowest price and highest volume, one wonders if there is maybe a place again for the small, neighbourhood store, where your immediate needs are met and everyone knows your name.

Malcolm Sissons is the Chair of the Heritage Resources Committee. Committee member Sally Sehn helped with the research on this column.