At the end of the year, we often find ourselves doing more grocery shopping than usual. Perhaps you’re having guests over for Thanksgiving of Christmas dinner. Maybe you’re even hosting family for a weekend or longer, therefore you need more food than usual. Even if you’re attending other people’s gatherings, you might need to make a dish. Therefore, it’s important to know if grocery stores are going to be open during the holidays. Here’s Safeway’s 2021 holiday hours for the rest of the year.
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The History of Safeway
Safeway started as a tiny independent grocery store. In 1915, M.B. Skaggs, the son of that store’s owner, purchased the store from his father. He had big plans. In just over a decade, he had opened more than 400 stores across nearly one dozen states. At the time, those stores were called Skaggs. However, in 1926, he merged with the company 322 Safeway, and together they became Safeway grocery stores.
Some fun things that you might not know as a Safeway shopper:
- Safeway started offering pricing by the pound in the 1930’s.
- Furthermore, at that same time, they began to add “sell by” dates. Freshness is one of their big commitments.
- Although nutritional labeling on food is common today, it wasn’t common back in the 1930’s when Safeway added it.
- Some of the first grocery store parking lots in the nation started in Safeway stores.
Although Safeway has been around a long time, Albertsons has been around even longer. And in 2015, Albertson’s purchased Safeway stores. However, the Safeway stores continue to operate under the Safeway brand.
Safeway’s 2021 Holiday Hours
We have a few major holidays before the end of the year. The ones you’re most likely concerned about, as far as Safeways 2021 holiday hours go, are Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Eve and Day. It’s been difficult to find any specific information about Safeway’s 2021 holiday hours on their website. Furthermore, I attempted to do a chat with their site to get a specific answer, but they only offer a chatbot that did not answer the question and didn’t give me a way to chat directly with a human. However, other reputable sources report that Safeway will likely maintain regular holiday hours for all of these holidays.
Safeway’s 2021 Holiday Hours: Thanksgiving
According to The Pioneer Woman, Safeway will be open on Thanksgiving Day 2021. Moreover, it appears the store will have regular store hours. Note that each Safeway store has different hours. Therefore, it’s important to use the store locator to find your store’s hours if you don’t already know them. For example, The Pioneer Woman said that most Safeway stores are open from 6 am until midnight. However, the Safeway store closest to me is open from 5 am – 2 am every day of the week.
Safeway’s 2021 Holiday Hours: Christmas Eve and Day
Good Housekeeping put together a list of grocery stores open on Christmas 2021. On their list, it says that Safeway will be open. It actually says that the stores are open 24/7, though. While we know that’s true for some locations, we also know that it’s not true for many locations. In a different roundup by The Pioneer Woman, she says that most Safeway stores will be open from 8 am – 4 pm on Christmas Day.
So again, you can safely assume that most Safeway stores will be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, the hours depend on the store’s usual hours. Moreover, it’s really worth calling and asking if they have limited hours on these huge holidays.
Safeway’s 2021 Holiday Hours: New Year’s Eve and Day
Reports also indicate that Safeway is open both on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. They are likely to stay open regular hours. However, in instances were a store is usually open until or past midnight, they may opt to close before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Other Services Within Safeway Stores
Some Safeway stores have other services within the store. For example, you might want to visit a Safeway pharmacy. There are also bank branches inside of some Safeway stores. Remember that these services always keep different hours from the regular Safeway store hours. Therefore, you can’t expect that they’ll be open on the holidays even though the store is. Err on the side of caution and presume that these special services might close for the major holidays.
Safeway’s 2021 Holiday Hours in Summary
Safeway is open every day of the year. They don’t close entirely for any holiday. However, some store locations may change their hours for certain holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are big ones. Therefore, here are some tips to follow:
- Shop early in the day. Most stores will open regular hours but may close early.
- Contact your local store via phone to see if they can tell you what their hours are.
- When you’re at the store next time, ask about their upcoming holiday hours.
- Plan ahead and try to get your holiday shopping done in advance. Therefore, you don’t even have to worry about whether or not they’re going to be open.
- Other services within Safeway stores may close for the holidays. Don’t count on them being open.
Order Ahead for The Holidays at Safeway
While it’s great to know that you can head into a Safeway store at the last minute on the holidays, why create that level of stress for yourself? Instead, consider ordering ahead for the holidays. Safeway offers both delivery and pickup. Moreover, they have special holiday meals that you’re able to order in advance. (Make sure if you use that page that you change the location to the one closest to you.) You can order Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, party trays, sandwich platters, brunch trays, subs and more.
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Kathryn Vercillo is a professional writer who loves to live a balanced life. She appreciates a good work-life balance. She enjoys balance in her relationships and has worked hard to learn how to balance her finances to allow for a balanced life overall. Although she’s only blonde some of the time, she’s always striving for total balance. She’s excited to share what she’s learned with you and to discover more together along the way.
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